NEW YORK — Eight days after guiding UConn to its first national championship in nine years, the Dallas Wings selected Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick in Monday’s 2025 WNBA Draft.
Bueckers enters the professional ranks at an important moment for both Dallas and the WNBA. The Wings are looking to return to the postseason after missing out on the playoffs last year, and the franchise is planning to move from Arlington into a larger arena in downtown Dallas ahead of the 2026 season.
After last year’s WNBA season saw record ratings, attendance and merchandise sales, the league is looking to build on its positive momentum this summer. Bueckers, and the rest of this year’s rookie class, are well-positioned to help the WNBA grow.
“I’m coming in and wanting to give everything I have to that organization,” Bueckers said after being drafted.
Paige Bueckers is heading to Dallas as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft presented by @StateFarm! pic.twitter.com/uC9FTmjMXA
— WNBA (@WNBA) April 14, 2025
Bueckers was one of the best players in college basketball from the moment she stepped onto the floor for the Huskies. She made history by becoming the first freshman woman to win the Naismith Player of the Year award, and she was named a first-team All-American three times. The redshirt senior left the Huskies having become the program’s all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament history, and the fastest player in program history to reach 2,000 career points. Bueckers is already a part of the Huskies of Honor program.
But it wasn’t until UConn topped South Carolina in the 2025 national championship that Bueckers won her first national title.
Despite every prediction pointing to Bueckers as the top pick, she said Monday night that she felt excited but also had some mixed emotions.
“It’s nerve-wracking. You have a level of excitement, nervousness,” she said. “Bittersweet feeling knowing that my journey at UConn is over, but excited for the next one to begin.”
Monday’s draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards marked the second consecutive year fans attended the event in person. Last year’s draft received record ratings and was sold out by early March. General admissions tickets for this year’s event were also sold out.
The Wings have also sold out their season ticket inventory for the second straight season. They announced it in late November, just days after securing the No. 1 pick.
Dallas executives have been open about wanting the 2025 season to be a foundational year for the franchise. Last fall, the Wings hired Curt Miller as general manager and later hired former USC and Connecticut Sun assistant Chris Koclanes as coach.
At the draft party at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, Wings general manager Curt Miller called drafting Bueckers “a momentum-building moment.” He said she was “one of the most efficient players the collegiate game has ever seen.”
The Wings traded former first-team All-WNBA forward Satou Sabally earlier this winter, but Bueckers will still pair with four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale in the Wings’ backcourt. Dallas also retooled their roster, adding last year’s Most Improved Player, DiJonai Carrington, via trade. The franchise is still looking to win its first championship after relocating from Detroit ahead of the 2010 season.
“We had a very successful free agency … and now we’re off to a great start with the draft,” Miller said.
Bueckers had been open about the fact that this past college season would be her final try at a title. She remained consistent in her messaging and fulfilled a goal she set out to accomplish. New goals now await.
Upon learning the Wings had the first pick in the draft, Miller pointed out that No.1 picks historically change the trajectory of franchises. On Monday night, Bueckers didn’t have to wait long to hear her name called. Now begins the work of helping to rechart the franchise’s future.
Van Lith’s selection by the Sky reunites her with Angel Reese. The duo played together at LSU in the 2023-24 season, reaching the Elite Eight.
The third round turned into a UConn celebration. With multiple Huskies teammates at the draft, they had plenty more to cheer about after Bueckers’ first overall pick. The Valkyries chose Kaitlyn Chen with the No. 30 pick, and the Lynx picked Aubrey Griffin with the second-to-last pick.
The most notable player who wasn’t taken was TCU’s Sedona Prince. The 6-7 center had been in college for seven years and her injury history left some doubts. Allegations of domestic abuse, of which she and her attorney have denied, also followed her.
— The Athletic’s Tyler Batiste contributed to this report.
(Photo of Paige Bueckers: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
