UConn Star Paige Bueckers Announces Intention to Return for Fifth Season

Bueckers will forego the WNBA draft for another season at UConn.

UConn Huskies women’s basketball defeated Georgetown by a score of 85–44 to maintain their perfect record in Big East play, but that wasn’t the biggest story of Friday’s senior night at Gampel Pavilion. 

Paige Bueckers, the star guard and leading scorer for the Huskies this season, announced her intention to return for a fifth season in the best way possible. 

The redshirt junior, a projected top pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, delivered a speech, speaking as if she was saying farewell, then doing an about-face to announce her return for the 2024-25 season, to the delight of the 10,299 fans in attendance. 

"This will not be my last Senior Night"

PAIGE BUECKERS IS RETURNING TO UCONN NEXT YEAR 🔥 pic.twitter.com/o4b0wQYSPX

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 17, 2024

"I know everybody wants me to address the elephant in the room. Unfortunately, this will... not be my last senior night here at UConn. I'm coming back!" Bueckers said as the crowd went wild. 

Bueckers had fans going through all possible emotions during this speech, from nervousness to panic to, finally, relief. Much like her speech, Bueckers’s UConn career has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. 

She has experienced the highest of highs—becoming the first freshman to win the Wooden, Naismith, Associated Press and USBWA Player of the Year awards while leading the Huskies to the Final Four in 2020–21. She’s also faced the lowest of lows—playing in just 17 games due to injury in 2021–22, then missing the entire 2022–23 season after tearing her ACL. 

Bueckers clearly wants another shot at an NCAA title, and will now get two more opportunities, with this year’s tournament as well as a potential chance in 2024–25. 

The Hopkins, Minn. native is averaging 20 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in 27 contests played this season.