NEW YORK (AP) — Paige Bueckers is ready for her next chapter after a whirlwind week that started with her helping UConn win its 12th national championship and ended with her becoming the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick by the Dallas Wings.

“I’m just extremely excited to be there. I’ve only heard great things about the city,” Bueckers said of Dallas. “So 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’re going to do great things, and it’s a fresh start, and I think we’re all ready to do something special.”

The versatile UConn star 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 Connecticut doing morning and nighttime talk shows. On Sunday, she took part in the Huskies’ championship parade.

“I’m glad New York and Storrs are pretty close to each other because there’s been a lot of back and forth,” Bueckers said. “Part 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.”

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.

“They mean everything to me. They helped me get through highs and lows,” Bueckers said.

Seattle followed Dallas’ 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’s the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.

“I was so proud to achieve that goal,” Malonga said. “It showed that French basketball has evolved as we’ve seen the past few years on the NBA side. We see Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) and Zaccharie (Risacher) show that French basketball is great.”

The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, then took Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron with the third pick, and Southern Cal’s Kiki Iriafen with No. 4. They also took Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore with the sixth pick. Amoore was dressed on the WNBA’s orange carpet by NBA star Russell Westbrook, who has a clothing brand called Honor The Gift. Amoore said Westbrook designed her outfit and was amazing to work with since they first got together on a Zoom session last November.

“It’s phenomenal. He did such a good job,” Amoore said of Westbrook. “It wasn’t just to put his name on something. He spent hours at the hotel fitting it … He’s been very active in the process. To have a contact like that now, someone I can lean on or into is amazing. It’s the start. You’ll see this happen more often. It’s a blessing to be the first one to do this.”

The expansion Golden State Valkyries made Juste Jocyte of Lithuania with the first draft choice in franchise history.

Connecticut had consecutive picks and took LSU’s Aneesah Morrow seventh and N.C. State’s Saniya Rivers eighth.

Los Angeles took Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker ninth. Chicago drafted Ajsa Sivka from Slovenia 10th, and then TCU’s Hailey Van Lith next.

Dallas closed out the first round drafting Aziah James of N.C. State.

Six teams didn’t have picks in the opening round as New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Atlanta traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Todd Golden already has a spot picked out for the Final Four net he cut down in San Antonio.

On Saturday, though, it felt right at home around his neck.

Golden and the Gators were revered in another national championship celebration, this one in front of nearly 60,000 fans at Florida Field during an extended halftime of the annual football spring game. The hoops team has one more get-together on tap: at the White House, presumably this summer.

“It’s just absurd,” Golden said. “Today was awesome. … Our guys, especially our older guys, are going to be moving on to go train for the draft. You don’t know if they’re going to be around.

“To be able to put something like this together on kind of short notice and do a great job honoring our players in front of our fans, which to me is the most important thing. People that have been supporting us really all year got to see these guys together again one last time. It was special.”

Golden wore the remnants of one of the nets from the Alamodome; center Micah Handlogten wore the other. Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard carried trophies into the Swamp.

Highlights from Florida’s six NCAA Tournament victories flashed on the stadium replay boards as players and coaches were introduced one by one. Clayton, named most outstanding player of the Final Four, and Golden — hardly surprisingly — received the loudest ovations.

Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward presented Golden with a key to the city “so you’ll always know where home is.”

Golden might not be going anywhere anytime soon. The coach said he and athletic director Scott Stricklin are close to a contract extension. Four of the past five national championship-winning coaches at Florida — J.C. Deacon (men’s golf), Mike Holloway (track and field), Kevin O’Sullivan (baseball) and Tim Walton (softball) — signed 10-year deals in the wake of their titles. Could Golden be next?

“My family and I love being here,” said Golden, who made $3.6 million this season and ranks 12th in the Southeastern Conference in annual salary. “In three short years, we’ve been able to meet a lot of great people and get comfortable. Florida’s a place that we can win national championships, as we just proved. Yeah, we love being here.

“Scott and I have been talking a lot. I feel like we’re very close to putting something together that will keep the Goldens in Gainesville for quite a while. I think in the next week or two, we’ll get to the finish line on that.”

Golden unveiled a working poster of the program’s third championship banner, which will be hung in the O’Connell Center to open next season. He also took time to thank fans and several key boosters, one of whom donated $1 million to the program this week. The Gators also have an $8 million renovation to their practice facility on tap this summer.

