UConn Basketball Player Returns After ACL Tear, Declares ‘God is Great’
By Movieguide® Contributor
University of Connecticut women’s basketball player Paige Bueckers praised God as she finally returned to the court after an injury.
Bueckers didn’t see the floor for 584 days after she tore her ACL right before the 2022 season began.
“In the No. 2-ranked Huskies’ 102-58 victory Wednesday against Dayton, Bueckers scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists in 21 minutes of action. The 2021 Naismith College Player of the Year missed all of the 2022-23 season due to a torn left ACL sustained on Aug. 1, 2022,” Sports Spectrum reported.
Before the surgery to repair her torn ACL, Bueckers wrote on Instagram, “It’s so so crazy because you work so hard to get back healthy, you feel stronger than ever, and you are playing your best basketball and with one sudden movement it all shifts.”
“It’s hard trying to make sense of it all now, but I can’t help but think that God is using me as a testimony as to how much you can overcome with Him by your side,” she continued. “Some little kid that just tore their ACL or had a major surgery might need this story.”
“There is going to be good days and there is going to be bad days but my absolute love for the game and Godly strength will get me back to where I need to be,” Bueckers concluded. “I’ve worked too hard for the little kid in these pictures to keep going for the dreams I’ve had since I first picked up the ball, so why would I stop now? The prayers and love mean so much to me and the doubts that I won’t get back to where I was might mean even more. God put a dream in my heart and even if I have to walk through a nightmare to get it, I’m going to keep believing.”
After her triumphant return to the game, Bueckers told CT Insider, “I’m still learning how to give myself grace. I’m not ignorant enough to think that it’s going to be a linear trajectory this whole time and I’m just going to be on the up and up, and be the old Paige, and have a great game every game. This is a process, coming back from a major injury, getting my lungs, getting the rhythm and flow back.”
“Part of me thinks it was God calling me to use this. I feel like I’m just gonna have a great story to tell by the end of it,” she told ESPN.
Through her hard work, determination and faith, Bueckers “is a better basketball player now than she was when she was national player of the year,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said.
After their first game, Bueckers posted on her Instagram, “Ahhh… I love it here. GOD IS GREAT!”
Keep an eye out for Bueckers as she continues to improve throughout the season to help lead her team to another National Championship.
Movieguide® previously reported on Bueckers:
Movieguide® previously shared Auriemma’s comments on the injury-related absence of one of UConn’s star players, Paige Bueckers: “Paige is obviously an amazing basketball player but she’s a better person and teammate and it’s really unfortunate that this has happened to her. We’ll miss her presence on the court, but she’ll do everything she can to still lead and help her teammates this season. Our program will support Paige through her healing process to help her come back better and stronger.”
UConn looks forward to November and Bueckers’ return to the team.
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