“A Great Player Can Play for Any Coach”: Geno Auriemma Gives Paige Bueckers Invaluable Advice Amid Dallas Wings’ Struggles in Search for Next HC

    Geno Auriemma and Paige Bueckers have a special bond. Bueckers grew up under coach Auriemma to be a complete player and a leader.

    She struggled with a lot of injuries during her time at UConn. However, to give herself another chance to fulfill her dream of becoming a national champion, Bueckers played her redshirt senior season and led the Huskies to a record-extending 12th NCAA title.

    The Dallas Wings drafted Bueckers as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. She continued her sublime form in her rookie season in the league. Despite Bueckers winning the Rookie of the Year award, the Wings were poor overall.

    They ended the season with a 10-34 record and eventually fired head coach Chris Koclanes. Now the search is on for the next coach who can bring the best out of Paige Bueckers and the rest of the Wings squad. Geno Auriemma has shared some advice for Bueckers and the Wings (via The Daily W’s Instagram).

    “I told Paige this the other day. A great player can play for any coach, if they want to,” Auriemma shared his advice to Paige. “Now if they [Dallas Wings] get a coach that doesn’t believe and doesn’t have a collaboration with Paige, then that would be a difficult journey. I think there are a lot of coaches there that would be really, really good for her.  And she’d be good for them. But it’s gotta be someone that there’s mutual trust.”

    He added:

    “And I always say you’ve played one year of professional basketball. Embrace what the pool is, talk to all of them whoever they are and it’s like recruiting. Recruit the person you want, that has the qualities.”

    “But at the end of the day, whoever the coach is, you can make it work for them or you can make it not work for them, provided there’s a good roster. So I think the roster is going to be more important than the coach, even though the coach is crucial, obviously,” Geno Auriemma concluded.

     

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    Fans React to Geno Auriemma’s Take on Paige Bueckers’ Next Coach

    Fans online were in agreement with Auriemma and supported what he had to say about Paige Bueckers.

    “Everything Geno said. They both have to have that connection with one another. That is your franchise player and coach. If that happens …the rest will fall into place. Hopefully Curt respects her enough to let her have some type of interaction with whomever they are interviewing,” one fan said.

    “Makes it sound like Paige has a lot of power in the decision, no?” another fan wondered.

    “If you want a championship, you want your franchise player and ROY to have input. Think of it as a marriage,” another said.

    “The ultimate boss this one. So glad he coached my goat,” one fan hailed Auriemma’s opinion.

    “Geno telling PB5 to recruit Sandy,” another claimed.

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