At UConn, coming in as a highly rated freshman doesn't mean a whole lot. Yes, it is a good indicator of becoming an excellent player in women's college basketball's most successful program of all-time. But under Geno Auriemma and company, there's normally an adjustment period, no matter how "generational" the talent is.
And Paige Bueckers is trying to disprove that theory. The freshman sensation out of Minnesota, Bueckers is doing things never seen before in Storrs just 16 games into her collegiate career. Already with three consecutive 30-point games (never done before) and the takeover of multiple games - notably the overtime victory over No. 1 South Carolina - the product is living up to the hype with Bueckers.
Yes, Bueckers has been incredible to this point, leading the team in scoring, assists, steals, three-point percentage and minutes. But at Connecticut, stardom isn't defined in 16-game spurts, nor is it defined in mid-February. How Bueckers and the Huskies fare in the next seven weeks will largely determine where she lands on this list of the best freshman seasons ever by a Husky.
5) Diana Taurasi (2000-01): It sounds crazy given she's the GOAT of women's basketball, but Taurasi didn't light the world on fire when she got to Storrs. Remember, she had two legends in Shea Ralph and Svetlana Abrosimova, plus the greatest class ever in Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones already established. Still, she started 14 games, averaged 10 points a game and, when Ralph and Svet went down with season-ending injuries it was Taurasi who stepped in.
She went on to be named the Most Outstanding Player at the Big East Tournament (the year of "Bird at the Buzzer") and in the East regional of the NCAA Tournament. Though her play in UConn's Final Four loss to Notre Dame (1-of-15 shooting) was disappointing, she made up for it three straight national titles to close out her UConn career.
4) Svetlana Abrosimova (1997-98): Given how many legends have come through UConn since - Bird, Taurasi, Charles, Moore and Stewart, to name a few - it's easy to forget how good Abrosimova was. The Russian immediately looked like she belonged, averaging 14.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game (albeit with more turnovers than assists) as UConn advanced to the Elite 8.
More impressively? She did it all while being the youngest player in program history, debuting at 17 years and four months old (she didn't turn 18 until the summer after her freshman year!).
3) Tina Charles (2006-07): Charles was a double-double machine at UConn, averaging 15.4 points and 9.0 rebounds a game for her career. The Big East Freshman of the Year scored 12.7 points per game - her 475 points were the second-most ever by a rookie at the time, and her 34 points against USF is still the single-game record by a freshman. She still holds the program record for most rebounds by a freshman (296), a sign of things to come as she also sets the mark for career rebounding.
2) Breanna Stewart (2012-13): The most recent "generational" talent to come to Storrs, it wasn't an easy beginning for Stewie. After a red-hot start, she averaged fewer than 10 points per game in the final three months of the regular season.
Then a switch flipped, and the player Stewart became is the stuff of legend. She averaged 17 points in the Big East Tournament, losing for the third time that year to Notre Dame in the final. Then in the NCAA Tournament she averaged 21 points, including a 29-point effort against the Irish in the Final Four and a 23-point effort in the national title game against Louisville. She became the first freshman since 1987 to win Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors as UConn won the first of four straight national titles.
1) Maya Moore (2007-08): The program's all-time leading scorer, it's fitting that Moore owns the highest scoring season by a freshman in school history with 678 (17.8 PPG). She also pulled down the second-most rebounds (7.6) and the fifth-most assists (3.1) in a rookie campaign in program history. It ended with Moore becoming the first freshman to win Big East Player of the Year honors and the second to be named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press. She helped lead UConn to the Final Four, starting the current stretch of 12 consecutive appearances to the national semis by the Huskies.