UConn Women’s Basketball Is Showing Us What Sports Can Be

Savannah Brooks ’26

Managing Editor

On Sunday, April 6, the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team took home their 12th NCAA Division I National Championship title, crushing the University of South Carolina 82-59. In many ways, this was a very typical championship; after all, the sport is no stranger to UConn winning, and star player Paige Bueckers seemed destined to lead her team to a championship ever since she was recruited to play for the Huskies. But, for me, as a women’s basketball fan and a former (very amateur) player myself, it felt different.

There is no doubt that women’s basketball has been experiencing a major vibe shift for the last few years, mostly spurred by Bueckers’ high school class (Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink are among the big stars that shared Bueckers’ high school graduation year). The Clark-Reese rivalry (is it even really a rivalry, when it seems completely created by people other than Clark and Reese?) seemed to lead the way, creating a quite hostile environment as more and more men tuned into and had opinions on the sport. Even now that they have graduated are in the WNBA, videos have often covered the internet of Clark throwing a water bottle in anger on the sidelines or Reese committing a flagrant foul on the court. 

In the wake of Clark and Reese’s graduation from college, a new opportunity was created for the stars of the likes of UConn and South Carolina to carve out a new narrative for themselves. Now that the season is over, despite seeing my long-shot Maryland Terrapins fail to make the Elite Eight again, I feel indescribably proud of what I’m seeing Bueckers and her crew do with their victory. With their endless TikToks, press conference pranks and, really, the love that they show one another, the women of UConn give me hope for the future of the sport. 

In a world where narratives like Jayson Tatum’s memory of Duke’s Coach K hurling insults at him during halftime even when his team was winning dominate the public view, when the worst thing an athlete can be is “soft,” it is unbelievably refreshing to hear Bueckers, after her big win, speaking about her “legacy…of giving.” Her legacy, she told several different journalists, was “One of being a great teammate, one of being a great leader. And just affecting everyone around me, being in a state of gratitude all the time.” Her fellow star teammate Azzi Fudd was similarly charming when she became flustered during a mid game interview after becoming so passionate about how much she loved her team that she called this year’s team her “favorite,” although she quickly corrected herself so as not to offend her previous teams. This overarching theme of love and togetherness even extended to South Carolina’s team, who has been affectionately called “Dawn’s Daycare,” since legendary head coach Dawn Staley often joins in on the team’s “childish moments.”

As women across sports become more prominent and get more eyes on them, there has been a noticeable difference from tales of old UConn teams or men’s teams. Excellence does not have to come from abuse. Bueckers, with her habit of breaking ridiculous records and making a TikTok after the game with her teammates, or wearing a silly wig at the post-game conference to mimic assistant coach Chris Dailey, is certainly excellent. But she is not living like a monk, or even seems to publicly find much fault in poor performance — after Fudd finished with a meager eight points against USC in the Elite Eight, Bueckers put her arm around her shoulder and joked about her “saving her shots for Tampa,” where the Final Four and National Championship was held. 

Bueckers, and UConn, seem to understand that there is much more to excellence and success, and to sport itself, than getting angry over a turnover to fire yourself up or getting screamed at by your coach at halftime because, apparently, that will unlock your potential. Instead, they have found unbelievable success in love, care and plain old fun. Being soft is not an automatic fault (I found, along with much of the internet, Bueckers embracing UConn head coach Geno Auriemma while crying unbelievably beautiful, and certainly soft in a very good way), and an excellent player does not need to experience or dole out verbal abuse to be excellent. In fact, I would argue that UConn’s ability to connect with one another on the court is largely thanks to their tight-knit bond off the court. I hope that UConn’s demonstration of excellence through their softness inspires coaches and players at all levels to see sports more as an opportunity for connection and care, rather than one for tirades and anger.