Paige Bueckers is just 13 games into her rookie WNBA season, and already, she’s moving on from her time in the NCAA with the UConn Huskies with a quiet change that sparked an emotional reaction among fans.
As the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, she veraging 18.4 points and 5.8 assists per game for the Dallas Wings, she has emerged as a top contender for Rookie of the Year. She has taken to the professional scene like a duck to water.
But while her performances on the court have made headlines, an off-court decision has also shocked those who have followed her storied journey at the University of Connecticut as Bueckers updated her Instagram profile picture.
She replaced the widely recognized photo of her emotional embrace with her UConn head coach, Geno Auriemma, taken moments after winning the 2025 NCAA championship with a new image of herself in a Wings uniform.
For months following her championship run, Bueckers had kept the UConn photo as her profile image, preserving a moment, but now it seems as though she is ready to move on.
The image of her hugging Coach Auriemma had become a symbol of resilience, comeback, and loyalty and while some fans understood the change as a natural progression in her career, others were not ready to let go.
One user commented, “Paige officially changed her profile picture to a picture of her in her Dallas Wings jersey. UConn Paige really is gone, guys… goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky.”
The quote captured the bittersweet sentiment shared by many as the 23-year-old moves on to a new chapter in her life, leaving behind a collegiate run marked by extraordinary highs and painful lows.
She arrived in Storrs as one of the most hyped recruits in years, and quickly lived up to the billing by becoming the first freshman in program history to win multiple National Player of the Year awards.
Then fighting back from a serious ACL injury, she led UConn to an emphatic 82-59 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks in the national title game, scoring 17 points and collecting six rebounds in what proved to be her final NCAA appearance.
The 10-second hug between Bueckers and Auriemma when she checked out late in that game embodied the emotional weight of her journey and was the perfect way to sign off her collegiate run.
She had became the fastest player in UConn history to reach 2,000 points, earned unanimous All-American honors, and was immortalized on the UConn Honor Wall – sealing her place in college history forever.
Who do the Wings play next?
Bueckers and the Wings will next be in action against the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday, July 3 as they chase down their sixth win of the 2025 WNBA season.
Despite Paige’s fine form, they are currently last in the Western Conference and the match-up against the 12-5 Mercury will prove to be another very tough test for the side 2-7 on the road.
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