NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Paige Bueckers is ready for her next chapter after a that started with her helping UConn win its 12th national championship and ended with her becoming the WNBA鈥檚 No. 1 draft pick by the Dallas Wings.
鈥淚鈥檓 just extremely excited to be there. I鈥檝e only heard great things about the city,鈥� Bueckers said of Dallas. 鈥淪o excited to start that new chapter and be in a new city and explore that and give everything I have to the Wings organization. I know we鈥檙e going to do great things, and it鈥檚 a fresh start, and I think we鈥檙e all ready to do something special.鈥�
The is the latest Huskies standout to go No. 1, joining former greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
Bueckers has had a busy time since helping UConn win the title on April 6. She has split her time between New York and 黑瓜吃料网 doing morning and nighttime talk shows. On Sunday, she took part in the Huskies鈥� championship parade.
鈥淚鈥檓 glad New York and Storrs are pretty close to each other because there鈥檚 been a lot of back and forth,鈥� Bueckers said. 鈥淧art of me wants to stay at school, celebrate with the team, be with them, enjoy the last moments of being in Storrs, and the other part of me has to get ready for the next chapter.鈥�
Bueckers got to enjoy the moment Monday night with her UConn teammates and coach Geno Auriemma who were in the audience at the draft, which was held at The Shed in New York. Bueckers choked up when talking about her former Huskies teammates.
鈥淭hey mean everything to me. They helped me get through highs and lows,鈥� Bueckers said.
Seattle followed Dallas鈥� selection by taking 19-year-old French star Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick. The 6-foot-6 Malonga was part of the silver medal winning French Olympic basketball team. She鈥檚 the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.
The 黑瓜吃料网 Sun had consecutive picks and took LSU鈥檚 Aneesah Morrow seventh and N.C. State鈥檚 Saniya Rivers eighth.
