Debate has already begun as to whether Paige Bueckers (based upon her magnificent year thus far) deserves enshrinement among UConn’s holy holies - Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart. Based upon a freshman season of less than twenty games, she ranks with the best in the storied history of the Huskies. Her stats and heroics against Tennessee and South Carolina make this clear.
A deeper dive into frosh play reveals some differences that helps shed light on the extraordinary play of Bueckers thus far. We can do so by looking at the players around each super star. Lest we forget the player who held the first year scoring record until Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart came along was Svetlana Abrosimova. The seventeen year old phenom came from Russia to Storrs for the 1997-98 basketball season, one that seemed to offer a lot of promise, but Nykesha Sales suffered a season ending injury in the next to the last game against Notre Dame and the team lost in the regional final. Shea Ralph missed the entire season, but it was a pretty good team featuring seniors Sales and Rita Williams, junior Amy Duran, sophs Stacy Hansmeyer and Paige Sauer, and Abrosimova.
Diana Taurasi came to UConn in 2000 and that team was the most talented in Husky history - Abrosimova, Shea Ralph, Kelly Schumacher, Sue Bird, Ashja Jones, Swin Cash, and Tamika Williams. She came off the bench for much of the season. Most of Di’s heroics occurred in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. No superstars were on these teams, but Maria Conlon, Jessica Moore, Ashley Battle, Wilnett Crockett, Ann Strother, and Barbara Turner were not exactly chopped liver. Moore, Turner, and Strother were all quality players.
Maya Moore’s freshman season featured seniors Charde Houston, Brittany Hunter, and Mel Thomas, junior Renee Montgomery, and sophomores Tina Charles and Kalana Greene, and fellow frosh Lorin Dixon. Moore, if my memory is correct, moved into the starting lineup after the injuries to Thomas and Greene. As with Abrosimova, you knew Moore was special the first time she stepped onto the floor.
Breanna Stewart’s first team was also a deep one with Caroline Doty, Kelly Faris, Stephanie Dolson, Bria Hartley, Kaleena Mosquera-Lewis, Kiah Stokes, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck. Stewart had a solid freshman year and began to ascend into the ranks of the immortal with her play in the NCAA tournament.
As regards to Paige Bueckers, the supporting cast of upperclassmen is not as high as with the previous teams mentioned. Had Megan Walker returned for her senior year, the dynamics of the entire season would have been different. Walker would have been the returning star, senior leader, and first offensive option, thus Paige may have come off the bench until the Makurat injury. Since this year’s roster is not as strong as many previous ones, Bueckers has taken over. She has been the best player on the floor since her first game in a Husky uniform and this is not likely to change. What is also unprecedented is that she is also the team leader and a vocal one at that. All in all, her play thus far has set a new standard, as in her first 15 games she has led the squad in scoring in 9 and tied in 1.
