Bueckers wins Wooden Award
UConn freshman wins her fourth player of the year honor
The consensus is in: Paige Bueckers is the best player in the country.
The UConn guard captured yet another national player of the year honor, as she was announced as the winner of the prestigious John R. Wooden Award on Monday night. She is the first freshman to win the award, which dates to 1976.
Bueckers previously had earned the Naismith Trophy, the Associated Press Player of the Year and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
As a freshman, she was not eligible for the Wade Trophy. That award went to Baylor junior NaLyssa Smith.
During a live interview on “SportsCenter,” Bueckers thanked UConn’s coaching staff for putting her in a position to succeed in her first year as a collegian.
“Everything they did for me,” Bueckers said, “they made it easier in games. … They made sure that practice was much harder than any game we’d ever play in, so all credit goes to them.”
She said of playing for Geno Auriemma: “It’s hard, very hard, very challenging, but he’s a genius. He’s a really, really smart guy. Just to get under his wing, all that he does for basketball and all that he does for here, you can see why the pro
gram is successful over the years.”
Bueckers, a 5-foot-11 guard from Minnesota, averaged 20.0 points, 5.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 36.1 minutes per game. She shot 46.4% from 3-point range. All those were team highs.
She scored 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting in a 69-59 national semifinal loss to Arizona on Friday. The Huskies finished the season 28-2, having made the Final Four for a 13th straight tournament.
Bueckers’ goal going into next season?
“I’m really just trying to get a national championship,” she said. “Obviously we came up short in the Final Four this year, and it’s been hurting every day since. It’s going to hurt until we win one.”
This is the sixth time a UConn player has won the Wooden, following Maya Moore in 2009 and ’11, Tina Charles in 2010, and Breanna Stewart in 2015 and ’16.
Bueckers beat out fellow Wooden finalists Smith, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, Dana Evans of Louisville and Rhyne Howard of Kentucky.
Her other accolades include Big East Player and Freshman of the Year, Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, espnW’s Player and Freshman of the Year, River Walk Region Most Outstanding Player, Final Four All-Tournament Team, AP AllAmerican Team and the Nancy Lieberman Award for top point guard.
Additionally, Bueckers was named the USBWA Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Year, sharing honors with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Bueckers and Clark were also WBCA Co-Freshmen of the Year.
Bueckers was asked about her reaction to Gonzaga freshman Jalen Suggs’ game-winning shot to lift the Bulldogs into the men’s national championship game. Bueckers and Suggs are childhood friends from Minnesota.
“I was screaming at the TV,” she said. “I knew as soon as it left his hand it was going in because that’s just the shots that he makes. That’s just what he’s been doing since middle school. … Obviously (I was) proud. I was not shocked, but it was just like a ‘wow’ moment just for him to do that. It’s something you dream of doing as a little kid.”