8 Things to Know About UConn Basketball Star Paige Bueckers Right Now

During this 12 months’s March Madness tournament, she seems injury-free and focused on the good things. “I’m just attempting to rejoice,” Bueckers told the “Last 12 months I missed this chance, and I really need to embrace it and remember why I’m playing and the enjoyment that I play with. I all the time play higher after I’m pleased.”

3. She was once teammates with Caitlin Clark.

While the Final Four goes to be a showdown between the 2 powerhouses, they weren’t all the time rivals: Bueckers and Clark were actually teammates for a temporary time a couple of years ago. They each played for Team USA within the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup—and won gold. In fact, Bueckers was even named MVP of the tournament, partly as a consequence of her role helping her team win within the time beyond regulation final.

“Since I’ve known her, since she was in middle school, she’s all the time worked that very same way, she’s all the time had that fireside, she’s all the time been an amazing leader, and I actually truthfully couldn’t be happier for her and the 12 months she’s had,” Clark told CUT going into the Final Four.

4. Bueckers uses her platform for advocacy.

After winning the ESPY for Best Women’s College Athlete in 2021, Bueckers used her acceptance speech as a possibility to advocate for Black athletes. “As a white woman who leads a Black-led sport,” she said on stage, “I need to shed a light-weight on Black women. They don’t get the media coverage they deserve. They’ve given a lot to this sport, the community, and society as an entire, and their value is undeniable.”

Bueckers also uses her social media platforms to attract attention to racism, police brutality, and social injustice. It’s personal for Bueckers, whose younger brother Drew is Black. She captioned a carousel of photos of Drew promising, “I’m going to work for change, little brother. I need you to grow up in a world that accepts you for who you might be.”

5. She applied to trademark the nickname “Paige Buckets.”

Bueckers should have seen a possibility when the NCAA began allowing student-athletes to earn cash from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in 2021. According to she applied to trademark the term “Paige Buckets” to sell merch tagged together with her apt nickname (namely “shirts, pants, jackets, footwear, hats and caps, athletic uniforms,” in accordance with the trademark application). It looks just like the trademark has since been abandonedbut now that UConn is back within the Final Four for a record twenty third time, it might be time to revive the plan so Bueckers’s fans can get some serious swag.

6. And she already has some pretty sweet sponsors and partnerships.

Bueckers has greater than 2.2 million followers across Instagram and TikTok combined, and she or he could also be among the many highest-paid college athletes. In 2022, estimated that she made $824,000 in the primary 18 months after the NIL rules went into effect. She’s partnered with several noteworthy brands, including CVS, Dunkin’and even the US Army. She’s also sponsored by Gatorade and Nike.

7. She’s super close together with her teammates.

Bueckers is all about her teammates, on and off the court. In a post-game press conference with media on March 11, when asked about teammate Nika Muhl’s hope to interrupt the varsity assist record (which she’s since done), Bueckers said she was “mad” about missing a possibility to assist Muhl reach her five hundredth in a recent game. Bueckers then became emotional enthusiastic about ending their time playing together: “This is my sister. My twin,” she said.