The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Great expectations
Huskies’ hyped freshman Bueckers under the microscope
What will life be like as a freshman for Paige Bueckers?
Megan Walker, a former No. 1 overall recruit, was presented with that question last season.
“It’s definitely going to be a shock for her when she gets here. I’m not going to lie; it’s going to be a shock for a No. 1 recruit,” Walker said. “Everybody’s after you, Coach is on you, it’s a new environment. You’re going to be challenged in different ways.”
Walker was celebrated coming out of high school, a can’t-miss prospect whose game was dissected with a fine-toothed comb. There was immense pressure on her to live up to her billing, to become the next in a long line of great UConn players.
Bueckers is now under that same microscope. She knows it, understands it — heck, even welcomes it.
“They’ve said freshman year is probably going to be the hardest year of your life in school and in basketball,” Bueckers said. “I’m kind of going in expecting that, but I’m willing to learn. They said just soak it in and enjoy every second of it. Go in with a positive attitude and work hard and just be coachable.”
Bueckers has been in Storrs for almost a month. She would’ve arrived sooner if not for the pandemic, which has cast a pall on college campuses and shed doubt on whether the basketball season will start on time, or be played at all. The COVID-19 protocols have created a new normal for Bueckers and her teammates, but she’s acclimating and adjusting to her new home as best she can.
She’s been particularly fascinated by the banners hanging in the Werth Champions Center, those that pay homage to the program’s rich history. They remind her why she is where she is, why she jumped at the chance to play for Geno Auriemma at the pressure cooker that is UConn.
“To have two people here that are four-time Olympians [Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi], working to be five, something I want to do is represent my country and win championships at every level,” Bueckers said. “Just succeed in the game as much as I can. To see the history which this program has always produced, it’s amazing and it’s something
I want to be a part of.
“I go in Coach’s office, there’s just so many awards and trophies. He’s got everything in there. I just think it’s so cool.”
If Bueckers has it her way, if the reality matches the hype, she’ll add her name to that legacy. She has said multiple times she wants to win not one, not two, but four national titles.
Auriemma only added to the expectations surrounding Bueckers last year by calling her a “natural.”
After watching her first couple of practices, the Hall of Fame coach was asked his impressions of the Minnesota point guard.
“It’s probably like the owner of Secretariat,” he said. “All of a sudden someone shows them this great thoroughbred and they’re like, ‘What do you think?’ Well, I don’t know, I coached the best one ever. We’ll see. So I’m not one to jump up and down and go, ‘Paige is the greatest thing ever.’
“I watched her the very first workout we did, and I said, ‘They’re going to kill you, they’re going to eat you up. You’ve got no chance.’ She just looks at me and she’s got this great look on her face.
“How good is she? Put it this way: I’m glad we have her. There’s some things that she does that other players wish they could do.”