Paige Bueckers Named BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year

UConn’s redshirt junior guard Paige Bueckers was awarded the 2023-24 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday. Bueckers is the first Husky to receive the league’s academic merit award since Maya Moore received it twice, in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

A UConn student-athlete has received this accolade eight times. The Academic Awards Selection Committee of the Conference made the selection. Bueckers will receive a $2,000 grant, which can be used for graduate or professional study.

Bueckers is pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in human development and family studies. The three-time Big East All-Academic Team member has a cumulative grade point average of 3.497. She has been recognized to the UConn Dean’s List four times and has appeared on the Director of Athletics’ Honor Roll six times. Bueckers had a 3.930 GPA in Fall 2023.

Bueckers, who missed last season owing to injuries, has returned in outstanding form in 2023-24. Bueckers was second in the BIG EAST in scoring this season, averaging 22.0 points per game, while ranking fifth in assists (4.3) and sixth in steals (2.0). She guided the Huskies to their 23rd BIG EAST regular-season title and first league-wide undefeated season since 2020-21.

This season, Bueckers has received two National Player of the Week awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. She was selected for the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, the Ann Meyers Drysdale USBWA National Player of the Year Watch List, and the Wade Trophy Midseason Watch List. Bueckers swept the national accolades in 2021, including the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, AP Player of the Year, and USBWA Player and Freshman of the Year.

Off the court, Bueckers’ efforts have been equally noteworthy. She provided funding to Hopkins West Junior High School’s grocery store, which will provide groceries for 50 families in need; she donated funds to the UConn Foundation to address food insecurity, including providing food and supplies to the Husky Harvest Food Pantry; and she collaborated with Gatorade to provide equipment and uniforms to the Hartford Hurricanes, a youth sports program that includes a newly formed girls basketball team. Bueckers is a Mamba and Mambacita Foundation Youth Coach who has taken part in a variety of volunteer activities, including classroom reading, turkey drives, and trips to the Connecticut Children’s Hospital.

The BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of several scholarships offered by the BIG EAST Conference for the 2023-24 academic year. In addition, 22 student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST’s 11 member institutions) will receive postgraduate scholarships as recipients of their respective institutions’ Scholar-Athlete Award. The winners of the institutional honors are then eligible for the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which includes a postgraduate grant for one male and one female student-athlete.

All-Time BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year