“At this point in college athletics, it’s the lifeblood,” he said. “And the reality of it is we need a lot more. We need a lot more to retain our players. We have a good problem right now. We have a lot of great players in our program that we need to support and retain, and we need to get a couple guys.”

Clayton, Martin and Richard have exhausted their eligibility and will moving on, and Golden said big man Alex Condon will go through the NBA’s pre-draft testing process to see whether he turns pro or returns to school.

“If we’re fortunate enough to get Alex back, I think we’ll have one of the strongest front lines in America,” Golden said. “We’re deep there. We’re athletic now. We’re very accomplished. Guys have played a lot of minutes on a really good team.”

The Gators finished 36-4 and won their final 12 games. They won four of six in the tournament by rallying late: “Beat the odds to say the least,” Golden quipped.

The 39-year-old Golden became the youngest coach since North Carolina State’s Jim Valvano in 1983 to win it all. Golden flung what was left of the net around his neck Monday night and still had it on when the team returned home Tuesday afternoon.

He insisted Saturday he hasn’t slept in it or even thought much about it since.

“But I wanted to bust it out for today,” he said. “This will be, along with some other important mementos over the last month, in my office at home. … This is a little more important and a little more impactful on the trophy shelf now.”

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

By: Alf Colmenar Bucs Report Special to Sports Talk Florida

he 2025 NFL Draft is getting closer, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be looking for a high-impact reinforcement for their secondary. In this installment of “Alf’s Buccaneers Eye on the Draft”, we analyze Georgia Safety Malaki Starks. Starks would be a phenomenal fit for the Pewter Pirates defense.

Who is Malaki Starks?

Since stepping onto Georgia’s campus, Malaki Starks has been a true playmaker. A starter since his freshman year and a key part of one of the nation’s best defenses, he was named First-Team All-America in 2023. At 6’1″ and sporting feline mobility, he’s the prototype of a modern safety capable of playing all three defensive levels.

His versatility allows him to line up as a single-high safety, a nickel safety, or even near the box. His technique, game awareness, and range make him an ideal tactical weapon for creative defenses like Todd Bowles’s.

Malaki Starks’ Strengths

• Athletics and quick change of direction
• High defensive intelligence
• Ball skills and lateral range
• Positional versatility (slot, deep, nickel)
• Man and zone coverage capacity
• Consistency in technique and execution

In deep coverage, his ability to read the QB, rotate his hips, and attack the ball make him a real threat to create turnovers. And from deep, he diagnoses the run well and drops down decisively to stop the ball carrier.

What does Malaki Starks need to improve?

His physique can raise questions: he’s not a great hitter , and although he’s a reliable tackler, he’s not the kind of strong safety who imposes physically. He can also take too many risks looking for the big play, and fall into tricks like double moves or combination routes.

His durability could be a slight concern, though nothing that will worry scouts if he continues his consistent production.

Would Malaki Starks be a good fit for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Malaki Starks on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be a spectacular pick if the team is looking to complement Antoine Winfield Jr. . Bowles needs versatility, discipline, and the ability to cover from a variety of defensive alignments, and Starks offers it all.

Plus, with Todd Bowles looking to generate more big plays on defense, a profile like Starks’s, with the ability to generate interceptions and react to plays in the open field, would be a perfect fit as a hybrid safety/corner in Nickel and Dime packages.

NFL Comparison: Jessie Bates III

Like Bates, Starks stands out for his intelligence, coverage ability, and range in the open field . Both play with patience, read routes, and attack the ball decisively.

Conclusion: Is Malaki Starks a real option for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Without a doubt. If the Bucs are looking to bolster their secondary with a cerebral, technically savvy player with elite range, Malaki Starks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be a high-value pick. He’s ready to start from day one and become a key part of the defense for years to come.

 Subscribe and join the crew!

If you don’t want to miss any of the profiles of the 14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft pick :

 Subscribe to our Twitch channel and watch all the content live: https://www.twitch.tv/canonesyfootball
 Become a member of the Cañones y Football community and access exclusive content: Join here
 Enter our Discord and connect with other buccaneers: GoBucs Discord . We’ll be waiting for you with a virtual grog! 

Make sure you follow Alf on social media by clicking here!

Then check out his website for the best Buccaneers content for our Spanish speaking fans by clicking the logo below, or clicking here!

Follow, Like and Subscribe to Bucs Report

BucsReport.com

For more on this and everything Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com