Last Sunday, the University of Connecticut basketball player Paige Bueckers achieved what she set out to do when she joined the team almost five years ago: Win an N.C.A.A. championship. After being sidelined by injuries for nearly two seasons, Ms. Bueckers, a 23-year-old point guard, led the Huskies to a blowout victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks, earning UConn its 12th N.C.A.A. women’s basketball title and becoming the school’s top point scorer in the women’s tournament in the process.
For some, the win would be a star-making moment. But Ms. Bueckers (pronounced BECK-ers) — whom the Dallas Wings are expected to select first overall in the 2025 W.N.B.A. draft on Monday — was already a star by then, both on and off the court.
In December, she became the first college athlete to have her own Nike player-edition shoe, the Paige Bueckers G.T. Hustle 3. She was also the first college athlete to sign a name, image and likeness deal with Gatorade. According to on3 and SponsorUnited, both of which track sponsorship and other deals for college athletes, Ms. Bueckers is the third most valuable woman in college sports, has the second largest social media following and the highest engagement from her followers.
“It’s so surreal,” Ms. Bueckers said of UConn’s championship win in an interview on Wednesday. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet.” She was dressed in a lavender Nike sweatsuit, and her long vanilla-blond hair was neatly cascading down her back. Earlier that day, she had been interviewed on the “Today” show; later, Ms. Buckers would head to a taping of “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.
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