Emma Hruby
Sep 7, 2023
Paige Bueckers is officially a Nike athlete.
The UConn basketball guard has signed a deal with the shoe and apparel company, she revealed Wednesday. According to ESPN, the deal is a multiyear commitment and could extend into her pro career.
In a statement, Bueckers said she is “blessed and honored” to announce the partnership.
“Joining the Nike family is a childhood dream come true,” she said. “I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together on and off the court.”
Ahead of the season, Nike has tabbed Bueckers as one of the faces of its new GT Hustle sneaker. The Hustle 2, part of the “Greater Than” series, features molded insoles and a full-length foam underfoot for comfort when running.
Bueckers is set to make her return this season at UConn after missing last season with an ACL tear. Through 46 career games with the Huskies, she’s averaged 18.0 points and 5.1 assists. While she was cleared to resume playing last month, she did not compete in the Huskies’ overseas exhibition tour in August.
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said last month that Bueckers is the “best she’s ever been” since her return.
“This is the best she’s ever been, the strongest she’s ever been, the fittest she’s ever been,” he told reporters. “This is the most time she has spent working on her body, her mind, [and] just taking care of herself. … [The injury layoff] showed her, if you want a long career, this is how you’re gonna have to go about it from here on in injuries, no injuries, it doesn’t matter. This is what you’re gonna have to do. And she’s embraced it.”
Women’s sports, straight to your inbox
Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.
Emma Hruby
Mar 14, 2024
Selection Sunday is almost here, and while South Carolina is virtually a lock for the No. 1 seed, there’s still a lot that’s up in the air.
Currently, Iowa, Stanford and USC are projected as the other No. 1 seeds, according to ESPN's Bracketology. This would be Stanford’s 14th tournament as a 1-seed, good for third-most behind Tennessee and UConn. Both have 22 1-seeds apiece.
Iowa and Southern California bolstered their cases for a 1-seed, winning their respective conference tournaments last weekend. Should they be named a 1-seed, it would be the Hawkeye’s third and first since 1992. USC has been a 1-seed four times, but this would be their first 1-seed since 1986.
Could Texas sneak in as a 1-seed? Currently, the Longhorns are projected by ESPN as a 2-seed in the Portland regional. But having won the Big 12 championship, Texas could have a case for a 1-seed.
"They looked like a Final Four team," Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said after his team’s loss in the Big 12 championship.
Having a 1-seed isn’t a guarantee to make the Final Four, although since the first D-I women’s basketball tournament, 56.1% of No. 1 seeds have made the Final Four. In 35 out of 41 years, there have been at least two No. 1 seeds to make the Final Four. In 2023, South Carolina and Virginia Tech were the two 1-seeds to reach the Final Four.
On the flip side, the latest ESPN projections have UConn as a 3-seed and LSU as a 2-seed.
LSU, UCLA and Ohio State rank ahead of the Huskies, who were Big East tournament champions, along with Texas. Of those four, only Texas won its tournament championship, and UConn's last loss came on Feb. 11 against South Carolina.
UConn was last a 3-seed in 2005, losing that year in the Sweet 16. They’ve never won the tournament as a 3-seed. As Big East champions, one could make a case for UConn to be a 2-seed, although this year they lost to both Texas and UCLA. They’ve also only ever won the tournament as a 2-seed one time: in 2004, when they beat Tennessee for the title.
Tune in to Selection Sunday at 8pm ET on ESPN.
Emma Hruby
Mar 14, 2024
Coco Gauff celebrated her 20th birthday in style, with a win over Elise Mertens in the fourth round at Indian Wells.
It was an easy win for Gauff, who won 6-0, 6-2. She won 84% of her first serves and six of eight breakpoints. After the match, she told the Tennis Channel that it was one of her better matches since the Australian Open.
"Today was one of my best matches since the Australian Open," Gauff told the Tennis Channel. "I was definitely trying to be aggressive. That just made the difference. I don't think she felt she could step in on me."
"I did really well playing deep in the court and mixing up the pace on her. She can do really well when it's all the same pace."
Following the match, Gauff was given a cake by the Tennis Channel to celebrate her birthday, with Gauff taking a bite out of it on the broadcast.
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 13, 2024"It's good!" - @CocoGauff
The birthday girl approves of her cake. 🎂😋 pic.twitter.com/nMYDzZ3ffR
Emma Hruby
Mar 14, 2024
Elena Delle Donne is taking time away to evaluate what her future in basketball could look like.
Speaking with the media on Wednesday, Thibault said that it's been a while since he’s spoken to Delle Donne. He noted that in their last conversation, Delle Donne said it was “difficult for her to imagine going through the daily process of having to be ready to play” given her injury history.
Delle Donne was unsure she could do that every day, Thibault said, and that she wanted time away to reflect on those feelings.
The star player, who was an All-Star last season, has struggled with injuries since 2019, which included having surgery on her back. She struggled last season as well, playing in only 23 of the Mystics’ 40 total games.
The Mystics had placed the core tag on Delle Donne, in hopes that she may want to come back at some point. Afterwards, Delle Donne announced that she was stepping away for the season.
Still, Thibault says that Delle Donne is on her own timetable, and the team is open to her coming back should she want to down the road.
Emma Hruby
Mar 14, 2024
Vlatko Andonovski will return to the NWSL sidelines this weekend for the first time since 2019 when Kansas City takes on Portland.
Ahead of that, Andonovski spoke with ESPN about his return to the league and his first time coaching since departing the USWNT last August. Andonovski coached the USWNT from 2019 up through the 2023 World Cup. He led the team to a Round of 16 exit, which was the team’s worst-ever finish at the tournament.
To Andonovski, a return to the NWSL has meant a return to his element, as he’s found that the club game “suits him” more than the international game.
"It's something that is continuous -- that's the difference," Andonovski told ESPN. "Like, it's not, 'Oh, now let's take a break for two months. We'll see you in May.' Now we keep going. 'All right, we check this box but you got to check the next box.'”
It’s a return to Kansas City for Andonovski, who has lived there since 2000. He was the original coach of FC Kansas City, helping the team to two NWSL championships before it folded in 2017. He then coached Reign FC from 2018 until 2019 before taking the helm of the USWNT.
Twice, Andonovski was named NWSL Coach of the Year, winning it in the league’s inaugural season in 2013 and again in 2019.
He took a break from soccer following the World Cup, evaluating what he wanted to do next. It was during that time he says he realized “how much I cannot live without this game.” Andonovski says he entertained other offers, from head coaching in the USL to being an assistant coach in MLS, to other NWSL opportunities.
But the opportunity to stay home was too good to pass up.
"It's almost like they're so proud of what I've done or the successes that I've had for the city that they're not just supporting but they're also protective," Andonovski said of local fans supporting him after the World Cup.
Now, he’ll take on another challenge in a league that has changed dramatically since he was last on its sidelines, with a surge of investment and international talent. But his coaching, he says, has evolved as well. And he’s excited to showcase what he can do.
"I don't need to prove anything to anyone except myself," he said. "I can do this. I want to do well for certain people or groups of people, but I have nothing to prove. I was in the league [and I was] fairly successful. I got the job with the national team not because I was doing poorly -- it's because I was doing well. I'm here again because somebody believes that I can do it well. Nothing to prove. I'm just looking forward to doing anything possible to repay the trust that people put in me.”
Read the full article on ESPN.
