Paige Bueckers
![]() Bueckers with Hopkins High School in 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Edina, Minnesota | October 20, 2001||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 140 lb (64 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
High school | Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minnesota) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College | UConn (commit) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Paige Bueckers (born October 20, 2001) is an American basketball player who attended Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota. A five-star recruit and the number one player in the 2020 class, she is committed to play college basketball for UConn.
Bueckers, who plays the point guard position, started playing basketball for Hopkins in seventh grade and made her varsity debut in her following year. In her junior season, she led the team to the Class 4A state title. As a senior, Bueckers won several high school national player of the year awards. She has won three gold medals with the United States at the junior level and was named Most Valuable Player of the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's World Cup.
Early life and career
Bueckers was born in Edina, Minnesota and started playing basketball at age five.[1] As a child, she played Little League Baseball as a catcher, as well as football and soccer.[2][3] Bueckers was coached in basketball by her father until seventh grade.[4] She drew inspiration from National Basketball Association (NBA) players LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and Women's National Basketball Association players Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird.[2][5]
In seventh grade, Bueckers played for the tenth grade and junior varsity basketball teams at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota.[6] Prior to her eighth-grade season, she grew four inches in a year.[7] She joined Hopkins' varsity team in eighth grade, starting in six games and averaging 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game.[8] She led her team in three-point shooting and ranked second in assists. Hopkins finished with a 28–3 record and a runner-up finish at the Class 4A state tournament, where Bueckers was named to the All-Tournament Team.[2][9]
High school career
Bueckers made her freshman season debut for Hopkins High School on November 25, 2016, recording 28 points, five steals and four assists in a 74–34 win over Osseo Senior High School.[9] That year, she assumed a more important role and became one of the team's leading scorers and passers.[10] As a freshman, Bueckers averaged 20.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 4.1 assists per game, earning All-Metro first team honors.[11] She led Hopkins to a 31–1 record, suffering her only loss to Elk River High School at the Class 4A state championship. Bueckers made the Class 4A All-Tournament Team.[12][13]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/3_Paige_Bueckers_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-3_Paige_Bueckers_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In January 2018, as a sophomore, Bueckers was sidelined with an ankle injury that had been hurting her up to that point in the season.[14] She finished the season averaging 22.3 points, 6.8 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game.[15] Bueckers helped Hopkins to a 28–4 record but suffered her third straight loss at the Class 4A state title game, despite leading all scorers with 37 points.[16] She was named Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year, becoming the first sophomore to win the award since its creation 34 years earlier.[15] Bueckers was also recognized as Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year for athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character.[17]
As a junior on February 1, 2019, Bueckers scored 43 points in a 69–66 win over Wayzata High School and surpassed 2,000 career points.[18] On March 16, she scored 13 points to win the Class 4A state championship, 74–45, over Stillwater Area High School.[19] Bueckers averaged 24.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 4.6 steals per game, repeating as Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year and Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year.[20][21] She was additionally one of three finalists for the Gatorade National Player of the Year award. On January 29, 2020, during her senior season, Bueckers became the first female high school player to be featured on the cover of basketball magazine Slam.[22] As a senior, she led Hopkins to the Class 4A state championship, but the title game was canceled on March 13 amid the coronavirus pandemic.[23] Bueckers was selected to play at the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, two prestigious high school all-star games, but both were canceled due to the pandemic.[24][25][26] She averaged 21.4 points, 9.4 assists, 5.4 steals and 5.0 rebounds per game, leading Hopkins to another undefeated season and 62 consecutive wins.[27] Bueckers was again honored as Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year, becoming the award's first three-time winner.[28] She was named Gatorade National Player of the Year,[29] Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award,[30] MaxPreps National Player of the Year,[31] Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year,[32] and Minnesota Miss Basketball.[33]
Recruiting
