Caitlin Clark Receives Powerful Praise From Projected No. 1 Draft Pick Paige Bueckers

The 2024 Rookie of the Year is handling the pressure of media attention with ‘grace,’ according to the UConn star.

Caitlin Clark / Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images

Yesterday, the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery took place in New York City, giving the Dallas Wings the first pick. In a year in which the WNBA has grown exponentially in media coverage and spectatorship numbers, the event was a particularly momentous one. Though the 2025 Draft is still months away (it’s set to take place in April of next year), the Lottery has already kicked up buzz around draft picks and the potential number No. 1 player, UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

The popular point guard has established herself as a court leader and a well-rounded player during her four playing seasons at UConn. Now, she is predicted to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, an honor most recently bestowed on Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark, who went on to earn the Rookie of the Year award in her first pro season.

It’s a big honor, and one that comes with some responsibility, too. Given the results of the Lottery, Bueckers might just head to the Dallas Wings for her rookie season. No matter where she ends up, though, the 23-year-old star knows one thing for sure: the professional basketball landscape that she will enter looks far different now than it did only a few years ago. And, if you ask Bueckers, she would tell you that Caitlin Clark is, in part, to thank for those momentous shifts.

When asked about the Fever point guard’s impact, the Huskies player had nothing but praise to share. “Caitlin brought so much new attention to the rise of women’s college basketball and the WNBA and women’s sports in general,” she said.

Paige Bueckers and Juju Watkins talk about Caitlin’s impact 🥹

“I feel like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. And she just has this heavy burden to carry and she does it with grace and humility.” pic.twitter.com/QlhPZfTFpw

— correlation (@nosyone4) November 17, 2024

As the projected No. 1 draft pick, Bueckers understands the responsibility and pressure brought by other’s expectations. And she can see clearly Clark’s experience in her final few years at Iowa and in her rookie WNBA season. “I feel like the weight of the world is on her shoulders,” she remarked. “And she just has this heavy burden to carry and she does it with grace and humility.”

Heading into the 2025 Draft, Bueckers is undoubtedly looking to Clark as an example of how to deal with the pressures of being the No. 1 Draft pick—and the expectations that come along with that title. In her rookie season, the Fever point guard certainly handled the transition from college to pro and the newfound media attention with poise. Bueckers will no doubt be looking to do the same.