Hopkins, Minnesota, the hometown of Paige Bueckers, recently adopted a resolution to honor the University of Connecticut women’s basketball point guard on Friday, May 16. The city, a suburb to the west of Minneapolis, will celebrate the player and be known as “Paige Bueckers, Minnesota” on that day, also the opening day of the WNBA season.
The proclamation was recommended to the Hopkins City Council by Laila Imihy, the manager of special projects and initiatives for the city.
“The City of Hopkins would like to honor her accomplishments and wish her the best of luck at the professional level by proclaiming May 16th as ‘Paige Bueckers Day’ and renaming the city ‘Paige Bueckers, Minnesota’ for the day,” the city council’s report says.
Community businesses will also be encouraged to offer themed promotions and specials in addition to airing the Wings’ opening game that evening, a home matchup against the Minnesota Lynx. (Ion – WHPX Channel 26 Hartford and GWLP Channel 22.3 Springfield)
“We invite the community to celebrate the kickoff of the season with Think Hopkins and our local businesses,” the report says.
Bueckers is regarded as a “hometown hero,” having underwritten worthwhile homegrown causes while on and off the court. In previous years, she organized “Buckets with Bueckers” youth basketball clinics in Minnesota and Montana, and contributed to food insecurity programs in partnership with Chegg and Goodr, local outlet KSTP Channel 5 reports.
Bueckers was selected as the No. 1 overall draft pick in the WNBA by the Dallas Wings following five seasons of collegiate success with the Huskies, culminating in this year’s NCAA National Championship. While she was a student at Hopkins High School, she became the No. 1 ranked recruit earned numerous honors including being named a McDonald’s All-American player and Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year in addition to being a member of the Team USA Youth Olympics basketball team.
“Paige Bueckers made a name for herself as a Hopkins High School player…becoming known as one of the best to ever do it at the high school level in Minnesota,” the city’s proclamation says.
“[The fans] make this a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Bueckers said at this year’s UConn Victory Parade in downtown Hartford. “It’s meant everything to play here, to represent this program, you guys and the State of Connecticut. We love you all.”
Bueckers graduated from UConn in 2024 with a degree in human development and family sciences and finished her collegiate career as the Huskies’ leader in career scoring average (19.8 points per game), ranking No. 3 in career points (2,439) according to UConn Athletics. She is the 6th No. 1 draft pick, 28th first-round selection and the 48th player overall from UConn to enter the WNBA since the league was founded in 1996. Bueckers was drafted alongside outgoing teammates Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin.
Feature photo by Connor Sharp/The Daily Campus.