Bueckers heads to Dallas as the No. 1 pick in draft

WNBA DRAFT

UConn’s Paige Bueckers, right, poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall in the draft by the Dallas Wings on Monday night. PAMELA SMITH – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Image

By Doug Feinberg

The Associated Press

NEW YORK >> Paige Bueckers is ready for her next chapter after a whirlwind week that started with her helping UConn win its 12th national championship and ended with her becoming the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick by the Dallas Wings.

“I’m just extremely excited to be there. I’ve only heard great things about the city,” Bueckers said of Dallas. “So excited to start that new chapter and be in a new city and explore that and give everything I have to the Wings organization. I know we’re going to do great things, and it’s a fresh start, and I think we’re all ready to do something special.”

The versatile UConn star is the latest Huskies standout to go No. 1, joining former greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.

Bueckers has had a busy time since helping UConn win the title on April 6. She has split her time between New York and Connecticut doing morning and nighttime talk shows. On Sunday, she took part in the Huskies’ championship parade.

Bueckers got to enjoy the moment Monday night with her UConn teammates and coach Geno Auriemma who were in the audience at the draft, which was held at The Shed in New York. Bueckers choked up when talking about her former Huskies teammates.

“They mean everything to me. They helped me get through highs and lows,” Bueckers said.

Seattle followed Dallas’ selection by taking 19-year-old French star Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick. The 6-foot-6 Malonga was part of the silver medal winning French Olympic basketball team. She’s the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.

The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, then took Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron with the third pick, and USC’s Kiki Iriafen, formerly of Stanford, with No. 4. They also took Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore with the sixth pick.

The Golden State Val- kyries, at No.5, made Juste Jocyte of Lithuania the first draft choice in franchise history.

Connecticut had consecutive picks and took LSU’s Aneesah Morrow seventh and N.C. State’s Saniya Rivers eighth.

Six teams didn’t have picks in the opening round as New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Atlanta traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.