One of the biggest stars in college basketball is returning for the 2024-25 season.
During a senior night ceremony on Friday, Feb. 16, Connecticut's Paige Bueckers announced that she would return for another in Storrs. Bueckers, a redshirt junior, is draft-eligible in 2024 but put speculation to rest with UConn's March Madness run on the horizon.
See what she had to say below.
MORE: Paige Bueckers class, draft eligibility explained
Paige Bueckers announces that she's returning for her senior season at UConn
"I know everybody wants me to address the elephant in the room," Bueckers said during her senior night speech. "Unfortunately, this will not be my last senior night here at UConn — I'm coming back!"
"Unfortunately this will not be my last Senior NIght"
— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) February 17, 2024
PAIGE BUECKERS WILL RETURN TO STORRS NEXT YEAR! pic.twitter.com/0F9hS04Rof
After teasing fans by prefacing her statement with "unfortunately," Bueckers' statement was met with loud cheers from the fans at Gampel Pavillion, each of whom was delighted for another season of Bueckers' excellence.
Bueckers would later expound on her decision while talking with SNY.
"I just feel like I'm not done yet here," Bueckers added. "I feel like God is still writing my story here. I'm just blessed to be a part of this program and I never want it to end."
Bueckers, who swept National Player of the Year awards as a freshman in 2021, has been dealt a rough injury hand throughout her UConn career. As a sophomore, Bueckers suffered a fractured tibia, and a torn ACL prevented her from taking the floor as a junior.
After redshirting in 2022-23, Bueckers returned to the court in 2023-24 with a clean bill of health for a Connecticut team looking to win its fourth consecutive Big East Tournament Championship.
UConn improved to 22-5 on the season after its senior night victory over Georgetown. The Huskies will look to remain undefeated in conference play before moving on to the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
Bueckers, who is averaging 20.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game this season, was a projected top-five pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She now will return for her redshirt senior year, after which she could become the consensus favorite to go first overall in the 2025 WNBA draft.
Paige Bueckers career stats
- 18.7 points per game
- 4.7 assists per game
- 4.6 rebounds per game
- 2.1 steals per game
- 1.9 turnovers per game
- 53.4 percent field goal shooting
- 43.6 percent 3-point shooting
- 83.4 percent free throw shooting
