‘I’m Very Happy To Be Here’: Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers Reflects On Watching UConn From The Sidelines At Season Opener
While the location of the UConn women’s basketball season opener was mired in uncertainty for weeks, Paige Bueckers made sure she was in attendance no matter where the Huskies tipped off.
Originally slated to face Louisville at Ramstein Air Base in Germany as part of the Armed Forces Classic, the game was moved to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis due to the late-October government shutdown.
Bueckers, the former Naismith Award winner and No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, was seated in the UConn family section Tuesday night, cheering as her alma mater opened the season with a dominant first quarter.
A Surreal Perspective for Paige Bueckers
After the opening quarter, Bueckers joined ESPN’s Holly Rowe courtside to reflect on the emotions of watching her former teammates play without her for the first time in years.
“Definitely weird, definitely like a surreal feeling of just being in a different position, watching from a different perspective—not being yelled at when the UConn game is on,” Bueckers said. “So it’s all different vibes, but I’m very happy to be here, very excited to watch.”
Rowe joked that Bueckers looked “like a proud mom” taking photos from the stands, to which the former Husky laughed: “Definitely more at home if you come yell at me.”
From her vantage point, Bueckers praised UConn’s energy and pace, noting the early dominance that saw the Huskies sprint out to a 14–1 run and hold Louisville to nine first-quarter points.
“It’s their depth that allows them to play extremely fast,” Bueckers said. “You see them picking up full court, 94 feet, the entire game so far. I think it’s the depth and the different versatile lineups that we can have out on the floor. We’re shooting the ball really well, and defensively, to hold a great Louisville team to nine points in the first quarter is a great start.”
Passing the Torch to Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold
With Bueckers now in the pros, sophomore guard KK Arnold has taken the reins as UConn’s lead playmaker—and she wasted no time making her mark, scoring nine first-quarter points.
“Just the passion and the intensity that she’s always played with, I was very excited for her to take ownership of the team,” Bueckers said. “She’s learned from Nika, she’s learned from me, she’s learned from Kailin Chen. So for this to be her team and her time to run the team as the point guard, she’s doing a great job.”
Bueckers also offered advice for former teammate Azzi Fudd, who enters the season as a Player of the Year candidate and the face of this new UConn era.
“Just to focus on what matters—to focus on the team, focus on being present,” Bueckers said. “That’s sort of the mindset that we had the entire last year, what I’ve embodied, and what she’s learning to embody: just staying present, staying where your feet are. There are a lot of outside voices, a lot of expectations, and lots of pressures, but if you focus on where you are in the moment, all of that is just noise.”
Even from the stands, Bueckers’ presence was felt—her words a reminder of the legacy and standard she helped uphold in Storrs.
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