The Huskies’ star squashed mounting speculation about her future.
Paige Bueckers re-affirmed her intention to forgo her final season of eligibility at UConn and turn pro.
“Yeah, that’s the plan,” she said after the loss to Tennessee.
Back in June, Bueckers announced that she planned on the 2024-25 campaign being her last at UConn, though she did leave the door cracked to a return.
“That’s the plan,” she said at the time. “I’ve learned not to speak on the future, you never know what could happen. But as of right now that’s the plan.”
When the Dallas Wings won the WNBA Draft lottery and became the favorites to land Bueckers with the No. 1 pick, speculation swirled that she’d force her way to a different team (like Eli Manning in the 2004 NFL Draft) or even return to the Huskies.
The latter theory was bolstered in October when the WNBAPA opted out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. That mean if Bueckers left after this season, she’d be locked into a rookie contract under the old deal. If she waited another year, she could potentially benefit from a new CBA.
Those rumors sprouted up on their own, though. Bueckers herself never indicated that she might be back and there were never any credible reports that suggested she’d changed her mind.
That leaves Bueckers with less than two months remaining in her UConn career. She became the 12th player to reach 2,000 career points last month but will try to capture an elusive national title in her last go-around with the Huskies.