MINNEAPOLIS — When Paige Bueckers entered the family ballroom at the UConn Hotel in Minneapolis, she went straight to Tara Starks. Bucker’s former AAU coach knew what was coming and turned just as she leaped at them and collided with her side. It’s a traditional greeting for the two of them, though Starks sometimes wishes it weren’t.
“I always tell her, ‘My knees are bad. my back is bad What’s the matter with you?’” Starks said. “But it’s almost like the same kid I would be sitting and talking to in 11th grade. She is no different.”
Buckers grew up in St. Louis Park, a suburb west of Minneapolis, 10 minutes from the Target Center, where Friday’s women’s Final Four will be played. She played at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka. She has won a state championship at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena — known in the Twin Cities as The Barn — and lost at the Target Center. There’s even a mural by Bückers in the form of a Gatorade ad in the Mall of America.
Buckers led the Huskies to the Final Four with an incredible performance in a two-overtime thriller against NC State in the Elite Eight. The sophomore accumulated 27 points and snatched six rebounds in the 91-87 win that gave the Huskies their 14th straight Final Four berth. And she did it while working her way further back from surgery to repair a tibial plateau fracture and torn meniscus in her left knee.
“Our program is not going to win this game,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma told reporters after Monday night’s win against NC State. “Programs can get you into this game, but someone has to be great. Without such an achievement there is none [Final Four].”
Almost four months ago, it looked doubtful that Bückers – and UConn – would even make it here.
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At the Gampel Pavilion on December 5, Bueckers dribbles UConn over Notre Dame 70-52 to the floor. As she rebounded the ball with her right hand and shuffled her feet to get past a defender, she stumbled. After a few more strides, Buckers collapsed into a heap on the hardwood in front of the UConn bench with 38.5 seconds left.
Bob Bueckers, Paige’s father, watched the game on TV from his home in Maryland. He then muted his phone and just lay there, heartbroken.
“I felt so awful for her,” Bob said. “All the work she put in and then just one crazy little accident. And suddenly she’s hurt.”
Bückers underwent surgery on December 13 to repair her left knee. This month has been tough for the huskies. In addition to Bückers, newcomer Azzi Fudd and second guard Nika Muhl were also out with foot injuries. Saylor Poffenbarger and Mir McLean made substitutions. Traveling to Atlanta, UConn met a suffocating Georgia Tech defense that lost 57-44 in their first loss to an unranked team in 239 games.
Fudd, one of Bueckers’ closest friends, knows what it was like to be sidelined for a long time. She tore her ACL and MCL in a 3v3 tournament in April 2019 while playing Buckers. Shortly after her return to the court, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and even fitting into a few AAU games, she injured her foot before arriving at Storrs.
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Monica McNutt discusses Paige Buecker and UConn’s Elite Eight win over NC State.
After the Huskies lost to Arizona in last year’s Final Four, Buckers underwent surgery on April 30 to repair an osteochondral defect in her right ankle. She spent all summer in a boot, months before suffering a knee injury in December. Fudd has a unique understanding of the frustrations her friend and teammate has endured.
“The greatest thing was at the beginning when it seemed like your world had ended,” Fudd said. “She didn’t really know what was in store for her. But I was there to remind her of the little things, the little milestones to look forward to. Reminding her that she’s still Paige Bueckers and keeping her spirits high. “
“It was really nice to have Azzi there,” Bückers said. “It’s easy to talk to someone and they can say, ‘Oh, I know what you’re going through,’ but they really have no idea. So having someone who knows exactly what you’re going through and someone who can help you mentally and physically was really important.”
Buckers missed 19 games. In this stretch, UConn lost four. Their first game back was on February 25 against St. John’s. She played 13 minutes and scored eight points in the Huskies’ loss. In her first five games before the NCAA tournament, Buckers averaged 6 points and 2.6 assists in 18.8 minutes per game. In the NCAA tournament, Buckers averages 17.5 points, 2.5 assists in 33.75 minutes per game.
“It’s just something that God could do, the things that this team went through, the things that I went through to be here in this position,” Buckers said. “Without God and all the blessings He has given us, we can’t even remotely do it.”
The Elite Eight proved that Bückers, who was the first newcomer to be named national player of the year in 2021, can still take over a game.
“I said: ‘Win or go home’,” Bückers said after the game. “We won and I can still go home.”
Buckers has never won a championship at Target Center. The last time she played there was in March 2018 sophomore at the Minnesota High School League State Tournament. Buckers and Hopkins lost to Eastview by five points. Buckers scored 37 points. It was Hopkins’ third straight loss in the state championship.
“[The team didn’t lose] three years in a row because she didn’t try,” said former Hopkins head coach Brian Cosgriff.
When Buckers finally won their first state championship the following season, it was at The Barn. “I think there’s a reason why I’m back and why I’m getting the opportunity again,” Bückers said. “It’s crazy what God is doing in your life.”
Bueckers’ influence on basketball in Minnesota culminated in the mural installed in the Mall of America this week. Fans, especially young fans, used to crowd their games into Hopkins, clamoring for pictures and autographs.
When UConn takes the floor against Stanford on Friday night, Buckers will be running to a seat that already has a piece of her. She will attempt to hoist a trophy at Target Center for the first time with her Huskies teammates. And she’ll be playing in front of her hometown audience — with her family and close friends watching.
“She deserves to be at home here,” Starks said. “She deserves to have the whole state behind her.”