MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 01: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Connecticut Huskies against the Stanford Cardinal in the semi-final game of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Target Center on April 01, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
It's a big blow to a team that came up a game short of the program's 12th national title a year ago.
For the team, it's all about moving forward and star Paige Bueckers will be there cheering on her teammates every step of the way.
Bueckers will miss the entire 2022-23 season after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in her knee.
As school begins and the Huskies return to campus, Bueckers acknowledged the obvious disappointment of her injury, but is focused on how she can impact the team from the sidelines.
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"It didn't feel like real life, there was some anxiety and some stress and some things that were going on," Bueckers said.
"When I had surgery, that was the bettering point for me to sort of know that every day from here on out is a day closer to me playing basketball again."
-Paige Bueckers
She has a whole different mentality from the first injury, just seeing her work so hard, being patient, focused, concentrated, makes me really proud of her," player Nika Muhl said.
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"There's a lot of negative things you can think about it and just not being able to play basketball for the whole year will be hard, but just how much better I will be mentally, physically, spiritually and how I'm going to use this as motivation," Bueckers said.
She has the brace on her knee and is walking and going through rehab, saying she's doing whatever drills she's allowed.
Bueckers made it clear that she will be playing college basketball again at UConn and has no intention of entering the 2023 WNBA draft next year when she's eligible.
