STORRS, Conn. — With their season set to open on Sunday, Nov. 14, UConn and their star point guard, Paige Bueckers, who was voted the Big East’s Preseason Player of the Year, look to build on another impressive season. Last year, Bueckers’ freshman year, the team made a run in both the Big East and March Madness tournaments, and they look to do so again.

Basketball is very much a sport where the top high school recruits in the United States can live up to their potential. Bueckers is no different. The top high school recruit for girls in 2020 has gone on to The University of Connecticut and delivered in a big way. The 20-year-old phenom from Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, has become only the second women’s college basketball player to win both the Big East conference’s Freshman of the Year as well as Player of the Year. The other player to achieve this was Maya Moore who was also the number one high school recruit back in 2007 and later went on to play for Geno Auriemma and the Huskies, just like Bueckers is right now.

Not only that, but she also won AP Player of the Year as well as being the Wooden award winner. As a freshman, she is the first to do so. She is accomplishing accolades that a 4-year college athlete never receives.

Bueckers averaged 19.8 points per game, 6.2 assists per game and 2.4 steals per game in her first season and led her team to a 21-1 record, all while earning the top seed in the nation as well as in the Big East tournament which they went on to win.

Consistency favors Bueckers as much as her on-court production does. Stats are a determining factor when it comes to voting for such awards as the National Player of the Year. But what cannot be ignored is her ability to perform in big moments. For starters, she was held to under 10 points just once last season. The now sophomore has tricks in her bag that she put on full display in the 2020-21 season. Most notably, a three-point dagger with 10.8 seconds left to give UConn a 63-59 lead over the then top ranked South Carolina Gamecocks. The three proved to be the difference as that was the final score on Feb. 8, 2021, between the No. 1 Gamecocks and No. 2 Huskies.

After a lackluster end to the 2019-20 season where there was no March Madness for either the women or the men, college basketball fans were excited to get the end of season tournament back. Two seasons ago, we saw a historical year from former Oregon Ducks’ star Sabrina Ionescu, but with no March Madness in 2020 she was unable to showcase her talents on the national stage. Bueckers had the opportunity last season that Ionescu did not and will have the same chance this season.

College basketball fans, as well as WNBA executives, should pay attention to the talent of this UConn point guard.

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