UConn star Paige Bueckers has a Nike signature shoe and Caitlin Clark fans are confused

Connecticut star Paige Bueckers is doing something no other college basketball player has done. Bueckers designed and is set to release her own Nike player edition sneaker this month, the sportswear giant announced Monday.Bueckers’ Nike G.T.Hustle 3, the first basketball sneaker created by a college player in the Name, Image and Likeness era, is scheduled to drop Dec.

7 on the SNKRS app and will be available at select retail locations. Bueckers, a star on the 6-0 Connecticut team that’s ranked No.2 in the country, took great pride in creating a shoe in her favorite colorway with several personalized details.“It’s definitely motivating to wear your own shoe,” Bueckers said in a written statement provided by Nike.

“I grew up wearing Nikes — all the signature shoes — so it’s surreal to have this Player Edition model.I just want to show out in it.”Bueckers’ sneaker features two of her favorite colors — baby blue and lavender purple — and has an embroidered white bucket on the right tongue.

“Buckets” – a play on Bueckers’ last name – is emblazoned on the right heel.The left heel includes the message her father sends her before every game, “Be You, Be Great.” News of Bueckers’ signature shoe drew ire from some fans of WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, who signed a reported eight-year, $28 million deal with Nike last spring but has yet to release a signature shoe to the public. Clark showed off a black-and-gold pair of Nike Kobe 5 Proto player exclusive sneakers at an Indiana Fever practice in July, but there’s no word on when Clark will be dropping a signature shoe. Bueckers and Clark have been pitted against one another in the past.

They were in the same high school recruiting class in 2020.Bueckers, a flashy guard from Edina, Minnesota, was the nation’s No.

1 prospect and ultimately committed to go to Connecticut.Clark was ranked No.

4 in the country and was never recruited by Connecticut.She ultimately deci...