The UConn star sent a message about college basketball stardom.
Two of college basketball's biggest stars go head-to-head in the Final Four when UConn's Paige Bueckers squares off against Iowa's Caitlin Clark on Friday night in Cleveland. The high-stakes showdown between two of the nation's most dominant teams would be the final game of Clark's storied college career if the Hawkeyes come up short of earning a national championship game berth, and the reality of the single-elimination NCAA Tournament raises the question of who will step into Clark's shoes next season as the face of women's college basketball.
Bueckers, who averages 22.0 points per game this season as the Huskies' most important offensive weapon, said in response to that question that she hopes to "share the spotlight" with other standouts during the 2024-25 campaign.
"I think media coverage is important for the game," Bueckers said ahead of the Final Four. "I think it grows the game. I know, freshman year, I was the 'media darling.' Everybody was focused on me and what I did at UConn my freshman year. But I think it's more important for the game to share the spotlight, to grow the game and show all the stars of college basketball, not just focus on one particular player — whether it be me, Caitlin, JuJu, Angel."
Bueckers averages 28 points per NCAA Tournament game this postseason and recorded three double-doubles in the first four rounds. She announced earlier this spring that she will return for another year of college basketball rather than enter the 2024 WNBA Draft.
"I mean, there's so many names in college basketball now that are huge, that are stars, that deserve credit," Bueckers said. "And I think, it's not my job, but the media can do a better job of just making sure everybody gets love, everybody gets not an equal amount of attention but try to spread it out more. So I honestly hope next year I'm not the vocal point and the only person that gets attention, and I hope as media, as players, we can spread the love a little bit more."
UConn coach Geno Auriemma earlier in the tournament called Bueckers the "best player in America" in response to a question centered around Clark, but ahead of the matchup against the Hawkeyes, he walked back those comments. Auriemma watched Clark score 41 points during Monday's win over LSU moments before his Huskies knocked out USC to advance to Cleveland.
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"I hope Caitlin Clark had a personal agenda against LSU and I know there's nothing personal between me and her," Auriemma said. "So I, I don't need to be seeing her drop 50 on us next weekend, you know. So, I love her. I think she's the best player of all-tome. I don't know whoever said that I said Paige is the best player in the country."
