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Dallas Wings coach Jose Fernandez has high hopes for Paige Bueckers’ development.
Bueckers will enter her second season with the Wings after winning the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year this past season while beginning to establish her identity as a Wings superstar.
“Paige is a very good basketball player,” Fernandez said on ‘In Case You Missed It.’ “She’s one of the faces of the league and the future of the WNBA and also USA basketball.”
For someone who hasn’t coached her at the professional level, that’s high praise from Fernandez. Fernandez accepted the Wings job after a long stint at South Florida, as he’ll attempt to turn around a 10-win Wings team from this past season.
Bueckers told Dallas Wings on SI last month how energized she is to learn from someone as seasoned as Fernandez.
“I am very excited,” Bueckers said. “I competed against him a couple times in college and his team was always a tough competitor. He is highly regarded by people who really know basketball, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Bueckers said the time to buy stock in the Wings comeback hopes is right now.
“We are all extremely invested in the success of our team, and really care about each other and the community,” Bueckers said. We have a great young core and amazing pieces to build around. We all approach the game in the right way – prioritizing the right things and wanting to build this thing the right way with the right people.”
Barring anything catastrophic, the Wings’ road back to the top of the league should be extremely interesting.
For now, Bueckers is letting the rebuild play out as such.
“I remember Steph Curry, before the Warriors became the Warriors, like, he tweeted out, ‘Just stick with us… We’re gonna figure it out.’ That’s the message,” Bueckers said as the season wound down.
Bueckers’ team finished 10-34 despite her winning WNBA ROTY honors in her initial season in Dallas. Despite there being more lows than highs, there is reason for future optimism as the organization is all-in on Fernandez.
We will be relentless in our pursuit of excellence, approaching everything we do with elite standards and a championship mindset,” Fernandez said of his team’s new identity. “I couldn’t be more excited to serve as your Head Coach and will work tirelessly to lead this organization to a level of success that both the Wings and the DFW community can be proud of.”
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