The University of Connecticut made basketball history by becoming the first school to produce both NBA & WNBA Rookies of the Year in the same season. Paige Bueckers with the Dallas Wings in the WNBA and Stephon Castle with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA were both named 2025 Rookie of the Year.
The accomplishment? Unheard of. The only thing even close happened back in 2004, when UConn legends Diana Taurasi and Emeka Okafor each grabbed rookie honors — but not in the same year.
This time, Paige & Stephon did it together.
The book of Bueckers
Paige Bueckers entered UConn in 2020 as the nation’s number one recruit and immediately set herself apart. She became the first freshman in NCAA history to sweep every major National Player of the Year award. Although injuries sidelined her during her sophomore and junior years, she returned to lead UConn to multiple Final Fours and, ultimately, the 2025 national championship.
Her path after that wasn’t easy. The seasons that followed brought injuries — including a torn ACL that sidelined her for an entire year. For any athlete, it’s a devastating blow. It could have been career-defining in all the wrong ways. Yet Paige refused to let the injuries write her story.
When she returned, she didn’t just come back — she came back better. Her senior year reminded everyone of what made her one of the best in the game. What makes Paige great isn’t just her stats or her trophies (though there are plenty of both). It’s the way she makes basketball look like an art form — her vision, her timing, her ability to make the game flow. It’s her composure under pressure, her humility despite fame, and her refusal to let obstacles define her.
Beyond that, it’s the kind of teammate and person she is. Paige leads with encouragement, celebrates the success of others, and lifts the people around her. She’s the type of player who makes her teammates better and the type of person who makes her community stronger. As a role model, she shows younger athletes that greatness isn’t just about winning — it’s about how you carry yourself, how you treat people, and how you leave things better than when you found them.
In her fifth and final season, Paige delivered the storybook ending, guiding UConn to a 2025 national championship while stacking up national honors that only underscored what everyone already knew.
The guard from Hopkins, Minnesota, came to UConn as the number one recruit in the country in 2020 and left as one of the greatest Huskies of all time. She was then selected number one overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings.
Paige Bueckers’ Career Accomplishments
National Honors: 2025 Wade Trophy, 2025 Honda Sports Award, 2021 Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, AP Player of the Year, and USBWA Player of the Year (first freshman ever to sweep all).
Conference Honors: Three-time Big East Player of the Year (2021, 2024, 2025), 2024 Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 2021 Big East Freshman of the Year.
Tournament Honors: 2025 NCAA Champion & Final Four All-Tournament Team, Three-time NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player (2021, 2022, 2024), Three-time NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team.
UConn Records: Number one in scoring average (19.8 ppg), number three in career points (2,439), Fastest to 2,000 points (102 games), Most points in NCAA Tournament games by a Husky (477), Single-game NCAA Tournament scoring record for UConn (40 vs. Oklahoma, 2025).
Professional Career: Selected number one overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA Draft, 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Rookie single-game scoring record (44 points), Fastest WNBA rookie to 500 points and 150 assists (28 games), 2025 WNBA All-Star Starter.
FROM STORRS TO SPURS
Stephon Castle arrived at UConn as one of the top 2023 recruits in the country. The 6’6′ guard from Covington, Georgia, combined size, skill, and versatility to become a force on both ends of the floor, quickly earning a significant role in UConn’s lineup. He averaged double-digit points, defended top competition with intensity, and rose to the occasion when it mattered most during UConn’s 2024 national championship run.
Castle left UConn after just one season, but he did so as a national champion and one of the most NBA-ready players in his class. The NBA took notice, and the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 Draft.
Stephon Castle Career Highlights
2024 NCAA National Champion
2024 Final Four All-Tournament Team
2024 Big East All-Freshman Team
2024 NBA Draft: Number Four overall pick to the San Antonio Spurs
2025 NBA Rookie of the Year
The Basketball Capital of the World
From Storrs, Connecticut, to the pros, the Huskies have only further validated the title they’ve carried for decades: the Basketball Capital of the World. UConn has been rewriting basketball history for years, and this season was no different.
This is the same program that’s produced dynasties, Hall of Famers, and championship teams on both the men’s and women’s sides. It’s the school with the most NCAA championships in the modern era, the home of coaches who became legends, and now the first to ever produce the NBA & WNBA Rookies of the Year in the same season.
The University of Connecticut has always been a basketball powerhouse, but this year the Huskies reached new heights. For the first time in history, one school produced both the NBA Rookie of the Year and the WNBA Rookie of the Year in the same season. These rookies, Stephon Castle and Paige Bueckers, are the newest chapter in an enduring legacy.