UConn's Paige Bueckers Says She's 'All Cleared' After Knee Injury Recovery

UConn star Paige Bueckers announced Wednesday she has been "all cleared" after completing her recovery from the torn ACL that cost her the 2022-23 season.

The Huskies also lost Azzi Fudd, Dorka Juhász and Caroline Ducharme at various points of the year en route to finishing 31-6 and reaching the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA tournament.

Bueckers was the top-ranked recruit in the 2020 class and lived up to the hype straight out of the gate. She averaged 20.0 points, on 52.4 percent shooting along with 4.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists as a freshman. The 6'0" guard was a unanimous first-team All-American and won multiple national Player of the Year awards.

A knee injury interrupted Bueckers' sophomore year, and she wasn't quite the same player when she returned to the court.

In June 2022, Bueckers set her expectations for the 2022-23 campaign high as she told Bleacher Report's Scott Polacek winning a national championship was her singular goal. Now that she's healthy, that might be attainable goal for her and the Huskies.

Nearly all of UConn's best players are back, with Juhász and Lou Lopez Sénéchal the notable exceptions. Head coach Geno Auriemma also signed Kamorea Arnold and Ashlynn Shade, two the top 15 recruits in HoopGurlz's 2023 rankings.

In May, ESPN's Charlie Creme listed the Huskies second behind reigning national champion LSU in his early Top 25 poll. He argued "the talent in Storrs is equal to that in Baton Rouge," though health will be a key factor in deciding the team's fate.

Another question surrounding Bueckers specifically is whether this will be her final season in college. She'll be eligible to declare for the 2024 WNBA draft, and a return to form will all but guarantee her status as a top-five pick in what could be a loaded class.

Should UConn's title bid fall short, however, Bueckers might feel she has some unfinished business. The advent of the NIL era has also provided star athletes with a compelling incentive to stay in school rather than bolt for the pros at the earliest opportunity.