Paige Bueckers, a College Athlete Who’s Cashing In

Her nickname is Paige “Buckets.” Her game day trademark is a Targaryen crown of blond braids. Her résumé includes back-to-back national player of the year awards: in her senior year of high school, then after her first season at UConn, which made her the first freshman to win the honor. She has more than 1 million followers combined on Instagram and TikTok. But if you really want to understand why the 20-year-old from Edina, Minn., is so badass and has the sports world watching her every move, here are two things to keep in mind:

No. 1: Bueckers (pronounced “Beckers”) is an unimposing 5 feet 11 inches, a dolphin among sharks in her sport, except she’s the alpha predator. “I never start the trash talking,” she claims, unconvincingly, “but once somebody starts with me, then it’s just in my instinct to go back and forth.” If the poor soul guarding Bueckers flaps at her, Bueckers will tell her exactly what she’s going to do—jab step, dribble, step-back three—and then she’ll do it in her face: “It’s a killer, mentally, to tell somebody what you’re going to do, and they know you’re going to do it, and you still do it anyway.”