WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — UConn women’s basketball star guard Paige Bueckers is expected to be ready to go for the start of the season, head coach Geno Auriemma said Tuesday.
Bueckers is getting back to full fitness after tearing her ACL last summer, forcing her to miss the entirety of the 2022-23 basketball season. The team still went 31-6 but lost in the Sweet 16 to Ohio State.
“If she’s not ready to go, then I’m not ready to go,” Auriemma told reporters at his annual charity golf tournament at the Hartford Golf Club.
Bueckers told reporters last week she was getting better and is back on the court with her teammates – though not fully participating in practice games yet. She said she has been working on getting stronger in the weight room.
“So I think I’ll be better,” she said. “But as I experienced my sophomore season when I was trying to come back, it wasn’t as fluid as I wanted it to be. There is ups and downs, highs and lows, and I know when I first came back, I wasn’t the player I wanted to be. And I’m not rushing it.”
She will likely miss the exhibition games this August when the Huskies travel to Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. The goal is to be ready for the season opener.
On Tuesday, Auriemma praised Bueckers for the work she’s put in throughout her recovery.
"This is the best she's ever been, the strongest she's ever been, the fittest she's ever been," Auriemma said. "This is the most time she has spent working on her body, her mind, [and] just taking care of herself... [It] showed her, if you want a long career, this is how you're gonna have to go about it from here on in injuries, no injuries, it doesn't matter. This is what you're gonna have to do. And she's embraced it."
Bueckers was not the only Huskies player injured last season. Freshman Ice Brady also missed the season with an injured knee and Azzi Fudd (knee) and Caroline Ducharme (concussions), both missed significant time.
In fact, the Huskies had to postpone a game in January when the team couldn't find seven healthy players to suit up.
Auriemma said the 11-time national champions aren’t focusing on the past or listening to any of the outside noise as they prepare for the new season.
"The thing I learned a long time ago is stop talking about what you're gonna do, stop talking about what you hope happens and what happened last year and how you felt," Auriemma said. "Everybody knows, 'Hey, what's your goal at Connecticut?' What do you think it is at Connecticut? Well, the goal is to win a national championship every year. Everybody knows it. You don't have to talk about it...
"This isn't a 1970s rock band out for their 60th tour and they have to give every tour a name. You know, everybody's got a 'redeem team' and everybody's got a 'reload team' and everybody's got an 'unfinished business team' and everybody's got, you know, all this stuff going out there. You know, maybe we're not very social media savvy. How about we just shut the f--- up win games?"
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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