BREAKING NEWS: Paige Bueckers is ready for her college swan song, and her latest turn as a sup…read more

NEW YORK – There have, on occasion, been other big names in women’s basketball over the years besides Caitlin Clark. Some of them were a while ago, such as Cheryl Miller and Dawn Staley. Some were more recent, from Angel Reese to A’ja Wilson to Breanna Stewart.

Another one is so recent that, despite being two months older than Clark, she isn’t a pro yet. But hers, too, is a name you might know. Paige Bueckers started college at Connecticut in the fall of 2020, the same time Clark started at Iowa. They didn’t turn pro at the same time because Bueckers chose to stay an extra year, partially because she lost much of her sophomore season and all of her junior campaign to injuries. As the women’s basketball calendar turns from the pros to the college scene, Bueckers is primed to be this winter’s biggest star in her last college season. But she and Huskies coach Geno Auriemma know that it won’t be her first time in the spotlight – and that, really, those injuries are the only reason she ever left it.

Was it so long ago that Bueckers not only split national freshman of the year honors with Clark, but became the first freshman to win the national player of the year award? That she led the sport’s most famous team to the Final Four, routing Clark’s Iowa along the way? And is it possible that Bueckers’ return to the Final Four last season, where UConn lost by one basket to Iowa, was overshadowed by Clark’s fame and South Carolina’s unbeaten dominance? Some people will answer yes to all those questions and warn that Bueckers might offer her own answers.