Women's Fastbreak On SI

Rebecca Lobo Sets the Record Straight on Paige Bueckers WNBA Draft Decision

There's now a clear answer on whether UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers will enter the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Grant Young

Mar 24, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) talks to the crowd after defeating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Mar 24, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) talks to the crowd after defeating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

There is little question that if she declares for the 2025 WNBA Draft, UConn Huskies superstar Paige Bueckers will be the draft's No. 1 overall pick, which belongs to the Dallas Wings.

However, there has been some speculation from women's basketball media members that Bueckers might not want to play in Dallas, and could therefore instead decide to play one more season at UConn.

The noise about this topic has reached a point where Wings executive vice president and General Manager Curt Miller addressed it directly as part of a March 13 article from The Dallas Morning News by saying, “We have not heard anything directly that any person eligible for this draft would not want to play in Dallas. In fact, [Wings star] Arike [Ogunbowale] hears from most of the top possible draft picks in this class, and they’re all really, really excited about possibly pairing with Arike.”

Despite the rumors, Bueckers has never given any indication that she's indeed considering a return to UConn. In fact, she has said several times that this will be her final season with the Huskies.

If anybody still had doubts about the star guard's intentions, basketball icon Rebecca Lobo shut the door on any debate with a March 28 X post that read, "Paige Bueckers confirmed to us today that she will enter the 2025 @WNBA Draft. (Some had suggested she would not declare, play in Unrivaled, and then declare in 2026.)"

So there you have it. Now, any speculation about Bueckers' future can be put to rest while she tries to capture a 2025 NCAA National Championship trophy.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

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.

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