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With a National Championship under her belt, Paige Bueckers can now shift her attention to the WNBA Draft.
The Huskies star put up 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in Sunday’s 82-59 blowout over the South Carolina Gamecocks. Bueckers is now the undisputed No. 1 pick in next week’s draft — a position Caitlin Clark understands all too well.
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Clark joined The Bird & Taurasi Show — ESPN’s alternate broadcast of Sunday’s title game — where she described the qualities that she believes will help Bueckers enjoy a smooth transition into the pros.
“I think her poise. That’s something you need coming into the W,” Clark said. “It all hits you so fast. You’re moving to a new city, you’re trying to understand your teammates, while you’re trying to live up to all these expectations. And I think that’s one of the greatest things about her game is just her poise and her maturity, and nothing ever seems to faze her. And she’s just always the same constant leader.”
Bueckers has pushed through serious adversity during her time at UConn.
Her freshman year was held in a bubble amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She missed over half her sophomore season and her entire junior year with knee injuries, including an ACL tear in the summer of 2022. She reached the Final Four three times before this year — including a 2022 national title game loss — and fell short each time. Until now.
Paige Bueckers finally got her National Championship win.
(David Butler II-Imagn Images)
And through all that, she’s considered one of the best players in the country.
“She can score on all three levels, and she finishes well around the rim. Her mid-range game is some of the best I’ve honestly ever seen,” Clark said. “And, you know, obviously she can score from the 3-point line, too.
“So I think all that — you can play point guard, but you can also play off the ball. I think that’ll be an interesting dynamic with [Dallas Wings guard] Arike [Ogunbowale], obviously, we all know she’s going No. 1. So it’ll be interesting to see how they kind of put those two pieces together and how that’ll work.”
Caitlin Clark Praises UConn National Championship Team
Clark is familiar with head coach Geno Auriemma and his UConn squad.
The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year faced the Huskies three times during her collegiate career at Iowa. Her Hawkeyes lost in the first two meetings before barely edging out the Huskies, 71-69, in last year’s Final Four.
During Sunday’s broadcast, Clark praised Auriemma and his storied program.
“They just are so disciplined,” Clark said. “They’re gonna do what they do, and they’re gonna do it really well. And also, I think for myself, I’ve seen his teams. They always had some of the best scouts against me. You can tell how smart he is. He understands the game. He’s coached against so many really good players…
“He just always has an answer. Has different people, and I think that’s one of the best things about him. Like, he has one game plan, but then he has something in his back pocket.”
Geno Auriemma is the winningest coach in college basketball history.
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
In addition to all those things in his back pocket, Auriemma has 12 NCAA Championships to his name and has produced five UConn players that have become No. 1 overall draft picks.
That’ll be six when Bueckers’ name gets called on April 14. Dallas has the first pick in the draft.
