20 rookie players entered the 2025 WNBA draft roster, but out of all these outstanding players, only one has been able to break records, change the game, and play like she’s already been in the league for twenty years.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers was announced as the 2025 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year winner on September 16, 2025. The road to this award wasn’t an easy one, and it’s only the start of her career going forward in the WNBA. Before she continues to make waves, you should understand why this award is so significant and where she started.
Paige Bueckers has been collecting various accolades since she was in high school. During her time at Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minnesota. She was named the National Gatorade female athlete of the year for her 2019-2020 senior season. She was also named the #1 recruit in her graduating class out of the nation for women’s basketball before committing to the University of Connecticut. Before graduating, her team ended their season undefeated on a 62-game winning streak. Despite bumps in the road, such as COVID-19 cancelling their National Championship game, she made sure she left her mark at Hopkins.
At the University of Connecticut, she continued to collect awards even as a freshman, winning the Associated Press Player of the Year, along with the John R. Wooden award, an award presented to the most outstanding collegiate basketball players. During her first year, she set the record for the most assists in a single game and became the fastest player at UConn to reach 1,000 points. At the start of her collegiate career, Bueckers averaged 20 points, 5.8 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game.
In her 2021-2022 Sophomore year at UConn, Bueckers played in just 17 games, having to miss 19 due to a knee injury. She was able to return in late February and lead the Huskies to the NCAA championship, where they lost to the University of South Carolina. Although her season was short-lived, Bueckers won an All-American honor for her performance and was the team’s second-highest scorer before her injury.
Leading up to her Junior year at the University of Connecticut, Bueckers tore her ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in her left knee during a pickup game of basketball in August of 2022. This put Paige Bueckers out for the whole 2022-2023 season.
With the incredible impact that she had on the team so far, she didn’t want her absence and injury to be a burden on her teammates. Bueckers spent the whole season in rehab and physical therapy, training to be back on the court for the 2023-2024 season. During this difficult time, she learned to lean on her teammates who had experienced an ACL tear; Caroline Ducharme, Aubrey Griffin, and Azzi Fudd were all teammates that she confided in, and helped give her realistic expectations of the healing process.
During her time in recovery, Bueckers also heavily read different devotionals and books in order to grow in her faith and confidence throughout the process, hoping that she would not just come back to the court stronger physically, but mentally too. Bueckers was officially cleared to be back on the court on August 9, 2023, allowing her to prepare for her senior year. Even though she had just come back from a major injury, she continued to break records. Bueckers became the fastest player at UConn to reach 2,000 career points, achieving the milestone in 102 games. Bueckers’ senior year was far from perfect. After making it to the Final Four, their season ended with a narrow and heartbreaking loss of 71-69 to the University of Iowa in the national semifinals. The University of Connecticut finished with a 32-6 record despite many injury challenges throughout the entire team.
For any other average collegiate basketball player, that’s where they would have chosen to end their time playing college basketball. But Bueckers, being the player she is, chose the hard route and decided to utilize her extra year of eligibility that she gained when she tore her ACL, with the goal of coming home with UConn’s 12th championship title. Going into her final year at the University of Connecticut as a redshirt senior, she knew she had a lot to prove.
Bueckers managed to put up a career high and a personal record of 40 points in a single game against Oklahoma in the NCAA sweet sixteen round. The University of Connecticut Huskies managed to continue to climb the ranks and made it to the final round against the University of South Carolina.
The night before the 2025 NCAA championship game, Bueckers broke down to her sports psychologist, “I just want to win it so bad,” and despite everything that she had been through, she was able to do just that. The next day, April 6th, 2025, the University of Connecticut won its 12th national championship title against the University of South Carolina with a score of 82-59. This marked their first national championship title in 9 years.
With only a little time to celebrate with UConn, Bueckers left her legacy and said a bittersweet goodbye to her teammates. Just over a week later, the 2025 WNBA draft was held at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York City. On April 14, 2025, Bueckers was selected as the Number 1 overall draft pick by the Dallas Wings. She was the 6th University of Connecticut alum to be the first overall draft pick. Bueckers didn’t slow down her first year in the WNBA. She tied the record for most points scored by a rookie in a single game, scoring 44 points against the LA Sparks on August 20th. The 44 points Bueckers put up are also the most in a single game scored by a WNBA player this entire season. She then also became the fastest rookie to score 250 and then 500 career points. Along with this, Bueckers set the Dallas Wings record for most assists in a single season. Despite being a rookie, she also remains in the top 5 players in the amount of average points scored in a game out of all WNBA players.
The league framed her rookie season around the phrase “Why slow down?” It’s evident that Bueckers has never been the type to let any adversity or setbacks define her, but instead uses them as fuel to keep pushing harder. Rookie of the Year isn’t the end of Paige Bueckers, but rather the beginning of what’s to come. Bueckers is accelerating into the role of becoming a generational player, and she’s not slowing down; she’s just getting started.
