Paige Bueckers Earns 2025 Wade Trophy
TAMPA, Fla. – UConn women’s basketball redshirt senior Paige Bueckers is the recipient of the 2025 Wade Trophy, as announced by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Thursday.
Now in its 48th year, the prestigious Wade Trophy is the oldest national player of the year award in college women’s basketball. The award is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. The Wade Trophy is presented annually to the WBCA’s NCAA Division I Player of the Year.
Bueckers is UConn’s leader on and off the court in her final season in Storrs. She is averaging a team-high 20.1 points and 4.8 assists per game. Bueckers is one of the most efficient guards in the nation and is averaging a .543/.432/.888 shooting split this season. She ranks second nationally with a 3.49 assist-turnover ratio.
Bueckers has hit a new level in the postseason, averaging 26.1 points on a .574/.514/.889 shooting split while averaging 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.4 steals per game across the BIG EAST Tournament and NCAA Tournament.
The Hopkins, Minn., native has led UConn to the 2025 NCAA Final Four. In every season she has played at UConn, Bueckers has taken the Huskies to the Final Four.
Bueckers currently ranks third in UConn history with 2,406 career points and is ninth with 556 career assists.
Seven Huskies have won the Wade Trophy 10 times: Rebecca Lobo (1995), Jennifer Rizzotti (1996), Sue Bird (2002), Diana Taurasi (2003), Maya Moore (2009, ’10, ’11), Breanna Stewart (2015, ’16) and Bueckers (2025).
The second-seeded Huskies (34-3) face No. 1-seed UCLA (34-2) in the Final Four on Friday at 9:30 p.m. in Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. The game will air on ESPN, Westwood One and the UConn Sports Network from Learfield (FOX Sports 97-9).
