By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — 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.
“I’m glad New York and Storrs are pretty close to each other because there’s been a lot of back and forth,” Bueckers said. “Part of me wants to stay at school, celebrate with the team, be with them, enjoy the last moments of being in Storrs, and the other part of me has to get ready for the next chapter.”
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.
“I was so proud to achieve that goal,” Malonga said. “It showed that French basketball has evolved as we’ve seen the past few years on the NBA side. We see Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) and Zaccharie (Risacher) show that French basketball is great.”
The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, then took Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron with the third pick, and Southern Cal’s Kiki Iriafen with No. 4. They also took Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore with the sixth pick. Amoore was dressed on the WNBA’s orange carpet by NBA star Russell Westbrook, who has a clothing brand called Honor The Gift. Amoore said Westbrook designed her outfit and was amazing to work with since they first got together on a Zoom session last November.
“It’s phenomenal. He did such a good job,” Amoore said of Westbrook. “It wasn’t just to put his name on something. He spent hours at the hotel fitting it … He’s been very active in the process. To have a contact like that now, someone I can lean on or into is amazing. It’s the start. You’ll see this happen more often. It’s a blessing to be the first one to do this.”
The expansion Golden State Valkyries made Juste Jocyte of Lithuania with 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.
Los Angeles took Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker ninth. Chicago drafted Ajsa Sivka from Slovenia 10th, and then TCU’s Hailey Van Lith next.
Dallas closed out the first round drafting Aziah James of N.C. State.
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.
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