Paige Bueckers is reminding the world of her greatness in 2024 women’s NCAA tournament

Paige Bueckers finds herself in the same position as other players in the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament, playing second fiddle to Caitlin Clark. While Clark received a lot of press coverage, led coverage on ESPN, and was credited with revolutionizing women’s basketball, Bueckers is writing another amazing chapter in her own story, one that will take her to 2025. There is a possibility that he will become a celebrity in 2018.

There’s no shortage of discussion about how great of a player Bueckers is. In 2019 we wrote about her being the most exciting prospect in women’s basketball, and in 2021 we highlighted her as the next rising star at UW and is currently playing for the Orlando Magic. He detailed his great friendship with Jalen Suggs, who plays for .

And…crickets.

Just as the Buccaneers were poised to take center stage alongside Clark and Angel Reese, perhaps the most famous college basketball players in the country of any gender, a devastating injury derailed them. Bueckers tore her ACL in a pickup game ahead of her college campaign, ending her 2022-23 season before it even started and her college hopes with it.

The Huskies limped into the NCAA Tournament, losing in the Sweet 16, but failing to reach the Final Four for the first time in 15 years. There is no doubt that Bueckers’ absence was a trigger.

Monday night summed up the crossroads the Buccaneers and Clark have taken over the past 24 months. While Iowa vs. LSU captivated the sports world and everyone was excited to see who would win in the 2023 National Championship Game rematch, Paige quietly carried the Huskies in a sensational game, with the guard scoring 28 points and scoring 10 points. Finished with a rebound. 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks–literally! all He was on the court for his team and got UConn back to the Final Four.

It wasn’t until recently that all the spotlight was on Bueckers, and Clark was an overlooked player from the now-legendary 2020 recruiting class.

Bueckers and Clark both had dreams of playing at UConn, as all women in basketball had before the rise of South Carolina and LSU. The problem was that the Buccaneers and Clark were too similar. Both are volume-scoring guards who dominate the ball and are the focal point of the attack, and Geno Auriemma knew there was no scenario in which they could coexist.

So, in a heartbreaking way for Clark, Collegiate Con basically didn’t try to recruit her at all, instead funneling their energy into the Backers. ESPN’s Wright Thompson detailed how shocking this was to Clark at the time.

“The lack of interest from colleges hurt. “To be honest, I wanted them to say I got accepted. I loved Yukon. I thought they were the coolest place on Earth, and I wanted to tell them I was scouted. They called my AAU coach several times, but they never spoke to my family or me.”

One could use historical revisionism to justify the decision to follow Bakkers over Clark, but that wasn’t really on the table in 2019. Both were destined to be great players, but Bueckers was garnering a level of hype never seen before. Year NCAA female recruiter. The closest thing to a rock superstar we’ve ever seen. Lo and behold, some people noticed her talent when she was in the 6th grade.

It’s hard to quantify how strange it is that the Buccaneers are such a neglected part of this equation. If anything, it’s a testament to what a daunting person Clark was. After all, Buccaneer has really shined this season, and her efficiency (even compared to Clark) has been incomprehensible.

They will meet again for the first time since their freshman season, when UW defeated Iowa by 20 points to advance to the Elite Eight, even though Clark was the game’s highest scorer.

While Clark is garnering the hype, Paige Bueckers has asserted her dominance in this 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament. She posted three double-doubles in five games, scoring 24 or more points in each game and forming a deadly one-two punch with forward Aliyah Edwards to lead the university this far.

Now, we all have the privilege of watching a match dubbed “Caitlyn vs. Paige” in the Final Four. These two similar players have taken vastly different paths since entering their respective schools. But as much as we try to turn this into a boxing match between two star guards, it really isn’t.

Is there any particular incentive for Ms. Clark to stick with the school that didn’t recruit her? absolutely. Will the Buccaneers get a chip on their shoulder after witnessing Clark’s rise to stardom? Just in case. But neither of these two players of hers exist in the same way, without everything unfolding exactly the same way, exactly as it always has.

This is Caitlin Clark’s swan song. One last attempt to win an NCAA Championship at Iowa before leaving as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft. On the other hand, the Buccaneers have committed to staying, even though they are certain to be a top-three pick if they declare. Page is poised to take over Clark’s role and become women’s basketball’s next big name, if she hasn’t already.

It all starts on Friday night. For sports fans, Iowa vs. UW will be a must-see TV show. And what a blessing we are to live in a time when women’s basketball has never been better.