Bueckers said coach Geno Auriemma is ‘a lot nicer to me now that I’m not a player.’
Bueckers joined the UConn practice squad when she was back to receive her championship ring.
Bueckers looks forward to playing for Wings coach Jose Fernandez and hopes to help build a winner.
When Paige Bueckers returned to Storrs, Connecticut, of the first time seven months after leading the UConn Huskies to the program’s 12th national title, she noticed a change in head coach Geno Auriemma.
‘He’s a lot nicer to me now that I’m not a player there,’ Bueckers told USA TODAY Sports ahead of the release of her CarMax commercial on Monday. ‘We picked up right where we left off for sure.’
Being back in Storrs felt ‘really weird,’ Bueckers admitted. She left UConn as a three-time first-team All-American and returned as the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings. After a nearly a full calendar year of basketball, Bueckers said she’s finally had the opportunity to catch her breath and process her achievements and what’s ahead.
‘On my birthday (on Oc. 20), I reflected on the year 23 itself and how much of a journey it was,’ said Bueckers. ‘I stayed the most present and it ended up being one of the most fun, joyful, just peaceful years of my life. Just embracing everything that kind of came my way.’
PAIGE BUECKERS’ birthday celebration includes throwing dimes at the Cowboys game
It’s the same mindset Bueckers has carried to Dallas in her transition from the top-ranked Huskies to the struggling Wings, who finished at the bottom of the WNBA standings last season with a 10-34 record. Bueckers, who was named second-team All-WNBA, is no stranger to adversity and knows anything worth having comes with ‘bumps, bruises, wins and losses.’
‘To come off of a national championship, where you’re on top of the world, and then come to the Dallas Wings organization and not have immediate success in terms of the end result of a winning and losing season,’ Bueckers said. ‘I believe everything in my life happens for a reason and there’s a purpose. And even through the injuries, through all the adversity in my life, I’ve always looked back and been extremely grateful for it.’
Paige Bueckers returns to UConn, joins practice team
While in town for UConn’s championship ring ceremony in late October, Bueckers joined the practice squad to compete against her former teammates. When Bueckers stepped on the Huskies practice court again, she quickly noticed Auriemma’s change in demeanor.
‘I was a practice player, so it was fun to kind of beat up on (Auriemma) and the team on the other side of things and not have to worry about him yelling at me,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Just to be on the other side … you really feel no pressure. You’re out there just hooping having fun, and the other team is getting yelled at, so you’re not really worried about anything. You can just go be free.’
Lots of trash talking was involved, even toward her teammates: ‘I even had to yell at my practice squad teammates, because they were not locked in. So everybody can get it. Nobody’s safe.’
CHECK OUT HUSKIES BLING: Paige Bueckers helped design UConn’s championship rings
The Huskies (4-0) are ranked No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll as they look to repeat as champions without Bueckers, which Auriemma compared to ‘losing three players.’ Bueckers expects UConn junior guard KK Arnold to step up this season and take more ownership of the team.
‘(Arnold) learned from Nika (Mühl), she learned from me, she learned from Kaitlyn Chen, just in that point guard role position,’ she said. ‘And now it’s really her team. She’s an upperclassman. So she’ll continue to find different ways to lead in her unique way, to continue to find a way to use her voice and be that voice and that presence for the team. I’m really excited to watch.’
Although Auriemma believes he’s low on Bueckers’ totem pole — Auriemma said she didn’t respond to his birthday text message until ’20 hours later’ — the 24-year-old phenom said visiting her former team felt like coming home to visit family, ‘I felt like no time had passed.’
Auriemma ‘huge fan’ of Wings head coach
Bueckers hopes to form a similar type of relationship with Jose Fernandez, who was hired as the Wings head coach in October after leading the South Florida women’s basketball for 25 seasons. Bueckers said she’s ‘connected with (Fernandez) a couple times’ since his hiring and is ‘getting to learn more about who he is.’
One thing she knows, Auriemma ‘is a huge fan of him.’
‘(Fernandez) has been extremely successful in his entire college career. I played against him a few times,’ said Bueckers. ‘I like the way he thinks basketball and the way he is really lived it his whole entire life. And that’s how I am. I live, breathe basketball, so continue to work with him, get to know him more, him getting to know me and the team more. I’m really excited.’
Bueckers said she doesn’t set individual goals: ‘I’m just trying to win the day, trying to compete, trying to get better, trying to lead, trying to gain everybody’s respect, and ultimately just trying to do everything it takes to build a winning culture.’
Bueckers added that she wants to come back stronger, which became clear as early as the WNBA preseason when ‘a Jackie Young shoulder check straight to the chest’ left her breathless in a humbling welcome to the WNBA moment.
‘I want to live in the paint a little bit more, get to the rim a little bit more (and) get to the free throw line more,’ said Bueckers, who averaged 19.2 points per game in her rookie campaign. ‘Just get my legs back, get my strength back, muscle and muscle endurance so that I can last through an entire long season.’
Paige Bueckers partners with CarMax
Buckers said her move to Dallas pushed her to ‘become an adult in real time.’ Which that comes adult decisions, like picking out the right car. Bueckers signed a three-year partnership with CarMax and is set to star in a campaign, titled, ‘Wanna By Your Way?’ In the ad, she dons a Cowboy hat while in search of the perfect vehicle to accommodate her new Western lifestyle.
Bueckers remembers watching CarMax commercials when she was a little girl.
‘I’ve been a huge fan of (CarMax) commercials and how they set women up for success and give ’em the platform to be on national television to be seen,’ Bueckers said. ‘To have little girls see that we have representation and we are in these commercials … just as the men in the NBA are, it’s really huge.’
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
