As Paige Bueckers begins her professional basketball career, she'll be taking UConn with her.

Literally.

Bueckers, who was selected by the Dallas Wings with the top pick in the 2025 WNBA draft on Monday night, was seated at a table with UConn coach Geno Auriemma and Huskies teammate Azzi Fudd, each of whom embraced the top pick before she headed up to the stage at The Shed in New York.

And watching Bueckers as she made her way up to the stage were more of her teammates from the Huskies team that just won the national championship.

After getting drafted, Bueckers, in an interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, became emotional while speaking about her UConn teammates.

"They changed my life," Bueckers said. "Those are my sisters—just extremely grateful for them. I think two teams or one team would be genius to add Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin to their team. So I think they should get drafted tonight. But I just love them so much and they're gonna be my sisters for life."

Indeed, both Chen (Golden State Valkyries) and Griffin (Minnesota Lynx) were drafted after Bueckers. While speaking to reporters at a news conference, Bueckers shared some more words on the profound impact her UConn teammates have had on her.

"They mean everything to me," Bueckers said. "All that they've helped me get through. All the ups and downs, the highs and lows. They've seen every side of me and the love there is unconditional. So just forever grateful for them. I wanna cherish that relationship for the rest of my life and I wouldn't be here without them. So I just wanna show a state of gratitude to them."

Bueckers experienced the lowest of lows—a tibial plateau fracture and meniscus tear that limited her to 17 games her sophomore year and a torn ACL that forced her to miss her entire junior year—and the highest of highs—a national championship victory in her senior year—with her Huskies teammates.

It's a friendship and sisterhood that will clearly last a lifetime.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paige Bueckers Had Sweet Message for UConn Teammates After Getting Drafted by Wings.

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