TAMPA, Fla. — The Paige Bueckers UConn legacy was complete. A nearly 10-year national championship drought was over. Navy blue and white confetti rained down, a triumphant mark of the last jewel being added to Bueckers’ proverbial crown.
The Huskies’ celebration of their resounding victory over South Carolina ensued, and Bueckers was the first to be handed the NCAA championship trophy. She guarded the gold-faced trophy while pulling on a commemorative T-shirt and hat, pulling her signature ponytail through the back.
Bueckers and her teammates mounted the stairs to the trophy presentation platform, and the fifth-year senior took a spot at the back corner of the stage. Often stoic, she hugged, jumped, laughed and joked with teammates while taking in the cheers.
“Just so much gratitude for everything this program has meant to me, for how much my teammates have meant to me,” Bueckers said after the game. “I can’t name all the people. Everybody here, it takes a village just to do what we do here. Every one is important to the team success.”
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The celebration actually started with tears. Before the final buzzer sounded, before the confetti fell, before the trophy presentation, before the Huskies cut down the nets, Bueckers spent one last on-court moment with Geno Auriemma.
With 1:32 remaining, Bueckers left the floor in a Huskies uniform for the last time and UConn fans leapt to their feet for their star. Bueckers embraced Auriemma, her head coach of five years, on the sideline in a poignant moment of emotional release. Bueckers said that in the hug, Geno told her he loved her.
“I told him I hate him,” Bueckers joked with a smirk toward her coach.
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“She might deny it, but she cried,” Auriemma said after Bueckers left the interview room.
Back on the stage, as more confetti fluttered down, the three-time All American stood with her arms wide, letting the paper scraps fall over her. When it cleared, she looked to the UConn family section, waving and smiling to those present to support her.
UConn greats swarmed the stage, joining the newly crowned champions for pictures. Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Kaitlyn Chen even held a UConn national champions flag behind them as a backdrop while tossing confetti. Former Huskies and current WNBA stars Aaliyah Edwards and Breanna Stewart celebrated with the new generation of UConn stars.
More interviews, congratulations and hugs awaited Buckers before she could ascend the ladder as the final player to snip a piece of the national championship net.
(Crucially, UConn does not cut down the nets after any other tournament victory, unlike many other teams. The Huskies only cut the net for the national title. So for this group of newbies, associate head coach Chris Dailey had to instruct on the intricacies of net-cutting.)
Bueckers then watched managers and other support staff cut their pieces of history. Her eyes lit up when someone brought her a can of Diet Coke, and she quickly cracked it open. After a long pull and offering a sip to teammate Jana El Alfy, Bueckers shook her head and let out a “WOO!”
With soda can in hand, a reporter asked how she was feeling. “Amazing. Blessed. Hopeful,” she replied before scurrying away.
As Bueckers awaits the start of her professional career — the WNBA draft is April 14 — her legacy is forever cemented in both the NCAA record books and the hearts of the UConn faithful.
Makenzy Wolford is a student in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.
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