UConn basketball star, Paige Bueckers

UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers has been making the most of her basketball off-season by visiting Miami Beach and watching the NBA play-in game between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls.

A video of the UConn guard having a blast at a Slippery Giraffe concert emerged, showcasing Buecker’s dancing skills with music playing in the background.

Paige Bueckers dispels speculation about future

UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers is one of the most renowned basketball players in the country due to her prowess on the court.

Her opting to return to UConn for an extra year caught many college hoops by surprise, with rampant speculation that she made that decision to continue benefiting from NIL as opposed to the restrictive salaries of the WNBA.

During an appearance on the “TOGETHXR” podcast with WNBA stalwarts Nneka Ogwumike, Aliyah Boston and legend Sue Bird, Paige Bueckers methodically dispelled the speculation about her decision to return to UConn.

“Ever since I announced, you just look at the comments be like, ‘Yeah, she’s staying because she’s gonna make so much more money staying in college than in the WNBA,’” Bueckers said.

“And it’s like, you guys have literally no idea because (with) NIL nothing changes. It’s just like once you get to the league, like the title changes. It’s no longer NIL, it’s just an endorsement deal.”

Bueckers has a massive NIL portfolio with lucrative brands including Nike and Bose, with a NIL valuation of $1 million, which puts her at No. 2 in the On3 rankings in women’s college basketball and No. 19 in the overall NIL 100 list.

She has 2.8 million followers combined on various social media platforms and with the departure of former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers is likely the face of women’s college basketball.

The outspoken Bueckers was highly critical of the analysts and fans who spread the narrative about student-athletes opting not to go professional earlier due to the NIL landscape in college sports.

“It’s really not that hard to educate yourself,” Bueckers said. “But it’s like people create these narratives in their head and it’s so hard to undo it because then people just follow those narratives.”

With the visibility afforded to her by being part of the UConn Huskies and being one of, if not the best, players in women’s college basketball, Paige Bueckers will likely continue to rake in the NIL earnings.