UConn star Paige Bueckers' lack of popularity in tourney has racial component to it, ex-NBA player suggests

Chris Broussard unveils his BUD list ahead of the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, including UConn's Paige Bueckers and Arkansas HC John Calipari.

UConn Huskies women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers has performed at a high level during the NCAA Tournament and most recently scored 40 points in a Sweet 16 game against Oklahoma.

Anyone who had been following Bueckers since the beginning of her collegiate career knows that games like the one against the Sooners were par for the course. She dropped 34 points against South Dakota State in the second round as well.

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UConn guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers on the bench against Arkansas State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Storrs, Connecticut (AP Photo/Jessica Hil;)

But her popularity has yet to skyrocket like Caitlin Clark’s when the sharpshooter was winning games at Iowa and setting NCAA records in scoring. Former NBA center Etan Thomas suggested in a column for The Guardian last week there were a few reasons for that.

Thomas wrote that Bueckers’ associations with Black people and the lack of a so-called "Black villain" to contend with in the NCAA Tournament affected how White people saw the Huskies guard. He pointed to Bueckers’ decision to shoutout Black women during her ESPYs speech in 2021 as the start of it.

"Meanwhile, there has been no Black villain for Bueckers to compete against," Thomas wrote, alluding to Clark’s on-court rivalry with LSU standout Angel Reese. "The fact that that has meant she has gained less attention and adoration from middle America says a lot about the state of the country."

UConn guard Paige Bueckers runs through the student section at Gampel Pavilion