The Uconn Huskies female basketball star, Paige Bueckers, has acted on a high level during the NCAA tournament and more recently scored 40 points in a Sweet 16 game against Oklahoma.
Anyone who has been following Bueckers since the beginning of his university career knows that the games such as the Sooners were pair of the course. She fell 34 points against the state of South Dakota in the second round as well.
Click here for more sports coverage at Foxnews.com
The UCONN Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers (AP Photo/Jessica Hil;)
But its popularity has not yet shot like Caitlin Clark when the sniper was winning games in Iowa and establishing NCAA records in annotations. The former center of the NBA, Etan Thomas suggested in a column for The Guardian last week, there were some reasons for that.
Thomas wrote that Bueckers associations with blacks and the lack of a so -called “black villain” to deal with the NCAA tournament affected how the whites saw the guard of the Huskies. He pointed out Bueckers's decision to shout black women during Espy's speech in 2021 as the beginning of it.
“Meanwhile, there has not been a black villain for Bueckers to compete,” Thomas wrote, alluding to the rivalry on the Clark court with the outstanding Angel Reese of LSU. “The fact that this has meant that you have gained less attention and worship of Central America says a lot about the state of the country.”
The UConn Guard, Paige Bueckers, crosses the students in Gampel Pavilion after a game against the South Dakota state in the second round of the NCAA tournament, on Monday, March 24, 2025, in Stords. (Photo AP/Jessica Hill)
2025 MADNESS ODDS Women's March: Title Opportunities for the remaining teams
Thomas said that people who had no interest in female basketball suddenly became fans for all “worst reasons”, added that “they were there to encourage Clark's whiteness and attack Reese's blackness, not his talent.”
Then he wrote that Bueckers's decision to cook for his Muslim teammates during Ramadan, sing songs from the Gospel and has a black stepmother and Sondlings, supposedly “simply does not feel good with 'that certain demographic group', which hugged Clark and defended it for the” wrong reasons. “
Bueckers averages 19.8 points, 4.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. She is part of a brotherhood of legendary huskies players who have come before her, although the only thing that has great alumni are lost such as Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart, a national title.
The UConn Guard, Paige Bueckers, passes the ball during the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament against Oklahoma, on Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Spokane, Washington. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Click here to get the Fox News application
Bueckers is likely to be the number 1 selection of the WNBA draft and it will be fun to see it face Clark, Reese, Cameron Brink, Arike Ogunbowale, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and others when she takes the court in the professionals.
Follow Fox News Digital's Sports coverage in x and subscribe to The Fox News Sports Huddle Bulletin.
