Paige Bueckers has made WNBA history after being officially named Rookie of the Year.
After an incredible year with the Dallas Wings after being selected with the first pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, the 23-year-old star not only managed to honor not only her current team, but the University of Connecticut where she came from.
UConn makes NBA and WNBA history
Bueckers being this year’s ROTY was a nearly unanimous vote, as she received 70 of the 72 first-place votes. For the award, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen of Washington Mystics were also strong contenders. However, the former Huskie took the honor.
In 36 games, she averaged 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals. In addition, she accumulated 692 points and 194 assists, the third most in league history for a rookie. In addition, Paige surpassed her personal scoring record in the WNBA (35) and at UConn (40) after her 44 points scored on August 20 in a game against the Los Angeles Sparks.
As if that wasn’t enough, Bueckers’ nomination as ROTY ushered in a unique story in basketball. In the NBA, San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle was named with the same honor as the Wings star.
This made UConn the first school to produce both WNBA and NBA ROTY award winners in the same season.
Now 20 years old and with 81 games played with Spurs, Castle closed her rookie season averaging 14.7 points, 4.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game.
However, like Paige in Dallas, Stephon was unable to translate his personal achievements into wins for the Spurs and they were eliminated from the playoffs with a 34-48 record. It has been six years since they have been able to secure their place.
Meanwhile, the Wings finished last in the WNBA standings with a 10-34 record, making Paige the ROTY with the fewest wins in league history.
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