Paige Bueckers of UConn is one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award that goes to the nation’s outstanding women’s college basketball player. The other finalists are Lauren Betts of UCLA, Madison Booker of Texas,

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Paige Bueckers may be considered one of, if not the best, player in college basketball. Even though the UConn Huskies star is headed to the 2025 Final Four, it doesn't mean she's had an easy road to get there.

The Wooden Award named its five women's college basketball finalists on Tuesday, per ESPN's Kendra Andrews, with UConn's Paige Bueckers, USC's JuJu Watkins, UCLA's Lauren Betts, Texas' Madison Booker and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo making the cut.

Southern California sophomore guard JuJu Watkins and UConn senior guard Paige Bueckers head the list of finalists for the 2025 John Wooden Award that goes to women's college basketball's most outstanding player,

The UConn Huskies defeated the University of Southern California Trojans in the women's Elite Eight on Monday to advance to their 24th program Final Four, the most in NCAA tournament history across either bracket.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma caused a minor stir during last year’s NCAA Tournament when he proclaimed that his star guard, Paige Bueckers, was the best player in the country.

Among the Trojans' 28 victories was a tightly contested, 72-70 win over UConn in December. Watkins was the star of the game, leading all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds and five assists.

So, while the basketball at UConn is still available to her, this time with her teammates is available, the chance to put on that No. 5 Huskies jersey one more time is available, Bueckers will be that player. She will shoot 27 times. She will take over a game. She will not take for granted any moment on the floor.