Paige Bueckers’ ROTY win gives UConn ultra-rare distinction

Although the Dallas Wings did not make the WNBA Playoffs this season, they still received postseason honors with star guard Paige Bueckers being named the league’s Rookie of the Year. In winning the Rookie of the Year Award, Paige Bueckers also brought distinction honors to UConn Huskies as well.

Over on the NBA side, San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. With Paige Bueckers winning the award on the WNBA side, that made UConn the only school that has had players win both awards in the same season, as per Bleacher Report.

The only other time in history that players from the same school won the award in the NBA and WNBA in the same seasons was back in 2004 when Diana Taurasi was the WNBA Rookie of the Year and Emeka Okafor was NBA Rookie of the Year.

Even with a disappointing season, the Wings have a future to look forward to, mostly because of Bueckers. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Bueckers showed that she is indeed a generational talent and franchise-changer.

She was named to the WNBA All-Star Team as a rookie, and at times during this season, she faced strong competition for the award from Washington Mystics rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.

Bueckers had some injury issues this year, but she did manage to appear in 36 games, all starts, at a little over 33 minutes per game. She averaged 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals with splits of 47.7 percent shooting from the field, 33.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 88.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

During a game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 20, Bueckers tied a WNBA record for most points scored by a rookie in a single game with 44. In addition to Bueckers, the Wings had three other solid rookies in Aziaha James, JJ Quinerly and Luisa Geiselsöder.