March Madness is upon us, and Paige Bueckers, the University of Connecticut star senior guard, is one of the players fans will be watching throughout the tournament.
Bueckers is the top-ranked prospect in the WNBA draft, which will take place on April 14. And with the Dallas Wings awarded the No. 1 draft pick this season, Bueckers might be making her way to Texas for her professional debut.
Shawn McFarland, who covers sports for The Dallas Morning News, said Bueckers’ college career has been impressive so far.
“She came to UConn, which is one of the most prestigious women’s basketball programs in the country, as a number one recruit in the nation, highly sought-after dynastic talent,” he said.
“That’s only grown in her five, six years at UConn now where she won national player of the year as a freshman. She’s won tons of awards. Her on court abilities are so cerebral and one of a kind, really.
“And then off the court, she has really risen to celebrity standards and being a face of the women’s basketball boom that we’re in, alongside the Caitlin Clarks and the Angel Reeses of the world.”
McFarland said Bueckers’ talent is very much on par with Clark.
“If you look back to both their freshman years, Paige was the better player. She was the bigger face at that time. Paige’s injuries kind of led to Caitlin being able to take the throne, sort of,” he said. “It’s probably unfair to compare anything to the hype of Caitlin Clark. But Paige would be the 1B to that 1A, if there were one at this point.”
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Bueckers playing for Dallas will be great for the franchise, McFarland said.
“On the court, you’re getting one of the better draft prospects in recent memory and you’re pairing that with Arike Ogunbowale, who’s already one of the best players in women’s basketball, and that gives you a legitimate core to build around,” he said. “Off the court, I think you’re getting someone who the city of Dallas and North Texas and really all of the women’s basketball fans in the state can fall in love with. And I think the Wings need that to really improve their footing and their cultural, you know, ingrainment in DFW.”
McFarland said he also sees a future for the Dallas Wings where they build rivalries around Bueckers and Clark or Reese.
“Caitlin and Paige, they’re really close. They have a great relationship,” he said. “They go way back. They played in high school and their freshman years at UConn and Iowa. … throughout the history of sports, those kinds of individual player rivalries are what can fuel the life force of certain teams.”
And while Bueckers is not guaranteed to go to the Wings, McFarland said it’s more than likely.
“There have been rumors circulating that people in Paige’s camp would have preferred a different team to get the first overall pick, like the Los Angeles team, that’s a championship-winning team in a big market,” he said. “They had the best odds to get the first overall pick, and Dallas came in and got it instead.
“But … it would take Paige using her leverage to either stay at school for one more year or go play in a startup league elsewhere to not wind up in Dallas, and that would be unprecedented.”
