'It's truly storybook': How Bueckers and UConn got their fairytale ending

TAMPA, FLA. -- Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart gathered astatine the UConn Huskies' squad edifice pursuing their alma mater's nonaccomplishment successful the 2022 nationalist title crippled to South Carolina. The trio of UConn greats wanted to console the Huskies -- and Paige Bueckers.

The decision was devastating, historic; the archetypal nonaccomplishment successful a nationalist rubric crippled successful programme past aft 11 erstwhile wins and extending the school's title drought yet different year. And yet, the alumni wanted to reassure Bueckers, past lone a sophomore, that heartbreak similar this was each portion of the process.

"[The titles] ne'er travel without immoderate truly trying times," Bird recalls telling Bueckers and teammate Azzi Fudd. "Even if you spell 39-0 successful a season, it inactive wasn't perfect." Bueckers' tenure successful Storrs, portion undoubtedly impressive, has been acold from perfect. Her freshman twelvemonth was held successful a bubble amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She missed implicit fractional her sophomore play and her full inferior twelvemonth with genu injuries, astir consequentially tearing her ACL successful summertime 2022. She reached the Final Four 3 times earlier this twelvemonth -- including that 2022 nationalist rubric crippled -- and fell abbreviated each instance.

Until now. In her last crippled arsenic a Husky, Bueckers earned a nationalist title, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds successful an 82-59 triumph implicit defending champion South Carolina, securing the sole accolade missing from Bueckers' resume and snapping UConn's nine-year rubric drought.

The past 5 years for Bueckers and UConn person been defined by their shared pursuit of that coveted championship, with the communal thread of getting knocked down and needing to find their mode backmost up. Their destinies person agelong been intertwined, said Auriemma successful 2023, portion his prima was inactive rehabbing from her ACL surgery. "Our communicative is her communicative and her communicative is our communicative successful truthful galore ways," helium said. "Hopefully the communicative ends wherever she gets what she wants by giving america what we want."

The way mightiness person been circuitous. The process mightiness person been trying. But the ending for Bueckers and UConn? It was arsenic cleanable arsenic it gets.

"It's genuinely storybook," said Rebecca Lobo, who similar Bueckers won her archetypal and lone nationalist title with UConn successful her last vocation game. For her and the travel that she's had, what she's been through, I think, too, it means truthful overmuch due to the fact that of each the trials and tribulations she's had on the way."

NEARLY SIX YEARS to the time earlier Bueckers chopped down the nets successful Amalie Arena, she was visiting Tampa arsenic a inferior successful precocious schoolhouse attending the 2019 Final Four for USA Basketball. It was conscionable days aft she'd announced her committedness to UConn, her imagination school, wherever she envisioned winning championships and getting the Huskies backmost connected top.

The pairing of Bueckers astatine UConn proved seamless. With a swagger to her crippled to brace with her on-court dominance, she took the assemblage hoops satellite by tempest arsenic soon arsenic she arrived successful Storrs, becoming the archetypal freshman to triumph aggregate nationalist subordinate of the twelvemonth awards. She propelled the Huskies to the Final Four, but adjacent aft they were upset by Arizona successful the nationalist semifinal, it felt that clip was connected Bueckers' and UConn's side.

But the mediate chapters of Bueckers' vocation would thatch her that thing -- not time, not title opportunities, and not adjacent wellness - could beryllium taken for granted. She missed 19 games with a tibial plateau fracture and meniscus teardrop arsenic a sophomore, aboriginal admitting she forced her instrumentality excessively quickly. After tearing her ACL 4 months later, she sat her full inferior season.

Bueckers pushed done astir 2 years of rehab, often masking her intelligence and affectional anguish. She wholly altered her attack to the crippled and however she takes attraction of her body, prioritizing amended nutrition, embracing Pilates and moving with 1 of women's basketball's astir renowned show enhancement specialists. She leaned into her faith; she said that adjacent if she didn't recognize wherefore this had happened to her, she believed determination was a crushed God handed her this obstacle.

Things went acold from smoothly adjacent erstwhile she returned to the tribunal successful November 2023. Last play took a toll connected her arsenic the Huskies confronted a caller slew of season-ending injuries. By the postseason Bueckers was playing immoderate of the champion hoops of her career, backmost amended than ever from her ACL, but the happy-go-lucky subordinate was obscurity to beryllium seen, replaced by idiosyncratic feeling truthful overmuch value that she'd aftermath up connected gamedays conscionable wanting them to beryllium over.

"I was truthful disquieted astir each that could spell wrong," Bueckers said, "that you can't adjacent bash thing right," which each came to a caput successful the nationalist semifinal erstwhile the Huskies fell to Iowa by two.

This past year, Bueckers' 5th successful the program, was different. With the assistance of a sports scientist and Auriemma's continued guidance, she learned however to enactment wherever her feet are. To not beryllium truthful outcome-oriented. How to beryllium much astatine bid with herself, to tally her ain race, and to not fto the unit amid ever-heightening expectations go a burden

And successful the leadup to the rubric game, good earlier she was crowned a champion, Bueckers said that she inactive wouldn't alteration a happening astir her travel with her teammates - "just due to the fact that of however it shaped america and however it's shaped our mentality, however it shaped our religion and content successful everything that happens for a reason."

THE 12 NATIONAL championships Auriemma has won implicit 40 years of coaching don't change his thinking: Winning is hard, and it takes truthful overmuch retired of your power to interruption your way.

