In less than four months the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season will begin and Paige Bueckers will be on the court for the UConn Huskies with hopes of avoiding injuries that have derailed her past two seasons.
Bueckers, who was the 2020-21 national player of the year after leading UConn to the NCAA championship game as a true freshman, suffered a significant knee injury as a sophomore then tore the ACL in her left knee last August as a junior. August 5 will mark one year since she underwent surgery––and she’s itching to play.
“I’m still waiting to get cleared to play pick up, play live basketball up and down the floor. I feel like I’m mentally already in a good space, physically in a good space,” Bueckers told Sloan Martin as a spectator at Wednesday’s WNBA game between the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings. “Since we have the time, I’m taking it. But I’m feeling really good.”
Bueckers, the Minnesota native who was the Gatorade player of the year as a senior at Hopkins High School in the Twin Cities, was at Wednesday’s game to support her former UConn teammate Dorka Juhasz, who has earned a starting role as a rookie with the Lynx.
Bueckers said she’ll likely head back to Connecticut in the near future. But a game she has circled on the calendar is Nov. 19 in Minneapolis when she and the Huskies face the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Williams Arena.
“For me to be playing at The Barn in a UConn jersey is a dream come true,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a surreal feeling when it happens.”
#UConn star @paigebueckers1 joined @SloaneMartin to talk about attending her first #Lynx game this season, supporting former teammate @Dorkajuhasz14, and her recovery from an ACL injury. #CantTameUs pic.twitter.com/dzhiv2fYjX
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) July 12, 2023
