Paige Bueckers has one of the best redemption stories in recent March Madness history. She came into UConn with so much pressure and expectation placed upon her to be the saving grace of a program that had won four back-to-back national championships and then hadn’t won anything in another four seasons. She was the best high-school prospect in years, the greatest hope in a new generation of basketball players.
Her journey through college did not end up the way she thought it was going to. Through challenges, injuries, and some bad luck, there was a chance she would leave college without a National Championship — something rare for UConn superstars. Yet, Paige’s story ends up being one of the most popular and most inspiring stories to come out of college basketball in recent years. It proves that it’s never too late to cement your legacy and to never give up.
Bueckers started her college career on a high, winning National Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year while achieving international notoriety along the way. UConn was ranked No. 1 in the country going into March Madness that year, but unfortunately lost in the Final Four to Arizona. It was sad at the time, but knowing Paige had at least three more chances to win it all softened the blow… no one knew what was to come.
In her sophomore season, Bueckers suffered the first big injury of her college career, fracturing her knee. This injury kept her out for a large portion of the season, but she did return in time to help the Huskies in the postseason. This time, UConn made it all the way to the National Championship game, even beating reigning National Champions Stanford along the way. Yet, it was not meant to be this year either, and the Huskies lost to South Carolina in the final game of the tournament.
Bueckers was then forced to redshirt her junior season, sitting out the entire year after injuring herself over the summer and needing ACL reconstruction surgery. That year, the Huskies struggled massively without their leader on the floor. They had their worst March Madness performance in many years, eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen by Ohio State.
Paige returned for her fourth year at UConn and her redshirt junior year in the 2023-2024 season. Despite having their leader back, UConn struggled massively with other injuries down the roster. They lost Azzi Fudd to another ACL injury, and Fudd needed to sit out the year just like Bueckers had the previous year. At one point, UConn’s roster was so decimated that there is an infamous game in which Bueckers (who plays point guard) was taking on the role of center on the court — because UConn didn’t have anyone to fulfill that role. Still, they had Bueckers, which automatically put them into contention to win the tournament. That year, they made it back to the Final Four, ultimately losing a nail-biter of a game to Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
After that season, Bueckers could have easily left and declared for the WNBA Draft and started her professional career. She was eligible and, based on skill alone, was prepared for the transition into professional basketball. Yet, because of both COVID and her redshirt year, she was eligible to come back to UConn for a fifth year if she wanted to.
She decided to give it one last shot and try to win that elusive NCAA Championship, returning as a redshirt senior for the 2024-2025 season.
It was the first time she had played with Azzi Fudd since the 2021-2022 season, just because of the way injuries had played out. UConn also recruited Sarah Strong, who came in as a Freshman that season, boosting UConn back into the conversation as National Championship favorites. Despite a rocky loss to Tennessee midseason and two other losses throughout the year, UConn headed into the March Madness tournament looking strong.
In an ending that felt written in the stars, UConn won the 2025 National Championship, and Bueckers finally got to call herself a National Champion. Five years of disappointments, challenges, injuries, heartbreak… and it was all worth it in the end. It couldn’t have worked out any better for Bueckers, who won the title and weeks later was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Bueckers did things her own way, choosing her own path, and is now regarded as one of the best to ever wear a UConn jersey. Her impact on women’s basketball culture is immense, and even so early on in her career is regarded as one of the best to ever play.
