Paige Bueckers’s Hometown in MN to Rename City After WNBA Rookie for Her Wings Debut

Paige Bueckers’s hometown of Hopkins, Minn., is very proud of her basketball career as she prepares for her WNBA debut with the Dallas Wings next month, to say the least.

The Hopkins city council recently voted to celebrate “Paige Bueckers Day” on May 16, which is the date of Bueckers’s official WNBA debut with the Wings. Additionally, the city voted unanimously to rename Hopkins to “Paige Bueckers, Minn.,” for the day.

It’s safe to guess that many Hopkins residents will be going all out for watching Bueckers play for the Wings on May 16, and likely all season.

While playing in high school in Hopkins, Bueckers was named Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year during her senior season. She earned many local, state and national honors while in high school.

Bueckers was selected No. 1 overall by the Wings on Monday during the WNBA draft. She’s coming off winning the national title with UConn in her final collegiate season. It was Bueckers’s first NCAA title, and UConn’s 12th as a program. Bueckers is a three-time first-team All-American and a three-time Big East Player of the Year. She missed the 2022–23 season after suffering a torn ACL, but bounced back and returned to dominate in the last two seasons.