On the night of the 2025 WNBA Draft, just over one week ago, the Dallas Wings made Paige Bueckers the No. 1 overall pick.
Her arrival comes with sky-high expectations: to orchestrate the Wings’ offense and help transform a lottery team into a playoff contender.
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Now, having officially played her final games at Gampel Pavilion, famously dubbed “The Basketball Capital of the World,” Bueckers sent one final message to Husky Nation.
On Wednesday, Bueckers posted on Instagram an image of her walking out of the tunnel one last time, flanked by a sea of royal-blue jerseys, with the caption.
“Not a goodbye, but a see you later 💙” Bueckers captioned the post.
Over her four years at UConn, Bueckers shattered records and helped restore the program to the summit of women’s college basketball.
Fans were quick to show their love for Bueckers on the post, with carahall2028 saying, “Paige, please I’m still recovering from yesterday’s post,” and gabi_gosselin with, “UCONNIC💙”.
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paigebueckerse responded with, “in tears as we speak,” and mirandaarap reiterated the sentiments by saying, “Paige, please I can’t take these goodbye posts😭”.
Others kept it short and sweet, like tee_salgado78, who said, “🐐💙,” or keeyaruh with, “Wherever you are, you’re still our Paige 💜💙”.
Former UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers.Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Bueckers leaves Storrs as the first freshman to collect the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, AP and USBWA National Player of the Year honors in one season.
Bueckers was also the architect behind UConn’s 12th national championship, capping her senior year by averaging 19.9 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game.
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She finished with the third-most career points (2,439) in Huskies history.
Now in the WNBA, Bueckers will hope to help restore the Wings to prominence, playing alongside 2024 All-Star and WNBA steals leader Arike Ogunbowale.
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