Geno Auriemma discusses if Paige Bueckers is on UConn's Mount Rushmore

UConn women’s hoops has an incredibly storied history with superstars coming and going throughout the years, but Paige Bueckers’ career has been impressive enough that she could considered one face on the program’s theoretical Mount Rushmore.

The only step remaining for her is a national championship, which UConn won four times in a row from 2013-2016 but has not accomplished the feat since. If Bueckers can get UConn back to the promised land, she no doubt becomes a UConn Mount Rushmore member.

When asked what has made Bueckers a Rushmore-caliber player at UConn ahead of the Final Four, Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma first noted his star player’s personality.

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“She’s a selfless human being. That automatically separates her from a whole bunch of other people. She takes care of her teammates better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Maybe there’s been others, of course. But the way she shares all her good fortune, all the good things that come to her, really don’t mean anything to her unless she can share them with her teammates, whatever it is.”

Her demeanor certainly comes into play on the court, per Auriemma, who says she isn’t fazed by the spotlight or the big moments, unlike most players.

“That part, as a person, the part where the biggest moments, she’s not afraid, and she comes through in those biggest moments. I know, I know, because every kid has this, I know that there’s a fear of: What if I can’t? Anybody that tells you there’s not, they’re lying, okay? But the great ones, you know, they put that in the back of their mind and they just go and they do what they do.”

Paige Bueckers is certainly on the level of other UConn greats as a player, but now she needs the accolades. Per Auriemma, she’s two wins away from eternal enshrinement among the Husky community.

“We’ve had some great ones on that Mount Rushmore. I don’t know that we could fit ’em all, you know? But yeah, all she needs is to win a national championship. Hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to do that next weekend.”

No. 3 seeded UConn is set to face No. 1 seed Iowa in the second of two Final Four games Friday evening in Cleveland. South Carolina and NC State kick off a border battle in the early game, unfortunately forcing Husky and Hawkeye fans to hammer some coffee in order to stay up and watch that second game, which is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. ET but will likely tip off even later.