Bueckers is a five-star recruit and ranked the number one player in the 2020 class by ESPN.[34] By eighth grade and age 14, she had already received scholarship offers from NCAA Division I basketball programs Minnesota, Iowa State and Illinois.[7] On April 1, 2019, Bueckers announced her commitment to UConn. Her other finalists that she was considering were Notre Dame, Oregon State, Oregon, UCLA, Minnesota, South Carolina, Maryland, Texas and Duke.[35] On November 13, 2019, Bueckers signed a National Letter of Intent with UConn.[36] She became the 11th number one recruit to sign and attend UConn since 1998.[37]
National team career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/YOG_2018_Basketball_-_Women%27s_Shoot-out_Contest_-_Final_-_Paige_Bueckers_02_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-YOG_2018_Basketball_-_Women%27s_Shoot-out_Contest_-_Final_-_Paige_Bueckers_02_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Bueckers represented the United States at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Women's Americas Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In five games, she averaged 11 points, three steals, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, helping her team win the gold medal.[38] Bueckers played at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Women's World Cup in Minsk, Belarus. In seven games, she averaged 9.7 points, 4.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game, leading the tournament in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.13.[39] Bueckers led the United States to a gold medal after recording eight points and ten assists versus France in the final.[40]
At the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand in July, Bueckers averaged 11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and a tournament-high 5.4 assists per game. She posted 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a 74–70 overtime win over Australia for the gold medal.[41] Bueckers was named Most Valuable Player and made the All-Tournament Team.[42] On December 10, 2019, she was honored as USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year.[43]
3x3 basketball
In October 2018, Bueckers won a gold medal for the United States in 3x3 basketball at the Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.[44][45] She played 3x3 basketball for the senior national team at the 2019 World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar but lost to Brazil in the quarterfinals.[46]
Personal life
Bueckers' father, Bob Bueckers, played high school basketball as a point guard. Her mother, Amy Fuller (née Dettbarn), represented the University of St. Thomas in cross country and track and field.[1] When Bueckers was three years old, her parents divorced. She remained with her father while her mother remarried and moved to Billings, Montana.[47] Bueckers has two younger brothers, Ryan and Drew, and a younger sister, Lauren.[1]
Bueckers has hosted a charity basketball clinic called "Buckets for Bueckers" for young athletes.[2]
References
- ^ a b c "Paige Bueckers". USA Basketball. December 9, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Aulie, Mike (August 26, 2018). "'Buckets with Bueckers' - Hopkins standout, with ties to lakes area, giving back to her sport". Brainerd Dispatch. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ Frederick, Jace (November 22, 2019). "For Hopkins' basketball phenom Paige Bueckers, 'The sky is the limit'". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ Martin, Sloane (January 31, 2019). "Hopkins star Paige Bueckers can go anywhere — maybe even to the Gophers". The Athletic. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ "Bueckers: Balling before social media, the UConn legacy, learning from Taurasi and Irving". FIBA. July 26, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ Barnes, Katie (February 10, 2020). "Can this one super-prospect revive the greatest dynasty in sports?". ESPN. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ a b Scoggins, Chip (March 17, 2016). "Hopkins 8th grader Paige Bueckers attracts attention from colleges -- and Lynx coach". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Villa, Walter (January 25, 2017). "Timeout! Hopkins star Paige Bueckers is only a freshman". ESPN. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Rippel, Joel (November 28, 2016). "Prep athletes of the week: Hopkins freshman Paige Bueckers picks up where she left off". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ McCoy, David (February 4, 2017). "Hopkins' Paige Bueckers Looking Like The Next Tayler Hill". WCCO-TV. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Paulsen, Jim (March 14, 2017). "Meet the 2017 Star Tribune girls' basketball All-Metro first team". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Frederick, Jace (March 18, 2017). "Elk River completes undefeated season with title game win over Hopkins". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Paulsen, Jim (March 18, 2017). "Elk River wins 4A title in rare battle of the unbeatens". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ McGinnis, Grant (January 21, 2018). "Hopkins guard Paige Bueckers sidelined with ankle injury". Prep Girls Hoops. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Paulsen, Jim (March 12, 2018). "Paige Bueckers, the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year, still has one goal in mind: winning state". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Paulsen, Jim (March 18, 2018). "Eastview wins the biggest prize, tops Hopkins for Class 4A girls' basketball title". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ "Hopkins High School's Paige Buecker named Gatorade Minnesota Girls Basketball Player of the Year". Hopkins Public Schools. April 25, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Sherman, John (February 8, 2019). "Hopkins girls basketball: Bueckers reaches 2,000 points in 69-66 win over Wayzata". Sun Sailor. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
