The list of basketball accolades Paige Bueckers has piled up from her time at Hopkins High School to the present feels almost endless. But Monday night, the standout Connecticut guard added one more – top pick in the WNBA draft. As expected, the Dallas Wings selected Bueckers No. 1 overall to star t Monday’s draft — just eight days after she led the Huskies to this season’s NCAA title with an 82-59 win over South Carolina on April 6. “It feels super surreal,” Bueckers said at a press conference afterward. “I’m just so grateful to be here. I don’t want to take this for granted. I’ve been focusing a lot on being present and being wherever my feet are. “To be at this stage, to be here, to have a lot of my supporters here, people who have helped me get here … it just means everything to me.” Bueckers was a three-time Gatorade Minnesota player of the year and won the national player of the year honor as a senior in 2019-20 when she led Hopkins to a 30-0 record and was preparing to play in the Class 4A state title game before it was cancelled because of the onset of COVID-19. The year before, the Royals finished 32-0 and won the state title. She went on to score 2,439 points in her career at UConn and averaged 19.8 points per game. Bueckers joins a Wings squad that finished 9-31 a year ago and have a new head coach in Chris Koclanes and a new general manager in Curt Miller. “I’m just extremely excited to be there,” she said. “I’ve only heard great things about the city. I’m so excited to start this new chapter and give everything I have to the Wings organization. I know we’re going to do great things. It’s a fresh start, and we’re all ready to do something special.” Although it was a foregone conclusion the Wings would be taking her with the top pick, Bueckers said the moment was still overwhelming. “You don’t ever want to assume anything in life,” she said. “Nothing is guaranteed. But for this moment to be here, and it to actually happen, it’s nerve-wracking. You just have a level of excitement and nervousness. “It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing my journey at UConn is over. But I’m excited for this next one to begin.” ...read more read less