Is Paige Bueckers eligible for the WNBA Draft?

UConn Huskies star has led her team to the women’s NCAA Tournament title game but her WNBA Draft eligibility is still a question.

Paige Bueckers set the women’s basketball scene on fire last season with one of the greatest freshman seasons in history.

For most in the men’s game, a debut season with unanimous All-American honors and a handful of National Player of the Year Awards would precede a trip to the NBA Draft/

However, Bueckers wasn’t eligible to enter the WNBA Draft after her outstanding freshman season.

This year she’s battled injuries but hit her stride in the NCAA Tournament. When this season is over, will she finally be able to head for the WNBA?

Is Paige Bueckers eligible for the WNBA Draft?

No, Bueckers can’t declare for the WNBA Draft this year. She won’t be eligible until 2023 at the earliest.

Why does one of the best players in women’s basketball have to wait so long to go pro? Those are the rules in the current WNBA collective bargaining agreement.

Women’s players must graduate from a four-year college or be at least 22 years old in the same year as the draft is being held.

Bueckers, who is only 20 years and in her second year at UConn, doesn’t meet the requirements to enter the draft.

Next year she’ll be 21, so she still wouldn’t meet the age requirement, but she could finish her degree in three years and move on to the pros. It’s not uncommon for college athletes to get their bachelor’s degrees in their first three years of eligibility, then take graduate courses in their fourth year.

The WNBA will have to wait for Bueckers, but college basketball fans can look forward to one more season from the Huskies phenom.

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