Bueckers is a bona fide star on offense and an underrated defender
Many questions remain ahead of the 2025 WNBA Draft, but who will go No. 1 to the Dallas Wings is not one of them. UConn star Paige Bueckers, who recently led the Huskies to their first national championship since 2016, will be the first player off the board Monday.
Bueckers has been the projected No. 1 pick in this year’s draft ever since she announced she would return to Storrs for the 2024-25 season. Over the past year, she’s made it abundantly clear why she’s held in such high regard. She is an incredible talent, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, and was a few made free throws away from joining the 50/40/90 club this season.
Aside from her lengthy injury record, which includes a torn ACL that cost her the entire 2022-23 season, there are few doubts about Bueckers’ ability to become a star in the WNBA, both on and off the court. But where does she stack up among some of the recent top prospects to enter the league?
Let’s take a look back at the last 10 No. 1 overall picks to see how they were regarded entering the league, and where Bueckers ranks among them.
Stewart was one of the best prospects to ever enter the league, let alone in the last 10 years. She led UConn to four NCAA championships during her four years in college and was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player all four times, while also capturing three Naismith Awards. Her skill and versatility on both sides of the ball at her size still remains largely unmatched.
During her legendary career at Iowa, Clark broke Pete Maravich’s record for the most points in NCAA Division I history, men or women, took the Hawkeyes to back-to-back national title games and won two Naismith Awards. She is arguably the best guard prospect to ever arrive in the WNBA thanks to preternatural offensive skills as a scorer and playmaker.
Wilson put South Carolina on the map and started the program’s dynastic run with a national title in 2017. She also won Final Four MOP that year and raised the bar with the Naismith Award as a senior, to go along with four AP All-American selections. Few frontcourt prospects have ever had her combination of size, athleticism, on-ball skills and defensive prowess.
4. Paige Bueckers — Dallas Wings, 2025
Bueckers finally won a national championship this season to bring her incredible college career to a close in style. The former Naismith Award winner and three-time AP All-American does everything well on the offensive end, except, perhaps, hunt her own shots, and is an underrated defender. The only real knock is her extensive injury history, but she hasn’t had a major injury since 2022.
Boston accomplished everything there is to accomplish at the collegiate level: a national championship, Naismith Player and Defensive Player of the Year Awards, NCAA Tournament MOP, etc. Her size, efficient scoring around the basket and defensive ability made her the surefire No. 1 pick in 2023, and she was hailed as a franchise-changing talent for the then-lowly Fever.
Ionescu’s decorated collegiate career, which included a Naismith Award and the all-time NCAA Division I triple-double record, came to an unexpected early end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid all the uncertainty about sports and the world at that time, there was no doubt about Ionescu’s ability to be a star in the pros thanks to her size and versatility in the backcourt.
7. Kelsey Plum — San Antonio Stars (now Aces), 2017
Plum was completely unstoppable on the offensive end at Washington, and was the NCAA Division I women’s all-time scoring leader with 3,527 points when she graduated in 2017. There were concerns about her size and how she’d hold up defensively, but everyone expected her scoring and playmaking to easily translate to the next level.
Howard was a three-time AP First-Team All-American at Kentucky and was heralded for her all-around skills on the wing. Opinion was split on whether she could be a true franchise player, however, as evidenced by the blockbuster pre-draft trade that saw the Mystics send the No. 1 pick in 2022 to the Dream to move down and acquire future draft capital.
9. Jackie Young — Las Vegas Aces, 2019
Young helped Notre Dame win a national championship and reach back-to-back title games, but was often overshadowed during her time in South Bend. While she was praised for her versatility and defensive toughness, she was viewed as more of a complementary piece than the type of star you’d normally associate with the No. 1 pick.
10. Charli Collier — Dallas Wings, 2021
There’s a gulf between everyone else on this list and Collier, though that’s not really her fault. Collier was a very productive college player at Texas, but coming into the draft there were major questions about how she’d fare in the WNBA. She was only the No. 1 overall pick because the 2021 class was historically weak.
