The UConn guard is set to join the ranks after the 2024-25 season.
The 2024 rookie class has been nothing but a boon for the WNBA as the electric play and personalities of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and their draft mates has elevated attention in the league to rarely-seen heights. Viewership records are being broken weekly and in general the modern sports world hasn’t been this focused on the WNBA in decades.
The upward trajectory seems set to continue unabated, too. This year’s rookie class has been great and the Clark-Reese rivalry, in particular, has drawn more eyeballs to the game than any rivalry in modern W history. But next year’s class is slated to be just as loaded with talent. UConn’s Paige Bueckers has long been tabbed as a future WNBA star and USC’s JuJu Watkins appears to be on a similar path after a standout freshman year.
For her part, Bueckers has been keeping a close eye on the unfoldings in the professional world and praised Clark, along with her draftmates, for their play and bringing more attention to the WNBA.
“I think it’s a high level of basketball,” Bueckers told assembled media at the UConn campus on Friday. “I think a lot of new eyes are watching and they’re impressed with the talent and impressed with the level of physicality. But that’s kind of what the league has been. And I think Caitlin has brought so many new eyes to the game and we appreciate that.
“When people tune in to watch her, they leave the game fans of so many more. I think the game is growing a lot… It’s impressive. I think the rookie class is doing extremely well and just to see the level of talent and just the teams and how well they’re doing is fun to watch.”
Below you’ll find video, via Lori Riley of the Hartford Courant.
Paige on Caitlin Clark and the WNBA pic.twitter.com/3wpV2fDCeU
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) June 28, 2024
Bueckers is entering her senior season after falling short of a national title last year, losing to Clark’s Iowa squad in the Final Four. She averaged 21.9 points per game on 53% shooting from the floor in a bounce-back season after tearing her ACL ahead of her sophomore year.
Bueckers is primed to dominate the college game again this season with the Huskies, and will then enter the 2025 WNBA draft. That’s when she’ll try to emulate what Clark, Reese, and the other members of the standout 2024 class have done in their first seasons as professionals.
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