Paige Bueckers, UConn nationwide champion guard, selected No
CNN– Fresh off winning her very first NCAA women’s basketball title at the University of Connecticut, superstar guard Paige Bueckers was picked No. 1 total by the Dallas Wings in Monday night’s WNBA draft in New York.
Bueckers and the Huskies controlled then-reigning national champion South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59 in Tampa, Florida, on April 6 for the school’s 12th championship.
The 2025 Wade Prize national player of the year winner stated it was “incredibly surreal” being selected with the leading pick however is all set to turn the page on her next chapter.
“You don’t ever want to presume anything in life, nothing is guaranteed, so for this moment to be here and it really happened, it’s stressful,” Bueckers informed reporters. “You simply have a level of enjoyment, anxiousness, bittersweet feeling knowing that my journey at UConn is over however thrilled for the next one to start.”
She added: “I don’t wish to take this for approved. I have actually been focusing a lot about being present … To be at this stage, to be here, to have a lot of my advocates here and individuals who have actually helped me get here, it just means everything to me.”
WELCOME TO THE DALLAS WINGS, PAIGE BUECKERS pic.twitter.com/pREGdvalky!.?.!— Dallas Wings(@DallasWings)April 14, 2025 The three-time All-American ends up being the sixth UConn player
taken No. 1 overall, signing up with Breanna Stewart( 2016), Maya Moore( 2011), Tina Charles (2010 ), Diana Taurasi (2004 )and Sue Bird (2002 ). Bueckers is the sixth player to win a national title
and be drafted initially in general in the same year. The Minnesota local, together with four-time WNBA All-Star
guard Arike Ogunbowale, will seek to assist Dallas return to the playoffs after the group completed this past season with the league’s second-worst record(9-31 ). The Wings made the postseason in each of the previous three seasons. Dallas will host last season’s WNBA Finals runner-up, the Minnesota Lynx, on
opening night Might 16. Bueckers assisted UConn to the Last Four in each of the 4 seasons she played. The 23-year-old leaves Storrs as the leading scorer in the program history– an exceptional achievement for a storied program. Bueckers balanced 19.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists in her college career.
The Seattle Storm selected one of the most remarkable potential customers in the draft, Dominique
Malonga, out of France. The 19-year-old balanced 15 points and 10 rebounds for the French club ASVEL Féminin in 2024.
She ended up being a viral hit at age 16 when a video of her dunking was extensively shared. The 6-foot-6-inch budding star was the youngest member of France’s silver medal-winning women’s basketball team
at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Washington Mystics, who finished last season 19-21 and made the playoffs, prepared 3 of the next 4 players.
The Mystics took Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron with the third choice. Southern California forward Kiki Iriafen went fourth and Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore was 6th. The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s very first expansion franchise in 17 years, selected forward Justé Jocyté from Lithuania with the fifth
pick. The WNBA’s 29th routine season will include a record-high 44 games. 1. Dallas Wings: Paige Bueckers– Guard– UConn 2. Seattle Storm: Dominique Malonga– Center
— France 3. Washington Mystics: Sonia Citron– Guard– Notre Dame 4.
Washington Mystics: Kiki Iriafen– Forward– Southern California 5
. Golden State Valkyries: Justé Jocyté– Forward– Lithuania 6. Washington Mystics: Georgia Amoore– Guard– Kentucky 7. Connecticut Sun: Aneesah Morrow
— Forward– LSU 8. Connecticut Sun: Saniya Rivers– Guard– NC State 9. Los Angeles Stimulates
: Sarah Ashlee Barker– Guard– Alabama 10. Chicago Sky: Ajša Sivka– Forward– Slovenia
11. Chicago Sky: Hailey Van Lith– Guard– TCU 12. Dallas
Wings: Aziaha James– Guard– NC State