The Coleumn: What Paige Bueckers’ return means for the UConn women’s basketball team  (2024)

During the senior night ceremonies at Gampel Pavilion last Friday, redshirt junior Paige Bueckers shared some important news with the crowd.

“Unfortunately, this will not be my last senior night here at UConn.”

The fans who stayed after the No. 15 UConn women’s basketball team’s 85-44 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas nearly blew the roof off in jubilation. Their star guard would be returning for a fifth season.

Despite not finding out what her decision was until she announced it, head coach Geno Auriemma knows that an announcement like this is massive in many ways.

“It changes the whole nature of things,” the 39th-year head coach expressed.

What does it mean for the Huskies, though?

For starters, Connecticut will be bringing back their most effective scorer from the floor. Bueckers ranks second in the Big East Conference and 21st in the nation with 20.1 points per game. She leads the team with 57 triples and her 53.1% clip from the field is second behind senior forward Aaliyah Edwards among players who have attempted at least 100 shots.

Her impact offensively is undeniable, and it is not just at an individual level.

Without the Minnesota native on the court last season, the Huskies averaged 75.9 points a night and won 18 conference contests by nearly 25 points on average. This year, UConn scores close to 82 points per game and has averaged an almost 32-point margin of victory in Big East action. The level of competition in conference play has slightly adjusted with the departures of superstars such as Maddy Siegrist and Aneesah Morrow, but that is still a significant improvement.

Should senior guard Nika Mühl go pro after this season, the 2021 National Player of the Year can possibly step into a true point guard role and command the court. Mühl holds the single-game assists record with 15, but before she tied and broke it last season, Bueckers held the mark with 14. The Minnesota native is the only player besides the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year with at least 100 dimes this season.

“She controls the game just by being out on the floor,” Auriemma said about Bueckers following the Huskies’ 20-point win over the No. 21 Creighton Bluejays on Monday.

Bueckers does not have the speed that five-time Big East Freshman of the Week KK Arnold does, but she can still create problems for opposing offenses. Connecticut forces 17.2 turnovers on 10.1 steals per contest; the redshirt junior plays a huge role in that department with 62 swipes. Her return will take some of the pressure off Arnold next season, but it will also allow Bueckers to remain a major challenge for any guard, especially in transition.

That tenacious defense also applies on the boards, where she could collect a double-double. Her 4.6 rebounds a night should not fool anyone; the redshirt junior has had six games with 7+ boards this season and has the second most on the team defensively. Beyond collecting missed shots, Bueckers currently leads the team with 31 blocks and is one of three players with at least 10 on the year. Her 1.1 rejections per game is a major improvement from what she averaged during her freshman campaign, and based on this trend, expect the Minnesota native to be swatting shots often next season.

With her experience (alongside that of graduate forward Aubrey Griffin), Bueckers can be a major mentor for the Huskies’ two incoming freshmen next season. Current freshmen Ashlynn Shade, Qadence Samuels and Arnold have all benefited from the redshirt junior’s expertise playing at the collegiate level. With junior guard Azzi Fudd out for the season with a torn ACL, Shade has become one of the team’s major three-point threats. Arnold, meanwhile, has added several key intangibles to go with her quickness. Samuels can be an X-factor when she gets significant minutes.

Guards Morgan Cheli and Allie Ziebell, both top-20 recruits in ESPN’s Class of 2024, will also benefit from Bueckers’ knowledge of the game. Cheli is one of five finalists for the Naismith Girls High School Player of the Year award and plays unselfishly. Ziebell is the nation’s No. 4 recruit, a big-time scorer and an aggressive rebounder.

The Minnesota native possesses the qualities of both high school seniors. As Cheli and Ziebell acclimate themselves to the collegiate game, Bueckers can share tips and tricks to succeed at a high level. The results might not come as quickly as they did with the redshirt junior, but the development will pay dividends down the line.

As of right now, adding those two will give UConn 14 players next season with one scholarship spot still open. Knock on wood, there is a possibility that college basketball fans may finally witness what the Huskies look like with a fully healthy squad around Bueckers.

Look no further than the anticipated dynamic duo of Bueckers and Fudd for a glimpse at the team’s extensive injury woes. Over the past three seasons the two former No. 1 recruits have appeared in just 17 out of 101 possible contests together. The entire team has currently missed 120 combined games due to a plethora of injuries this year.

Bueckers’ return for a fifth season is huge for women’s basketball; the sport will receive even more publicity when the redshirt junior participates in the inaugural Women’s Champions Classic in December. As has been the case all season, fans will continue to wait after the game to get either a picture with or an autograph from the 2021 National Player of the Year. It is a tradition she will never stop.

While making this decision when she did takes “a burden off her shoulders,” it allows Bueckers and the team to channel their energy toward one mission.

“Focus on the rest of the season at hand,” the redshirt junior noted.