UConn star Paige Bueckers, who is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, is entering the final chapter of her collegiate career as the NCAA tournament quickly approaches.
Bueckers has made a huge name for herself at UConn, even recently designing her own Nike shoe. She's broken UConn records and etched her name in the history books. Bueckers was sidelined for some of her sophomore year with a tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear, and then she missed the next season with an ACL tear. But, she came back the following year and shined once more.
As her time at UConn nears its end, her coach Geno Auriemma spoke with GQ Sports's Leah Faye Cooper for a feature on Bueckers and mentioned how much he loves her "delusional side."
“There’s a delusional side of Paige that I love,” Auriemma said. “She has to know better, but she comes across as, ‘I have never missed a shot; if I do miss, it’s because something happened. I have never fouled anybody in my life; the refs are always wrong.’
"So there’s always this back-and-forth between me and her, because I know what kids want. They want to do it their way, they want it to be a little easier. The only problem is, that’s not what they need. They need the struggle of it. They need to see what it feels like to make sacrifices, to give up yourself, and have the failures that strengthen you and make you ready for those next steps in your life. That failure part I think is so important.”
Their coach-player partnership will be one basketball fans remember for quite some time. The Huskies are still looking for a NCAA title with Bueckers, though. The team has was runner-up her sophomore season while she was injured, and they've reached the Final Four two times with Bueckers. We'll see if the Huskies can capture the title this year before Bueckers leaves for the WNBA.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as UConn's Geno Auriemma Details 'Delusional Side' of Paige Bueckers That He Loves.
