No doubt, Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings, has quickly adapted to life in the pros. Just 13 games into her rookie season, she’s already turning heads and making a strong case for Rookie of the Year, averaging an impressive 18.4 points and 5.8 assists per game. That’s no small feat, especially considering she was drafted barely eight days after winning the NCAA championship with UConn. And despite joining the league’s bottom-ranked team, she has injected new life into the Wings, showing poise, vision, and elite scoring instincts well beyond her years. But has she fully transitioned to the W? Well, fans would say today is the real turning point.
It all began when PB, after months of being laser-focused on basketball, finally took some time off and wandered around on social media, specifically on Instagram. Though things had been quite busy for her lately, the back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday gave Bueckers and the Wings a breather before their next matchup on Thursday. So, she used that time to make a few personal moves and posted a slideshow and shared multiple Instagram stories. But what truly caught spectators off guard was the profile picture change, and for good reason. She changed it to one of her wearing the Wings’ blue and green No. 5 jersey, with her signature ponytail in full view.
rest in peace uconn profile pic i’ll miss you forever pic.twitter.com/y9JCxjVwXN
— #5 roty 🪽 (@bueckers__) June 29, 2025
Until Sunday, the 23-year-old guard had kept a photo of her time at UConn as her profile image. It featured her sharing an emotional hug with Coach Geno Auriemma after the national title win, while wearing her iconic UConn jersey. Since it was a deeply nostalgic moment – a symbol of an era Paige is best known for – when the image was replaced, it triggered an emotional wave across the fanbase. So, naturally, fans had a lot to say about it!
How Paige’s jersey reflects emotions that fans haven’t forgotten even after six years?
As the change didn’t go unnoticed, fans dove into the comment section and started sharing their unique thoughts as the change officially marked the end of an iconic era. “Paige officially changed her profile picture to a picture of her in her Dallas Wings jersey. UConn Paige really is gone, guys… goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky,” penned one spectator. Well, the sentiment makes perfect sense when you look at the journey Paige took to get where she is today. For her, it all started six years ago when she first visited Tampa as a high school junior attending the 2019 Final Four with USA Basketball.
And just a couple of days later, she finally committed to her dream school, where she envisioned winning championships and bringing the team back on top. Where I grew up, at my dream school (UConn), wearing a UConn uniform in that arena—it’s super surreal for me,” she said once. Just consider that when she arrived in Storrs, she became the first freshman to win multiple National Player of the Year awards. “A tear rolled down my face,” wrote another nostalgic fan.
No doubt, Paige’s tenure in Storrs was one for the books. At first, her freshman year was played inside a bubble during the COVID-19 pandemic, then she missed most of her sophomore season and her entire junior year due to injury (tearing her ACL in the summer of 2022). So yes, as undeniably impressive as her journey has been, it was also filled with struggles. However, the ending she got with the team wrapped up everything as nicely as possible.
“NOOOOOO,” wrote another user. But what truly makes her relationship with the UConn jersey iconic is the love she poured into the team. She never lost sight of her goal, and it was her resilience that finally helped her achieve what she had envisioned six years earlier. “When you lose at UConn, it’s like the world is ending,” Breanna Stewart once told ESPN. “[We knew] that they were going to get it. It took a little bit longer, but they got here today.”
NCAA, College League, USA Womens Basketball: Final Four National Semifinal-Connecticut at UCLA Apr 4, 2025 Tampa, FL, USA Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers 5 plays against the UCLA Bruins during second quarter in a semifinal of the women s 2025 NCAA tournament at Amalie Arena. Tampa Amalie Arena FL USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xNathanxRayxSeebeckx 20250404_ajw_fo8_283
So when it was time to transition to the pros, Bueckers took a leap and returned to UConn for one more year. Thanks to her leadership, her grit, and her never-quit mindset that months later, she was cutting down the nets in Amalie Arena after finally earning that elusive national title. And it all came after an 82–59 win over defending champion South Carolina, wherein former Huskies star scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds.
“It’s truly storybook,” said Rebecca Lobo in an interview with ESPN, who, like Bueckers, won her first and only national championship with UConn in her final collegiate game. “For her and the journey that she’s had, what she’s been through, I think, too, it means so much because of all the trials and tribulations she’s had along the way.” And yes, Lobo’s right. The entire season had been rewarding for Bueckers, and so was that unforgettable 10-second hug she and Coach Geno shared when she checked out for the final time. And that moment, captured in a now-iconic photo, became her new profile picture until she changed recently to a Dallas one. And honestly, it made perfect sense since it was the first time Geno had seen PB cry, and as he held her, he said, “I love you,” unable to hold back tears himself as he had every reason to feel emotional.
After all, it marked the end of Bueckers’ UConn career, one that made her one of the program’s all-time greats. She became the fastest Husky to reach 2,000 career points, earned unanimous All-American status, and secured her place on UConn’s Honor Wall. So you can understand why fans are upset by the recent change. “I refuse to accept this change,” penned another user. And understandable because every time Bueckers stepped on the court, she delivered the kind of performance that packed arenas and left crowds in awe. And not just that, #5 of UConn holds memories for her too, and that’s why, even while transitioning to the WNBA, she paid tribute to her time at UConn with heartfelt messages.
She described Storrs as her “second home,” emphasized how those years were “rewarding, challenging, and blessed,” and called the support of UConn Nation life-changing. She also shared that she always wanted to be remembered as “a person who wore the jersey with pride, loved her teammates, loved her coaching staff, and enjoyed the journey.” So yes, her changing her profile picture to the Wings jersey is a big deal. “Paige finally changed her profile picture—I’m gonna cry,” penned another fan. And if you still have any doubts, just ask her teammates, as many described “Paige in a UConn jersey” as a rallying point, someone who embodied leadership, joy, and compassion both on and off the court. But now, the era has officially come to an end. Though deep down, we know, she still bleeds Husky blue!
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