“Are y’all retiring 5?”: UConn fans suspect honor for Paige Bueckers as Kayleigh Heckel, Serah Williams and other new huskies get their numbers

Paige Bueckers left UConn this year to go pro. She is widely regarded as one of the best players to have played for the Huskies.

When UConn announced its players' jersey numbers for the 2025-26 season on Instagram, fans realized that no player had picked No. 5, which Bueckers wore throughout her career with the program. Some then wondered if the jersey number was being retired by the team.

"are yall retiring 5??" one asked.

"NO 5 I CHEERED I CAN HEAR THE JERSEY RETIREMENT," another added.

"Hope nobody takes number 5," a third commented.

Some also expressed their excitement at the prospect of watching the young UConn stars in action next season.

"Can’t wait to see them play!! 💜" one wrote.

"This team is gonna kick some….omg.. THIS squad..Let’s gooooo," a fan wrote.

"So excited for the new season! 😍" a user added.

Here are the jersey numbers for the UConn players for next season:

No. 2 — KK Arnold
No. 4 — Blanca Quiñonez
No. 7 — Kelis Fisher
No. 8 — Jana El Alfy
No. 9 — Kayleigh Heckel
No. 11 — Allie Ziebell
No. 12 — Ashlynn Shade
No. 21 — Sarah Strong
No. 22 — Serah Williams
No. 23 — Morgan Cheli
No. 25 — Ice Brady
No. 33 — Caroline Ducharme
No. 34 — Ayanna Patterson
No. 35 — Azzi Fudd
No. 42 — Gandy Malou-Mamel

With No. 5 currently unclaimed by any UConn player, there is a possibility that the school could retire the jersey for Bueckers. However, the Huskies are yet to make an official announcement.

A look at Paige Buckers' UConn career

Former UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers - Source: Getty

Paige Bueckers committed to UConn in 2021. She spent five years with the program, but missed the entire 2022-23 season due to injury.

During her time with the Huskies, Bueckers averaged 19.8 points per game, 4.6 assists per game and 4.7 rebounds per game across 123 games.

Bueckers won the Big East Player of the Year award three times and earned three unanimous first-team All-American selections. She helped the Huskies win the national title in her final season with the team.

The Dallas Wings took Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft this year.

About the author

Arnold is a journalist covering College Sports and the NFL at Sportskeeda. He has been with the company since August 2022.

Arnold graduated with a degree in Mass Media from MIC. As a sports fanatic, he pursued writing to express his thoughts and opinions on sports events across the globe. He has also worked at Wizcraft and Publicis.

Arnold began supporting the Kansas City Chiefs after watching Patrick Mahomes lead them to Super Bowl glory in 2020. He also has a soft corner for the New York Yankees since he's lived in New York for two years. Arnold's favorite coach of all time is Andy Reid, and the Chiefs dynasty looks far from over.

In his free time, Arnold enjoys reading, exercising, and traveling. He follows several other sports including football, cricket, tennis, basketball, boxing and F1.

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Edited by Alvin Amansec