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Paige Bueckers’ Former Teammate Sends Message After Career Move

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 6:26 AM ET

After winning the women's NCAA championship with Paige Bueckers at UConn roughly two months ago, Kaitlyn Chen dreamed of making it as a player in the WNBA.

She was taken with the No. 30 overall pick in the third round of April's draft by the expansion Golden State Valkyries, but she was cut on May 14 just prior to the start of the regular season.

But her dream of playing pro basketball isn't necessarily over. Chen announced on X on Tuesday that she has joined 3XBA, a three-on-three women's FIBA pro basketball league that also focuses on the development of its players.

She let it be known that she will be taking part in Spokane Hoopfest as part of 3XBA later this month.

"Hey Hoopfest fans, this is Kaitlyn," she said. "I can't wait for 3XBA Spokane."

Certified bucket Kaitlyn Chen has a message for 3XBA fans! pic.twitter.com/k9ebEmxG1L
— 3XBA (@The3xBA) June 3, 2025

Chen grew up in the greater Los Angeles area, where she became the all-time leader in points, assists and rebounds at Flintridge Preparatory School. As a junior and senior, she was named the All-Area Player of the Year by Pasadena Star-News, a local media outlet in the San Gabriel Valley section of the Southland.

She played her first three seasons of college basketball at Princeton before transferring to UConn for the 2024-25 season. The 5-foot-9 guard was named the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2023 as a sophomore, when she averaged 16.2 points per game.

With the Huskies, her offensive role diminished a bit, but she averaged 6.9 points and 3.4 assists a game and made 51.4% of her field-goal attempts.

Chen became the first woman of Taiwanese descent to win an NCAA championship, and just weeks later, she was the first woman of Taiwanese descent to be drafted into the WNBA and play in a WNBA preseason game.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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