This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCF chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.<\/p>\n
Oct. 20 marked Paige Bueckers\u2019 birthday, as the women\u2019s basketball star turned 24 years old. Bueckers just wrapped up her first year in the WNBA as a guard for the Dallas Wings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before she played her first game in a Dallas Wings jersey, Bueckers was already someone to watch in the WNBA. The night of the 2025 WNBA draft, she was selected as the overall No. 1 pick and drafted by Dallas. Bueckers had a killer rookie season in the league, with ESPN<\/a> reporting her stats at an average of 19.2 points per game, 5.4 assists per game, 3.9 rebounds per game, and 1.6 steals per game. The WNBA <\/a>website notes that she ranks 5th overall for points scored in the regular season, behind players like A\u2019ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier. She is also the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 200 points, 50 rebounds, and 50 assists, and it is notable to mention the fact that Bueckers was selected as a starter for the All-Star game this season. With numbers like those, it is no surprise that Bueckers was named the 2025 Rookie of the Year. According to ESPN<\/a>, Bueckers is the 16th No. 1 Overall Pick to win Rookie of the Year in the WNBA\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n @paigebueckers on Instagram<\/p>\n Rookie of the Year is far from the first award Paige Bueckers has won, and it\u2019s likely not the last. Bueckers has been winning awards since her high school years in Hopkins, Minnesota. According to ESPN<\/a>, she was named the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year award and the 2020 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year award, among others. After High School, Bueckers became a Husky and went to play basketball in Storrs, Connecticut, for the University of Connecticut, more affectionately known as UConn.\u00a0<\/p>\n