The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
There’s more in Storrs
Bueckers, Griffin are returning for another season
STORRS — The sold-out Gampel Pavilion crowd roared in celebration louder than it had all night through UConn women’s basketball’s 41-point win over Georgetown.
Everyone’s long-assumed hope finally becoming reality.
Paige Bueckers made it official.
“This will not be my last Senior Night here,” the redshirt junior yelled into a microphone, confirming her return to Storrs for the 2024-25 season. The home crowd erupted into cheers and tears knowing it hasn’t seen the last of its latest generational star.
“The overall reaction from the crowd is everything you dream of, just the love and support,” Bueckers said after the game. Her eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. “It’s a great feeling to be wanted. It’s a great feeling to have people that want to have you back. So it means a lot just to be able to tell them that and have the same excitement as they do about me coming back, but just having the student section, everybody there supporting me, and very excited about the announcement was very, very cool thing to be apart of.”
The Huskies celebrated Senior Night Friday following its victory over the Hoyas. After each player was escorted down the court and given their flowers, they took a moment to address the crowd about their future plans.
Bueckers and Aubrey Griffin confirmed that they will be back next season. Fellow seniors Nika Mühl and Aaliyah Edwards did not share their decisions.
The announcement from Bueckers was not much of shock to Husky fans, as she said back in January that her love for the UConn program is one of the main factors of her decision.
And Griffin’s decision was already leaked by Geno Auriemma, who told the media Thursday the graduate student would be back.
All four entered the 2023-24 season with extra college eligibility remaining after the NCAA granted players affected by the COVID-19 pandemic an extra year. There was also a precedent for participating in Senior Night and returning for an
other year — Dorka Juhász walked in 2022 but returned for the 2022-23 season.
Still, hearing Bueckers and Griffin say the words out loud and confirm fans’ suspicions made everything more real.
“Obviously it changes the whole nature of things, the whole dynamic,” Auriemma said. “There’s a lot of excitement about the possibilities of having a full squad.”
He added later: “What could it have been, the last four years, with a bunch of healthy bodies? So the stars were all lined up wrong that contributed to the injuries. And then all of a sudden they lined up right. And it allows us to take advantage of these unique opportunities.”
The Senior Night celebrations started midday Friday when UConn released a tribute video featuring former Huskies congratulating the seniors and wishing them well. During the game, UConn played clips of the video on the big screen.
Four of UConn’s currently injured players wore the seniors’ white jerseys on the bench. Azzi Fudd wore Bueckers’ No. 5, Jana El Alfy wore Griffin’s No. 44, Ayanna Patterson wore Edwards’ No. 3 and Caroline Ducharme wore Mühl’s No. 10.
All four seniors came into their postgame media press conference wearing dark sunglasses to hide possible tears.
Griffin was first to walk out onto half court after the game ended to accept her flowers and framed jersey from Auriemma.
The fifth-year graduate student used just one crutch to balance herself as she’s about a month removed from season-ending ACL surgery.
When it was her turn, the forward took the microphone to thank the UConn fans for their support over the last five years and made her decision official by saying, “I guess you guys have heard. I’m coming back next year!”
“I feel like people already knew before him, but today, I mean, I feel like it was a special day, Senior Day,” Griffin said. “So just being there and growing up — well not growing up, but like, yeah growing up with them and just seeing how they’ve progressed throughout the years and it’s a special day so I was just like, ‘Why not?’ ”
Next season will mark Griffin’s sixth at UConn as she becomes the first player to play six years under Auriemma. The New York native is UConn’s best Sixth Player and often its most energetic and aggressive player on the court.
Griffin sat out her true junior year due to back surgery and was expected to begin her professional career after this season until she tore her ACL in early January. With ACL recovery timelines often taking anywhere from nine to 12 months, Griffin would have missed the entire WNBA season had she declared in April and may not be healthy enough to return to the court until December or January next season.
“I’m glad that she has the opportunity to come back,” Auriemma said. “Certainly, it’s another dimension that we don’t have right now. That it would be hard to grab recruits who play like her.”
Bueckers was the last player to take court during the ceremony. Chants of “One More Year” started as she posed with her framed jersey with her family.
She was last to address the crowd. While sources close to the program have said for the past month that Bueckers was expected to return, Auriemma said after the game that he didn’t expect his star to make the announcement official on Friday.
