Geno Auriemma Held Nothing Back About Paige Bueckers' Offseason Criticism
UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers is expected to be one of (if not the) best players in women's college basketball this season.
Given her extraordinary talent and impressive pedigree, there's no question that she's capable of leading UConn to its 12th national title under head coach Geno Auriemma.
However, some people who paid attention to Bueckers' movements this summer might have wondered whether she's putting in enough work on the basketball court.
Bueckers addressed this sentiment earlier in the month by saying, "I had a pretty good summer. I enjoyed it. It was my first healthy offseason where I wasn't in a place rehabbing, staying at school, getting stronger. So I took advantage of it.
"Everybody saw the world tour, they didn't see the work tour," Bueckers continued.
listen up everyone 🧏🏽♀️ pic.twitter.com/wcq2YzfYQw
— 💌 (@babymarri11) October 3, 2024
Bueckers' head coach Geno Auriemma echoed his best players' words on Saturday.
"She always does," Auriemma said of Bueckers putting in the work this offseason, per @babymarri11. "There may be a lot of things that Paige is afforded, and things that she can do because of who she is and how much demand she's in on a regular basis.
"But there’s one thing she’ll never do: She’ll never cheat the game or the preparation that goes into allowing her to play at the highest level. And she’ll be very offended if you suggest that all she did this offseason was [travel]," Auriemma continued.
"there’s one thing she’ll never do, she’ll never cheat the game or the preparation that goes into allowing her to play at the highest level. and she’ll be very offended if you suggest that all she did this offseason was [travel]"
— 💌 (@babymarri11) October 19, 2024
Geno on Paige’s world tour pic.twitter.com/U5ybdEvhaH
He then went on to compare Bueckers to Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian, due to her level of celebrity status in pop culture right now.
Sounds like fans can expect a big time season from Bueckers.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.