Paige Bueckers is off to the Dallas Wings to take flight in the WNBA, but her time at the University of Connecticut isn’t going anywhere.
Bueckers departed for Dallas on Wednesday to participate in an introductory press conference, but before leaving, she had one message for fans.
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The No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft posted an emotional “Not a goodbye, but a see you later💙” to her 2.4 million Instagram followers, many accrued during her rise to prominence as a top women’s college basketball recruit and four-year star at UConn.
Aptly, she located the post “Basketball Capital of the World,” linking it to Storrs, Connecticut, the home of the Huskies, women’s college basketball’s most storied—and most successful—program.
Bueckers departs UConn as campus legend
Bueckers led the Huskies to a national championship in 2025 with a 82-59 win over the University of South Carolina. After battling knee injuries that cost Bueckers much of her sophomore and entire junior year, she averaged 19.9 points and 4.6 assists per game with UConn, ending her college career with a long-desired championship.
Bueckers was a three-time Women’s AP All-American and was the National Player of the Year in her first collegiate campaign.
PAIGE BUECKERS EVERYONE pic.twitter.com/O6MubA2dgy
— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) April 23, 2025
UConn fell to Arizona in the 2021 Final Four in Bueckers’ first year in Storrs. The next year, the Huskies advanced to the national championship game but lost 64-49 to South Carolina. In 2024, a close 71-69 loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa ended the Huskies’ hopes, but Bueckers returned for her senior year and brought UConn and legendary coach Geno Auriemma to the promised land.
One of UConn’s most decorated players of all time, Bueckers graduated in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in human development & family sciences.
New-look Wings prepare for 2025 season
Dallas officially announced Bueckers at the team’s press conference after selecting her in the WNBA draft on April 14. The Wings won the WNBA draft lottery, determined by teams’ records in the previous two seasons, with 22.7% odds. Dallas also selected Aziaha James (NC State), Madison Scott (Ole Miss), JJ Quinerly (West Virginia), and Aaronette Vonleh (Baylor) in the draft.
Bueckers will likely start alongside Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas’ leading scorer at 22.2 points per game last year. The Wings also added NaLyssa Smith, DiJonai Carrington, and Ty Harris by trade and Myisha Hines-Allen in free agency over the offseason. Satou Sabally, the team’s second-leading scorer in 2024, requested a trade and was dealt after the Wings finished the season 9-31.
The highly touted first overall pick and the new-look Wings will face the Las Vegas Aces on May 2 in preseason action; the regular season begins for Dallas in Minnesota on May 16.