But with the crowd already egging her on, Bueckers felt the moment was perfect. And, of course, with her fun, easygoing nature she wanted her words to almost fake out the crowd as she confirmed that she was indeed returning for a fifth year.
“Obviously, these four years didn’t go how I planned or how I wanted it to go,” she told the crowd. “But wouldn’t trade it for the world. I wouldn’t be able to get through what I went through without everybody here. So thank you to the best fans in the country.
“I know everybody wants me to address the elephant in the room. Unfortunately ... this will not be my last Senior Night here.”
Bueckers would have been a top-five pick in the April 15 WNBA Draft, but she emphasized the importance of playing at least one more year of full, healthy basketball with the program and teammates that she loves. She also still has aspirations to end UConn’s title drought.
“I felt like it’ll be like a burden lifted off my shoulders,” said Bueckers on why Friday was the night to make it official. “Me being able to address the crowd, who I love so much and appreciate so much, to walk out with these guys that I came in with, it just means the world to me because we’ve been through a lot together . ... I feel like to get it over with before the season hits March and the real basketball, the most important basketball of the year is being played, I think it felt good to do it.”
The Minnesota native has only played two full seasons, including this one, of college basketball after back-to-back knee injuries sidelined her during her true sophomore and junior seasons. Because of missing last season with an ACL injury, Bueckers technically will have an additional year of eligibility remaining after the 2024-25 season if she wishes to take a sixth year.
“This is like (my) first real season of college basketball and it’s still like me coming back from injury, trying to get my legs back, trying to get who I am back on the basketball court,” Bueckers said. “So to get a year under my belt and come back again next year. And then there’s just the love for this program. I love playing here. I love being here. I love my teammates. I love my coaches. And obviously you think about what this team could be when we’re fully healthy.
“I feel like our (senior) class is kind of learning never to take that for granted because you never know what’s going to happen. But again, just want more time here, more time with my teammates, more time with my coaches, more time playing at Gampel. More time with this program was like the biggest reason.”
The guard came to Storrs as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2020. She had the most iconic freshman season in UConn history in 2020-21 which ended with her becoming women’s college basketball’s first freshman to ever sweep the Player of the Year awards.
Edwards and Mühl also addressed the crowd and thanked the fan base for its support over the last four years. Neither confirmed what their future plans are but told the crowd, “We’re not done yet,” which does not specify if they mean for the remainder of this season or their UConn careers.
Edwards said after the game that she’ll wait until the end of the season to make her decision official. She’s currently projected as a top-10 pick in the 2024 Draft and is likely to earn All-American honors for the second-straight season.
The Canadian has grown into UConn’s most dependable forwards over the last few seasons. She reached a new level last year and an even greater one this season. Edwards was named last year’s Big East Most Improved Player and the conference tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. She’s stepped up immensely as UConn’s leading scorer last season and this season leads the Big East in double-doubles.
She had 26 points and 16 rebounds against Georgetown Friday.
“I think that we’re just trying to stay present,” Edwards said. “Still a lot of basketball to play. And yeah, I think that when the time comes, the time and place for me to make the decision, I think, that is for the end of the season.”
Mühl also said she’d make her decision public when the time is right. Auriemma said he doesn’t expected Mühl to return next season and that he would be surprised if all four seniors did return.
The Croatian came to UConn poised to be Bueckers’ backup at point guard. But she’s become so much more than anyone expected. She’s won over the hearts of UConn fans with her stubborn but genuine personality and big heart. She’s a force on the floor and UConn’s best defender.
The two-time Big East Defender of the Year developed into one of UConn’s most iconic point guards of all time as she owns the program’s record for single-game and single-season assists and is en route to own the career assist record as well.
“I think Nika’s looking forward to the next step in her career, from what I gather. That doesn’t mean that the season ends and she has a change of heart,” Auriemma said. “It’s really, really weird that all of them have an opportunity to play again but I would be surprised (if they all did), let’s put it that way.”
And in light of his players’ decisions Friday, Auriemma confirmed that he also intends to return to Storrs next season. An announcement that was made in total light-heartedness since his current contract already runs through the 2024-25 season.
“I was (coming back) until Paige’s announcement,” the Hall of Fame coach said with a laugh.