Bueckers Picked 1st overall in WNBA Draft. Chen, Griffin go in 3rd Round

NEW YORK – Paige Bueckers likes to talk about being where her feet are.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft has spent the last year savoring the moment — being where her feet are when they were at Gampel Pavilion, playing in front of the home crowd one last time. Or in Tampa, winning that elusive national championship. Or now, as a member of the Dallas Wings.

It’s been a whirlwind eight days for Bueckers, who has shuttled between New York, where she’s done the talk show circuit and now the draft, and Storrs, where she’s still a student.

There will be more firsts for Bueckers to savor in the coming weeks, on and off the court. Her new home, at least in the summer, will be in Dallas. But on Monday night in New York, she made it clear that UConn will always be in her DNA.

“They mean everything to me,” Bueckers said of her UConn teammates. “All that they've helped me get through, all the ups and downs, the highs and lows, they see every side of me. The love is unconditional, so just forever grateful for them.”

Her ups and downs have been well documented. She came to Storrs in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and played her first season in front of cardboard cutouts as fans. Offseason ankle surgery caused her to miss a summer of development, then, a month into her sophomore season, she suffered a knee injury in garbage time of a game against Notre Dame.

Bueckers returned at the end of February and she helped bring UConn to the 2022 national title game, where they were outclassed by South Carolina.

That summer, she tore her ACL and missed her entire junior season.

It’s part of the reason that her national championship as a fifth-year senior meant so much. But mostly, it was because of the people she surrounded herself with in Storrs.

“I want to cherish that relationship for the rest of my life, and I wouldn't be here without them,” Bueckers added.

Moments after WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert called her name on Monday, Bueckers was standing next to Holly Rowe for an on-air interview. She immediately shouted out her teammates, who were all seated with her. By unofficial count, it was nearly the entire 2024-25 team plus her pro teammates of the past, Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards.

Bueckers also made sure to stump for Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin. Neither appeared on ESPN’s full mock draft. Both were third-round picks, with Chen going to the Golden State Valkyries and Griffin to the Minnesota Lynx.

Later that night, her head coach, Geno Auriemma, went on ESPN and summed up his No. 1 pick as best he could.

“There’s not one thing she gets that she doesn’t share with her teammates,” he said.

When Chen finally made her way to her press conference, she admitted to reporters that she did not expect to be drafted.

“I was really just here to watch Paige get drafted,” she said.

It works both ways. Bueckers was at the draft last year to support her teammates, Muhl and Edwards. The photo of her holding her phone up to record the moment that Edwards was drafted quickly went viral, with fans pointing out that she looked like a proud parent.

This time, though she was the one who took centerstage, she relished the opportunity to reflect on that moment.

“Last year was definitely a different role just in the supporting cast, just being so extremely happy for Nika and Aaliyah to see them live out their childhood dreams,” she said. “Especially coming in with them as freshmen to go through that entire journey.”

Now, her next journey begins. Not only is Bueckers about to play her first WNBA season, she has also signed a three-year deal with Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league founded by UConn alumni Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. She’ll make more in her first 10-week Unrivaled season than she’ll make in salary for her entire rookie contract with Dallas.

Bueckers said she wants to be part of the change that continues to improve conditions for players in the WNBA.

“I definitely want to be in those rooms, have those conversations, be a voice for the players and stand up for us,” she said. 

Bueckers will need to be in Dallas soon to begin training camp. Her now former UConn teammates will need to be back on campus for class. Life moves on for them all.

The Huskies are already at work trying to defend their 2025 national championship and the returning core will be joined by a new group of freshmen (and maybe a transfer or two) in the coming weeks.

Bueckers’ advice for the newcomers was simple and predictable. 

“Don't worry about anything but what you're doing in that moment and making the most of that day, winning that day, conquering that day, and just be where your feet are,” she said.

Bueckers’ feet may be taking her to Dallas, but a part of her will always be in Storrs.