- ^ Sherman, John (March 18, 2019). "Bueckers 'toughs it out' for first state title". Sun Sailor. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
- ^ "Hopkins High School's Paige Bueckers wins 2nd Gatorade Minn. Player of the Year; Finalist for national award". KSTP-TV. March 8, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
- ^ Haggstrom, Ron (March 11, 2019). "Paige Bueckers of Hopkins is the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
- ^ "Paige Bueckers: 'I don't want to just be a high school legend.' The Slam magazine video". Star Tribune. January 30, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Paulsen, Jim; La Vaque, David; March 13, Star Tribune staff writers; Pm, 2020-11:33. "Minnesota high school sports abruptly canceled, 'devastating' those involved". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
{{cite web}}
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has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Hopkins basketball star Paige Bueckers honored as McDonald's All-American". KSTP-TV. January 30, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Lawlor, Christopher (February 15, 2020). "Jordan Brand Classic lands in Chicago; no stub for Diamond Johnson of Neumann-Goretti (PA) named to girls' roster". BlueStar Media. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Stephens, Mitch (March 13, 2020). "High school basketball state tournaments, postseason showcases canceled amid coronavirus concerns". MaxPreps. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
- ^ Stephens, Mitch (March 17, 2020). "Extending the Season: Paige Bueckers one win shy of storybook ending". MaxPreps. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "One for all time: Hopkins' Paige Bueckers is first-ever three-time Metro Player of the Year winner". Star Tribune. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ Eisenburg, Matt (March 9, 2020). "UConn commit Paige Bueckers wins Gatorade Player of the Year award". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ Bonjour, Doug (March 11, 2020). "UConn-bound Paige Bueckers named Naismith Girls High School Player of the Year". Connecticut Post. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
- ^ Kallam, Clay (March 26, 2020). "MaxPreps 2019-20 High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Paige Bueckers". MaxPreps. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ Bonjour, Doug (April 1, 2020). "UConn signee Paige Bueckers named Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year". Connecticut Post. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ Paulsen, Jim (March 17, 2020). "Paige Bueckers adds Miss Minnesota Basketball to senior season honors". Star Tribune. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ Scoggins, Chip (February 16, 2020). "Hopkins' Paige Bueckers dazzling, inspiring a generation of girls". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Villa, Walter (April 1, 2019). "UConn lands No. 1 2020 prospect Bueckers". ESPN. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Putterman, Alex (November 13, 2019). "UConn women's basketball recruits Paige Bueckers, Nika Muhl, Mir McLean sign letters of intent, making commitments official". Hartford Courant. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ Philippou, Alexa (December 10, 2019). "Geno on UConn commit Paige Bueckers: By the end of next year, 'I am going to be saying we wouldn't have won the national championship without her'". Hartford Courant. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ "Paige Bueckers's profile - 2017 FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship". FIBA. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ Olson, Dan (September 6, 2018). "Haley Jones, Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd installed as top women's basketball prospects". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ "France v USA boxscore". FIBA. July 29, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ "Hopkins' Paige Bueckers is MVP of U19 World Cup". Star Tribune. July 29, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ "Bueckers crowned TISSOT MVP to headline All-Star Five". FIBA. July 28, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ "2019 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year". USA Basketball. December 10, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ Ringo, Kyle (October 14, 2018). "Paige Bueckers Stays Humble Even as a National Champion and Youth Olympian". USA Basketball. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ Penny, Brandon (October 17, 2018). "Mission Accomplished: Team USA Wins Second Consecutive Women's Basketball Gold Medal At Youth Olympic Games". TeamUSA. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ Hopkins, Christine M. (October 17, 2019). "ANOC World Beach Games: Team USA 3x3 falls to Brazil in quarterfinals". Swish Appeal. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ Gardner, David (March 2, 2020). "Paige Bueckers Is the Future of Basketball". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
External links
- 2001 births
- Living people
- American women's basketball players
- Basketball players from Minnesota
- Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball)
- People from St. Louis Park, Minnesota
- Sportspeople from Edina, Minnesota
- Basketball players at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
- Point guards
- Youth Olympic gold medalists for the United States