Geno Auriemma Notes What He Wants to See More of From UConn Star Paige Bueckers
The UConn Huskies women's basketball team plays in a Big East showdown against the Villanova Wildcats on January 5.
In addition to this being an important conference clash, this game is especially compelling for Huskies star guard Paige Bueckers because it's her 100th career game at UConn.
Bueckers' time playing college basketball has been an absolute rollercoaster. From being the first freshman in NCAA history to win the Naismith Trophy (which is given to the best player in women's college basketball each season) and carrying UConn to the Final Four in that season, to tearing her ACL in August 2022 and missing a year of play, to carrying UConn to the Final Four again in 2024, to now having one final chance to secure a National Championship before she heads to the WNBA, it seems like she has experienced it all.
Despite the criticism she has faced at points this season, there's no question that Bueckers is one of college basketball's top talents. However, that doesn't mean she's perfect. Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma declared a couple of things he'd like to see more of from Bueckers when speaking with CT Insider's Carl Adamec for a January 3 article.
"I'd like to see her be a little more free and experiment a little more," Auriemma said in the article. "She values this efficiency thing. I'd like to see her take more risks, but that's always the case with me and our best players. I don't want them to worry about being perfect."
"She does everything with her whole heart into it, with all her effort and all her energy. She does it with a purpose and passion." - @UConnWBB guard @azzi_35 on teammate @paigebueckers1 who will play in her 100th game for #Huskies Sunday at Villanova ... https://t.co/hQexWAkkjw
— carl adamec (@CarlAdamec) January 3, 2025
Perhaps Bueckers' 100th UConn game on Sunday will be when she decides to play as free as Auriemma would like to see.
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.