Paige Bueckers' heartwarming UConn 'first day' return photos with nostalgic twist

Even a 5-year-old Bueckers had a premonition that she’d be a basketball player… a superstar social media sensation though?

Paige Bueckers looks on before throwing out the first pitch at the Minnesota Twins game. / IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Paige Bueckers had an unbelievable summer break that could rival Livvy Dunne, Angel Reese, and Flau’jae Johnson.

Whether it was owning WNBA All-Star weekend with Flau’jae, throwing out the first pitch for a Minnesota Twins game, signing new lucrative NIL deals to sport pink hair, sharing guilty pleasures at a local state fair, or rocking the ESPY Awards with the No. 1 most baller fit in a killer purple lavender suit (according to The Athlete Lifestyle On SI), the UConn Huskies women’s basketball main attraction made the best of her time away from Geno Auriemma’s squad.

RELATED: Bueckers rocks crop top, matching Jordans for Twins first pitch (PHOTOS)

So when the presumptive WNBA 2025 No. 1 draft pick returned to campus, much like Livvy Dunne and the LSU Tigers women’s gymnastics team, the UConn women’s basketball Instagram handle shared a Bueckers version with a heartwarming twist.

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A post shared by UConn Women's Basketball (@uconnwbb)

"Paige knew who she was from a very early age," the caption reads.

If you scroll through, they recreated her exact ‘first day’ arts and crafts project from when she was 5 years old. Even then, she knew she “likes to basketball.” Now, she’s a NIL juggernaut (no. 2 woman behind Livvy Dunne on On3’s NIL 100 list) and social media sensation, not to mention an elite basketball player.

Bueckers main goal in the short term now is winning a national championship for UConn.

— Enjoy free dish of rich and fabulous players with The Athlete Lifestyle on SI —

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