{"id":265938,"date":"2025-09-30T07:32:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T07:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/265938\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T07:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T07:32:15","slug":"uconn-womens-basketball-adjusts-to-life-after-paige-bueckers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/265938\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn women’s basketball adjusts to life after Paige Bueckers"},"content":{"rendered":"

STORRS \u2014 UConn women\u2019s basketball<\/a> coach Geno Auriemma did a double take when he opened his text messages a few days ago and saw a notification from Paige Bueckers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bueckers, who led the Huskies to a national championship in April, just completed her first WNBA season with the Dallas Wings less than three weeks ago and became the seventh UConn player all-time to win the league\u2019s Rookie of the Year<\/a> award. Auriemma said the superstar is now on vacation enjoying some well-deserved time off, but she was feeling nostalgic as the Huskies geared up to begin official practices for the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe texted me \u2014 I can show it to you \u2014 and it says \u2018I miss you.\u2019 I\u2019m not sure it was meant for me,\u201d Auriemma joked with a grin after practice Monday. \u201cI\u2019m going with it was an accidental text, it was a butt text. (But) it made me roll my eyes and go man, we kind of miss you more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Auriemma said it\u2019s impossible to ignore the vacuum left behind by Bueckers, whose leadership was as important to UConn as her impact on the court during five years with the program. The team has five newcomers to integrate this season with three freshmen and two first-year transfers, and several of its more experienced players are limited as practices begin due to minor nagging injuries. Junior Ashlynn Shade<\/a>, who has started more games than anyone on the roster besides redshirt senior Azzi Fudd<\/a>, is rehabbing a hamstring issue, and last year\u2019s starting center Jana El Alfy<\/a> is working her way back from a calf injury. Sophomore Morgan Cheli<\/a> also remains out after undergoing ankle surgery in February, and Auriemma said there is no timetable for her return.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot having Paige impacts every kid on our team, and you can see it out there,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big adjustment for me \u2026 There were more than a couple of events today on the court that happened where you go \u2018hmm, I think we\u2019re gonna see more of that,\u2019 because last year it would\u2019ve been something different. You have to wait for someone to fill that void, and no one\u2019s going to fill it completely, but it\u2019ll start to show itself \u2026 Any time you have someone that\u2019s so dominant at their position, it takes some getting used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Huskies are still early in the process of figuring out whose voice will replace Bueckers\u2019 as the one the team rallies around, and Auriemma said it\u2019s possible that a single clear leader won\u2019t emerge for some time. But he\u2019s seen growth from several key pieces including Shade and classmate KK Arnold<\/a>, who will shoulder a new kind of load this season as UConn\u2019s most veteran point guard. Leadership also comes naturally to redshirt senior Caroline Ducharme<\/a> after she spent the majority of the last two seasons supporting the team while sidelined by head and neck injuries.<\/p>\n

\n

Three observations from UConn women\u2019s basketball team\u2019s first open practice of 2025-26<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s never a day that Ash comes to practice and doesn\u2019t give you the best that she has in every area. She\u2019s always locked in, always prepared, she\u2019s become much more vocal. I would expect her to evolve into a team leader in some way,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cCarol\u2019s (a leader) because she spent a lot of time talking to them last year and has gotten to know them a little a little bit \u2026 No one has evolved as, \u2018That\u2019s our team leader,\u2019 and maybe nobody wants to be. Maybe it\u2019s just like, let\u2019s just see how it evolves, and let\u2019s see how it happens organically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most surprising voice emerging is sophomore forward Sarah Strong<\/a>, who was quiet to a fault in her freshman campaign with the Huskies. But her introverted public persona belied a bona-fide superstar on the court, and Auriemma saw Strong return to campus this year with a new confidence.<\/p>\n

Strong had one of the most dominant freshman seasons in UConn history and put together a remarkable run of performances during March Madness to break the record previously held by Tennessee legend Tamika Catchings<\/a>\u00a0for most points by a freshman in the NCAA Tournament. Auriemma said Strong is working with both the guards and forwards in practice, positioning her to take a major leap in her sophomore year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people that I think sometimes look to be the quietest have an impact,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cThe last couple years, we used Paige as our everywhere (player), guard big guys, guard guards, and I think this year Sarah could be that that person. She\u2019ll be guarding the point guard, she\u2019ll be guarding the center. She\u2019ll be everywhere on the floor, and scoring a lot of the same ways that she did last year, and maybe even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took time for Strong to get comfortable in the spotlight, but the star sophomore said she\u2019s embracing the challenge of vocal leadership on and off the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to step in to try and help lead, use my voice more,\u201d Strong said. \u201cEspecially just trying to talk to the freshmen, I feel like I\u2019m doing a good job of actually talking \u2026 I feel like (I\u2019ve learned to) just be more vocal and being more confident, not going into games, I\u2019m not gonna say scared, but just nervous. I\u2019ve been there before, so I know what to expect and (how to) just be myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Geno Auriemma says UConn women have \u2018a lot to put together\u2019 as official practice begins Monday<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Originally Published: September 29, 2025 at 7:32 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STORRS \u2014 UConn women\u2019s basketball coach Geno Auriemma did a double take when he opened his text messages…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":265939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[130339,68016,1339,2076,2738,7000,2470,9768,7001,130338,728,1317,1337,130332,1338,2471,11011,62,9767,9766,67,132,68,232,3357],"class_list":{"0":"post-265938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-ashlynn-shade","9":"tag-azzi-fudd","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-college-basketball","12":"tag-connecticut","13":"tag-ct-news","14":"tag-dallas-wings","15":"tag-geno-auriemma","16":"tag-hartford-courant","17":"tag-kk-arnold","18":"tag-local-news","19":"tag-ncaa","20":"tag-ncaa-basketball","21":"tag-ncaa-championship","22":"tag-ncaabasketball","23":"tag-paige-bueckers","24":"tag-sarah-strong","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-uconn-huskies","27":"tag-uconn-womens-basketball","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-wnba","32":"tag-womens-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115292087426650756","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}