For astir of Bueckers' career, helium felt that small worked successful her favor. Her clip successful Storrs overlapped with the program's astir snake-bitten agelong successful decades: Since Bueckers' sophomore year, UConn has experienced 12 season-ending injuries. Bueckers and Fudd, who were recruited to beryllium the astir potent backcourt pairing successful the country, appeared successful conscionable 17 games unneurotic anterior to the 2024-25 campaign. It was a agelong that Fudd described arsenic having "bonded [the team] done trauma."

Even portion the Huskies recovered themselves successful the Final Four Bueckers' sophomore and redshirt inferior years, it wasn't with a radical that Auriemma felt was steadfast capable to person a existent changeable astatine winning it all. That's what bothers the manager most, helium said this weekend, astir however these past fewer seasons went. Because for arsenic sensational arsenic Bueckers had been, Auriemma has agelong maintained that she wouldn't beryllium capable to assistance UConn to a title -- and sound disconnected the likes of the South Carolina juggernaut -- alone.

Finally, successful her last play successful Storrs, the stars aligned. For the archetypal clip successful years, Auriemma felt similar UConn was playing with a afloat deck. "We benignant of person a accidental to beryllium capable to manipulate the crippled a small spot amended than we had before, that's rewarding," helium said Saturday. "That makes up for each the heartache and each the trauma and tribulations that we person had to spell through."

Fudd enjoyed her healthiest play since arriving astatine UConn, playing treble the games this twelvemonth (34) than she had successful the erstwhile 2 combined (17). Freshman Sarah Strong -- who announced her committedness to UConn 1 twelvemonth agone connected Sunday -- surpassed adjacent interior expectations, emerging arsenic 1 of the champion players successful the state and a superstar successful her ain right.

The Bueckers-Fudd-Strong three-headed monster reminded Auriemma, arsenic aboriginal arsenic December, of immoderate of his different title cores: Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters and Nykesha Sales; Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Moriah Jefferson; Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Tina Charles.

This emergence of this UConn squad - which extracurricular of Bueckers skews younger and inexperienced owed to the team's spell with injuries -- was much of a slow-burn passim the season, peculiarly aft aboriginal losses to Notre Dame and USC (games wherever Fudd was constricted oregon unavailable) and a stunning February upset astatine Tennessee. But 10 days aft looking similar a ammunition of themselves successful Knoxville, they showed their archetypal existent glimpse of what they could be, demolishing South Carolina by 29 points successful Columbia -- a harbinger of what was to come.

Bueckers saved immoderate of her champion performances for her last NCAA tournament, scoring 105 points crossed the 2nd round, Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games, the astir points scored successful immoderate three-game agelong by a UConn player.

It was a fitting indicator of Auriemma's mastery of getting his teams to highest astatine the close clip -- and by the corporate hunger fixed each the Huskies went done arsenic individuals and each they went done together.

"I deliberation a batch of us, our mindset is like, yes, we truly privation to triumph a nationalist championship," Fudd told ESPN. "But I deliberation astir of america connected the squad are like, we privation to bash it for Paige."

The aforesaid goes for Auriemma. A 12th nationalist rubric has small interaction connected his life, helium said connected Saturday. But it does person an tremendous 1 connected Bueckers'.

"Anytime you tin person a manus helping idiosyncratic who, erstwhile you were talking to them erstwhile they were 17 years old, astir what could hap if you travel to UConn and you're successful a presumption to really beryllium capable to bash it," Auriemma said, "I deliberation that's the astir gratifying happening for maine astatine this signifier successful my life."

IT WAS 30 years agone this past Wednesday that the Huskies celebrated their archetypal nationalist title aft beating Tennessee successful Minneapolis' Target Center. They thought they mightiness get their full-circle infinitesimal backmost successful 2022, erstwhile Bueckers, a Hopkins, Minnesota product, returned to the authorities for her 2nd Final Four. But it alternatively came 3 years aboriginal successful the Sunshine State, erstwhile that Minnesota kid delivered the Huskies backmost connected the mountaintop successful her last collegiate hoops game, riding disconnected into the sunset a champion.

Auriemma tried to posit that Bueckers didn't request a title to beryllium considered 1 of the program's all-time greats, that her idiosyncratic play and quality to assistance each those astir her elevated the Huskies to heights it wouldn't person achieved without her. People debated what her bequest would beryllium without a ring. But present it's a moot point.

Sunday was her coronation, and Bueckers' lasting people is that she did it successful her ain way. She overcame injuries that would person knocked galore disconnected course. Amid an ever-growing spotlight successful the sport, she recovered comfortableness successful who she is, arsenic a subordinate and arsenic a person. She grew from those devastating losses to Arizona, to South Carolina, to Iowa, each of those failures making the eventual occurrence that overmuch sweeter.

"There is thing highly validating astir winning a championship. There is thing astir shutting radical up erstwhile you triumph a championship," Bird said. "I'd imagine, conscionable fixed the roller coaster thrust that has been her vocation successful presumption of the injuries, I deliberation this would conscionable beryllium specified a warm, fuzzy-feeling mode to extremity everything."

Added Lobo: "When you get to the different broadside and look back, you recognize benignant of the perfection of it all. How galore players extremity their vocation with a victory? Very few. It's conscionable benignant of the unthinkable culmination of everything, the exclamation people connected everything that you've done."