Bueckers named Big East Scholar-athlete of the Year
After leading the Uconn women’s basketball team to an undefeated conference record in her first season back from an ACL tear, Paige Bueckers added Big East Scholar-athlete of the Year to her long list of on-court accolades.
The Huskies guard majors in Human Development and Family Studies and has been named to the university’s dean’s list four times with a 3.497 cumulative GPA. The award comes with a $2,000 scholarship from the Big East which can be applied towards graduate or professional studies.
Uconn stars have a strong tradition of representation in the Big East’s academic awards, though Bueckers is the the first Husky to earn the honor since Maya Moore in 2010 and 2011. Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo was the Scholar-athlete of the Year in 1994 and 1995, as was two-time WNBA champion Jennifer Rizzotti in 1996. The first Uconn player to earn the award was Leigh Curl in 1984-85, the season before Geno Auriemma took over as head coach, and Wendy Davis became the first winner of his tenure in 1992.
“We’ve always take, great pride in what we do on and off the court, since day one when we got here,” Auriemma said last week. “(Associate head coach Chris Dailey) and I sat down and said ‘This is how we’re going to do things,’ and we haven’t wavered. We haven’t changed one bit from 1985. There may be some kids we don’t recruit, or some we should have recruited, but if you’re coming to play basketball at the University of Connecticut and you’re not committed to what’s happening the rest of your day, if academics aren’t important to you … then you’re not going to last here, generally speaking.”
Bueckers has excelled plenty on the court this season, averaging a careerbest 20.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks. She is shooting 54% from the field to rank second in the nation among guards, and she is No. 16 in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Incoming Huskies honored: National honors keep rolling in for Uconn women’s basketball signees Morgan Cheli and Allie Ziebell. The pair, who will be incoming freshmen at Uconn this fall, each earned Naismith All-american honors on Wednesday.
Cheli, a 6-foot-2 guard from Los Altos, Calif., was named to the first team, while Ziebell, a 6-foot guard from Neenah, Wis., earned honorable mention.
Both were chosen as Mcdonald’s All-americans in January, and will suit up for the West team in the game in Houston on April 2. They were also both named to the Jordan Brand Classic Girls National Team this week.
Cheli’s No. 1-ranked Archbishop Mitty team remains undefeated this season and won its fourth straight Norcal Open championship on Tuesday. The team will compete in the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division state girls basketball final.