UConn athletes nominated for ESPYs

UConn women’s basketball sophomore Paige Bueckers, and alums Breanna Stewart and Crystal Dangerfield, along with former Huskies’ men’s soccer star Andre Blake, have been nominated for 2021 ESPY Awards.

The ESPYs will be held at 8 p.m., July 10, at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City and will be aired on ABC.

Stewart, who plays for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, is nominated for two awards in the Best Athlete in Women’s Sports, and Best WNBA Player categories.

Bueckers is nominated for Best College Athlete in Women's Sports; Dangerfield, now with the Minnesota Lynx, is up for Best Breakthrough Athlete; and Blake, the starting goalie for the Philadelphia Union, is up for Best MLS Player.

Stewart returned from a torn Achilles which forced her to miss the 2019 season and helped lead Seattle Storm to the WNBA championship. She averaged 19.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game and was the MVP of the finals.

Bueckers was the first freshman to win the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, AP National Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year, and Lieberman Award.

She led the Huskies with averages of 20 points, 5.9 assists, 2.3 steals per game and a 46.4 three-point field goal percentage, and was named the 2021 Big East Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, and the Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Dangerfield was the first WNBA second-round draft pick to take Rookie of the Year honors, leading Minnesota with 16.2 points per game.

Blake, who played for the Huskies’ men’s soccer team from 2011-2013, is an eightyear veteran of the MLS and was named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year in 2020.

He made 63 saves while allowing 18 goals in nearly 1,900 minutes over 18 games while leading Philadelphia to a 14-4-5 record.