$652,000 NIL-valued Paige Bueckers shares hearty moment with HC Geno Auriemma as UConn bags 65-42 victory against Providence: "My guy"

UConn star Paige Bueckers led the Huskies to an undefeated end to the season for the first time in three years, registering 17 points, two rebounds and two assists in Saturday's 65-42 win over the Providence Friars.

The $652,000 NIL-valued Bueckers (as per On3) shared a hearty moment with UConn coach Geno Auriemma on her Instagram stories, captioning it:

"My guy."

Image via Instagram

The role of Paige Bueckers in Geno Auriemma's UConn team

Geno Auriemma has had to deal without the presence of Paige Bueckers for extended lengths of her UConn career due to her two separate ACL injuries, and he has had to adapt his team to suit her strengths when available.

During his postgame news conference, Geno Auriemma had a surprising reaction to Paige Bueckers registering 31 points and five rebounds against the Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday night without registering an assist.

Auriemma explained how he envisions Buecker's scoring role in the team and why being a score-first player is an ideal role for her.

“I love it, I love it. There's no mystery, right?” Auriemma said. “I mean, there are people that are going to get double-teamed, and you're surprised that they're not. So we know Aaliyah [Edwards] is going to get double-teamed every night and when she's not, it's surprising.

“We know Paige, on every ball screen, she's going to get trapped or she's getting some sort of double-team. And when that happens, and people get open, she’s going find them.

“But she'll only find them if [the opponent] really, really thinks Paige is trying to score every time she touches the ball, that she's putting that kind of pressure, mental and actual physical pressure on the other team. And little by little, she's getting better at that.”

During her postgame news conference, Buecker's comments indicated that she was in sync with Auriemma's vision for her on the UConn Huskies team.

“Obviously, everybody who's watched me since I came as a freshman, anybody watched me in high school, [knows] I love to pass the basketball, I love to create for others,” Paige Bueckers said. “Just trying to find the balance of sometimes, you know, I have to take over the game, create for myself.

“I feel like the more than I'm aggressive on offense, looking for my shot, that's when other people get open. So again, it's just the story of my, sort of, UConn career, trying to find that balance, trying to please coach in that way, which is kind of impossible, but it always gives you something to work on.”

If Paige Buecker's prodigious scoring can lead the No. 3 Huskies into a deep tournament run, Geno Auriemma will not complain about a lack of assists.