New York — Here’s a scary thought regarding Paige Bueckers:

“Paige is a better basketball player now than when she was the national basketball player of the year,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of his star guard.

Big East coaches selected Bueckers the Big East Preseason Player of the Year despite missing last season with a knee injury.

UConn’s opponents will soon find out what her teammates already know.

Bueckers, a redshirt junior, is returning to the basketball court even better than she was before.

And she can’t wait.

“It’s an overwhelming feeling of excitement just getting back on the court, back playing basketball and doing what I love most,” Bueckers said during Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden.

It’s hard to top what Bueckers accomplished as a freshman, winning several major awards including Associated Press Player of the Year, the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy and All-America status as well as Big East player and freshman of the year.

Then injuries began to hit, forcing Bueckers to sit out more than half of the 2021-22 season and all of last season.

The run of bad luck extended to the team.

Only two players on the roster saw action in all 37 games last season. The shorthanded Huskies were eliminated by Ohio State in the NCAA Sweet 16.

But the Huskies are healthy this season. Ice Brady and Azzi Fudd have fully recovered from past injuries.

Highly-regarded recruit KK Arnold, named the Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year, is a great addition.

“This is the closest that I’ve been to personally feeling we’re complete,” senior Nika Muhl said. “It’s going to be exciting to see how good we can be when we’re all together and we don’t have people on the sidelines and being on the bench.”

There’s no doubt the Huskies are a national championship contender. They’re the runaway preseason choice to win the Big East, a conference they’ve dominated over the years. The Huskies earned 10 first-place votes.

Big East coaches named senior Aaliyah Edwards, junior Azzi Fudd and Muhl to the All-Big East preseason team.

Bueckers’ return was a hot topic at Big East Media Day.

“She changes everything,” Muhl said. “There’s not a single thing that she doesn’t change. … She does everything on the court. She instills confidence in everybody and she makes everybody so much better. She brings that sense of reassurance and relief on the court.

“For me, personally, I’m so happy for her as a friend and I’m so excited for her as a teammate, too.”

Auriemma, who’s in his 39th year, said Bueckers took advantage of her time on the sidelines and returned an improved player.

“Any time you’re out for a long time, it takes a little bit to get back in the swing of things,” Auriemma said. “She may not have been playing competitively, but she’s never been away from the game. So, her practices and individual workouts right now, this is the best I’ve seen her look, even more so than freshman year.

“Unfortunately, it took that kind of an injury. But she used it to her benefit; She’s bigger, stronger, quicker. She just sees things a little bit differently now than she did when she was a kid. I don’t want to say people have forgotten who she is, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen her play at a really high level.

“Even the year before she got hurt, she was coming off sitting out a little bit. So the difference between having Paige and not having Paige is, your chances of competing for a national championship just went up exponentially.”

g.keefe@theday.com