Paige Bueckers has done her best to live in the present during a short period in which she went from winning a national championship with UConn earlier this month to being the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft and now donning a Stetson cowboy hat on a podium in Dallas City Hall.
“It’s been insane. It’s been nonstop on the go, I’m either doing something or packing,” Bueckers said Wednesday. “That’s what it’s been like for the past couple weeks. But I’ve tried to stay present as much as I could, enjoy the last couple of days at UConn soaking in those relationships and those experiences, obviously enjoying the draft."
The next step is training camp with the Dallas Wings, which starts Sunday.
“Very excited for the next chapter,” the versatile 23-year-old guard said.
Bueckers and the other four players drafted by the Wings on April 14 were introduced in a packed lobby at Dallas City Hall that included the mayor, the city council and city workers, some watching from perches on the second and third floors.
“Well, it was Christmas nine days ago (at the draft). Certainly, today feels like New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day with the optimism and all the momentum around the Dallas Wings,” new general manager Curt Miller said.
There was never a question for Miller or the Wings about who their top pick would be when they won the WNBA draft lottery.
“The big picture is that we knew what that meant ... exciting, exciting moment,” Miller said. “Paige obviously comes off a national championship, one of the most decorated collegiate players and one of the most efficient players in college basketball history.”
Along with proclamations from the mayor, there were also the cowboy hats for each of the Wings draftees: Bueckers, 12th overall pick Aziaha James from North Carolina State, 14th pick Madison Scott from Mississippi, 27th pick JJ Quinerly from West Virginia and 31st pick Aaronette Vonleh from Baylor.
“Everybody’s talked about just being a part of a new family, being a part of a new city. Dallas is a great sports city, you can feel the love and support already,” Bueckers said. "There's lot of new in this organization, so be a part of something and build with each other, and just create a new sisterhood.”
The introductory news conference was held a couple of blocks from the historic downtown arena being fully renovated to become the new home of the Wings next season.
But Bueckers’ home games in her first season with the Wings will be about 20 miles away at College Park Center at UT-Arlington, where they will play their 10th and final season since the franchise relocated from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Except for one home game on June 27. The Wings that night will play Indiana and Caitlin Clark, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, at the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
It was a year ago Thursday that the Dallas City Council approved a 15-year agreement worth $19 million to facilitate the team’s pending move to its namesake city. The council also approved a $7.7 million renovation to the arena that was once home to the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, who moved to San Antonio to become the Spurs in 1973, and joined the NBA when the ABA folded three years later.
“We stood right here in this building, and we proudly announced that the Dallas Wings would soon be making downtown Dallas their permanent home,” Mayor Eric Johnson said Wednesday. “And since then, the excitement has only grown, the fan base has rallied and today we’re taking the next big step forward. Welcome, everyone, to the future of Dallas sports.”
