Bueckers ready to become the next WNBA megastar

It’s a new era in women’s basketball.

The Age of the Megastar.

And though it may have started with Caitlin Clark, that’s certainly not where it ends.

On Monday, Paige Bueckers – fresh off a drought-ending, career-crowning national title at UConn – will hear her name called first in the WNBA Draft, becoming the newest member of the Dallas Wings.

And with that, the league’s next do-it-all, must-see megastar will be born.

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Bueckers was the standout this spring – like Clark the previous two years, transcending most, if not all stories that emerged from the men’s NCAA tournament. Sure, people tracked every move Duke’s Cooper Flagg made from his injury in the ACC tournament opener through to the Final Four, but the Blue Devils and their famous freshman ultimately came up short.

In March, the star guard was at her best. Consecutive games of 34, 40 and 31 points between the second round and Elite Eight – a UConn-record 105 over a three-game tournament span – followed by balanced outputs in dominant wins over UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four and championship.

A five-year college career – one that saw Bueckers miss a chunk of her sophomore year with ankle and knee injuries, then all of her junior season after a summer ACL tear – capped in impeccable fashion. The Huskies’ national title was their record 12th – all under legendary head coach Geno Auriemma – but the first since 2016.

So, how will she stack up at the pro level?

Stylistically, Bueckers’ game differs from that of Clark, who shattered record after record at Iowa before obliterating nearly every WNBA rookie standard in her first year with the Indiana Fever. But what she lacks in volume, Bueckers makes up for in efficiency: She finished her senior year at UConn with shooting splits of 53.4, 41.9 and 88.9 per cent – from the field, from deep and from the line – while finishing second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Simply put, Bueckers had one of the most mistake-free seasons in the history of basketball.
She also brings something of a unifying factor to the WNBA. An intense likeability.

The top recruit of the Class of 2020 – a group that included Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and Kamilla Cardoso – Bueckers won the Wooden Award as a freshman and was named Best Female College Athlete at the 2021 ESPY Awards, where she took the stage and delivered an impassioned speech that celebrated Black women and challenged the media to give them the recognition they deserve.

Three summers later, and despite all the fanfare surrounding her arrival, Clark’s debut season in the WNBA – groundbreaking as it was – was accompanied by controversy at several turns.

It started with a “reality check” of sorts from legend Diana Taurasi – one that was jokingly walked back last Sunday – weeks before Clark was even drafted by Indiana. Then, a rivalry with fellow rookie Reese – who carried LSU past Clark in the 2023 National Championship before coming up short against Iowa in last year’s Elite Eight – which took a physical turn, sparked a sport-wide debate over what constitutes a “basketball play,” and was accompanied by racial undertones that Clark came under fire from others around the league for what they perceived as her unwillingness to address.

Along the way, Clark was left off the United States’ Olympic team and struggled badly with Indiana’s front-loaded schedule, but she saved her best for last. Over the Fever’s final 14 games, she averaged 23.1 points and 8.9 assists, lifting the franchise to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

All told, Clark’s first season was monumental: An unimaginable increase in viewership, attendance and in-turn, revenue, with the overall impact dubbed “The Clark Effect” or “Clark-O-Nomics,” depending on who you ask.

Clark set league records for assists, both single-game (19) and single-season (337), became the first rookie to record a triple-double and scored more points (769) than any first-year player in WNBA history.

Bueckers won’t produce at the rate Clark did, particularly in Dallas, which already features a high-volume, high-scoring star of its own in Arike Ogunbowale. And she can’t possibly drive viewership and attendance to Clark’s degree – for reference, 9.8 million tuned into ESPN for UConn’s national title win over South Carolina last Sunday, compared to the 18.9 million that watched Clark face the Gamecocks in 2024 – but for an encore, the WNBA couldn’t ask for much more.

She’s on deck, as the WNBA’s next megastar. Bueckers’ transition from one of college basketball’s most celebrated stars to being one of the WNBA’s is looking – at least on paper – like it’s going to be seamless.

And it won’t stop with Bueckers either.

JuJu Watkins – USC’s scoring machine who had her season halted by a torn ACL in the NCAA tournament – is eligible for the 2027 Draft. As is electrifying Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo. And UCLA centre Lauren Betts, who averaged 23.6 points in a five-game tournament run that came to an end at the hands of UConn and Bueckers in this year’s Final Four, is the frontrunner to go first overall next spring.

The stage is set.

A league that’s grown exponentially over the past year is only about to get bigger.