UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers was featured on a GQ Magazine cover and spoke with the company about playing basketball, NIL deals, and more.

Paige Bueckers Reflects on Her Journey and UConn’s Championship Chase

In an interview with the magazine, which was posted as a YouTube Short, Bueckers revealed her thoughts on what year a person has to be born to be considered old.

“I feel like I’m getting old; I’m 22. I was born in 2001. I don’t mean to disrespect, but let me say, like, 1980.”

Born in Edina, Minn., Bueckers began playing basketball at the age of five. She played for the junior varsity basketball teams at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka in seventh grade and Hopkins High School.

Labeled a five-star recruit in 2020, Bueckers joined UConn, where she averaged 20 points, 5.8 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game. Her 168 assists were the most by a freshman in program history.

The next two seasons with UConn were plagued with serious injuries, which left her sidelined for a year. However, she returned to court in her junior year, where she was named Big East Player of the Year after helping UConn win the Big East tournament.

Bueckers is currently in her final season with UConn, where she has helped the fifth-ranked Huskies to an impressive 26-3 overall and sitting atop the Big East with 16-0.

Paige Bueckers Speaks About Winning National Championship With UConn

Bueckers is regarded as one of the greatest players in women’s college basketball. She has won everything that needed to be won in the NCAAB Division 1 except one — the national championship title.

In an interview with GQ Sports, Bueckers spoke about how the national championship is “extremely hard.”

“You see UConn win national championship after national championship, and they make it look super easy,” Bueckers said. “I’ve learned since I came here it’s actually extremely hard.”

KEEP READING: Bueckers Reveals What Diana Taurasi Said After Breaking UConn Record

UConn has won 11 NCAA titles under head coach Geno Auriemma. But the last time the Huskies lifted the title was in 2016, a drought in the program’s standards. Bueckers is chasing her first title with the program. But she recognizes she has to take the journey one win at a time.

“Obviously, winning is the main goal—that’s always at the forefront of my mind,” Bueckers said. “But I think I’ve grown in my mentality. The National Championship is in April—you can’t win it unless you win every single day of practice and you win every single day in the weight room. Again, just staying in the present, staying in the moment, staying where my feet are.”

Now in her final season for the Huskies, Bueckers is the leading scorer, averaging 18.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 53.3% shooting per game. The senior guard will lead UConn to the NCAA Tournament as one of the top contenders for the title.

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