UConn Huskies women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has likened superstar Paige Bueckers to Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian.
Auriemma compared Bueckers to the superstar singer Swift, and worldwide influencer Kardashian, as Bueckers prepares to lead the Huskies in the 2024 NCAA season. The coach says the 22-year-old’s hard work often goes unnoticed – despite finding time to attend a schedule packed with high-end events.
“I vary from calling her Paige Swift or Paige Kardashian because she’s everywhere, but people don’t see the work she’s put in,” Auriemma told reporters. Bueckers saw claims saying she was potentially skipping classes or practice in the offseason in favor of living up her summer.
The UConn star dismissed those claims. “I had a pretty good summer. I enjoyed it. It was like my first healthy offseason where I wasn’t in a place rehabbing, staying at school, getting stronger,” she said.
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“So I took advantage of it. Everybody saw the world tour. They didn’t see the work tour, which is fine. They think they see me three or four hours a day. I think they know my entire 24 hours, which is cool. It’s fine. The work will always show. I’m a believer in that. I have confidence in that.
“And I can already see if I don’t have a game up to other people’s standards, it’s like, should have been in the gym all summer, shouldn’t have been doing this, shouldn’t have been doing that. But luckily, I don’t play for their approval.
“I play for God. I play for my teammates, play for my coaching staff, play for the people who support me, good game or bad in their opinion. So all that to say I had a great summer.”
Geno Auriemma says Bueckers is working hard behind the scenes – but is buzzing about like A-lister Swift (
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Auriemma also compared Bueckers to Kardashian (
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No. 2-ranked UConn will start their 2024 campaign on Nov. 7 against the Boston University Terriers. They’ll be hoping to go one, or two steps, further this season after falling in the Final Four to Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes last term.
Their first matchup against a ranked opponent will come in Week 3 against UNC. Bueckers, the 2021 AP Player of the Year, led UConn to the Final Four as a freshman and then to the national title game as a sophomore. But her progress has been hampered by injuries in recent seasons.
She played just 17 times between a knee injury and an ACL tear. But she’s back fit and preparing for a full season, and potentially her last on the Huskies roster before heading to the WNBA, where she’ll likely be a high draft pick.
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