National champion, WNBA Rookie of the Year, the list of accolades just keep growing for former UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers.

On Tuesday, she added another — as the Dallas Wings guard was named to Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 Most Influential Rising Stars. The Time100 Next, as the publication dubbed it, includes standouts from sports, music, art, politics, science and more.

Time chose various luminaries to author short write-ups of the rising stars, and fellow UConn legend Diana Taurasi wrote Bueckers’.

“She is living in a world where there are so many commitments, so many opportunities. But she works hard, and she does so in a way that encourages growth for everyone,” Taurasi wrote. “I love watching her play. I love the way she carries herself on the court with her teammates. When we talk about great competitors and champions — to get there, your teammates have to like you. And she gets the best out of her team because they love her.

“I got to see her win the NCAA championship for UConn this past year, shortly before she was drafted first overall by the Dallas Wings. She was beaming, because all she wanted to do was win a championship for our team, for our school, for herself, for her teammates. That’s what makes her special: she wants to do it for everyone.”

©2025 Hartford Courant. Visit courant.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.