Minnesota High School Player of the Year: Paige Bueckers

It’s starting to sound like a broken record – Paige Bueckers wins an award – but it may be the sweetest sounding broken record you will ever hear. Bueckers, the silky smooth sophomore from Hopkins, has just completed a third spectacular high school season in a row. In a selection process that took less than 30 seconds, we are pleased to name Paige as the Prep Girls Hoops 2017-18 Minnesota High School Player of the Year. Surely it must get old winning so many awards.

“When it comes to the individual accolades, I enjoy them and appreciate them,” said the 16-year-old. “I can’t be hard on myself at all times. Sometimes I need to sit back and appreciate what I have done but at the same time I don’t let it get to my head. I thank you and everyone who gives them out. I just try not to get too caught up in them. At the end of the day it’s not about individual accolades.”

Bueckers was outstanding night after night this season, even when she was hobbled by a bad ankle. Her individual performance in the state championship game will go down as one of the greatest of all time as she produced 17 points in the opening six minutes – 37 points in all – scoring in just about every way you can imagine. It was a textbook demonstration of the implements in Bueckers’ tool box.

When you consider her impact on any particular game, however, statistics seem like an afterthought. Although Paige averaged 23 points per game in the regular season, there were at least a dozen girls who scored more. None, however, could match Bueckers’ production in points per minute played. That’s because Hopkins is so often ahead by so much that Paige departs the game early.

In section play this year, she averaged only 18 points per game because Hopkins won its games by margins of 62, 39, and 33 points. In the state tournament, however, the numbers speak volumes. She scored 24 points per game, making 28 of 46 field goals (60.9%), 11 of 13 free throws (84.6%), and 5 of 7 three-pointers (71.4%). Bueckers also had 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

“She’s a wizard with the basketball”

Because she has such a wide-ranging skill set, it can be challenging to describe Bueckers’ game. The national scouting reports says she is a confident combo-guard with a dose of swagger, a player who can score consistently off the dribble, is quick off the bounce, breaks down defenders one-on-one and is a scoring threat from just about anywhere.  The word ‘elusive’ is mentioned frequently, as are ‘vision’ and ‘poise.’

Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff believes Bueckers may turn out to be the greatest high school player in Minnesota history. Tara Starks of North Tartan, who has coached Paige since the 5th grade, calls her the ‘purest of point guards.’ “She is a wizard with the basketball,” Starks said. “It’s absolutely amazing to me how she sees the floor.”

Even the most accomplished coaches in the game are impressed. I was in the gym last fall when Geno Auriemma of UCONN, Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame, and Kelly Graves of Oregon came to see Bueckers do her thing. They seemed to be watching in just as much wonder as the rest of us.

Another national accolade

In the past year, Bueckers won the AAU state championship and a gold medal with Team USA. Just this past weekend Paige added another trophy to the case when her squad won the USA Basketball Women’s National U18 3×3 championship in Colorado Springs. Combining with fellow elite prospects Aliyah Boston, Samantha Brunelle and Hailey Van Lith, Bueckers’ team went undefeated. “We were only together for about two days prior to the tournament, but we still worked together really well,” Bueckers said. “It’s definitely different with a 12-second shot clock, change of possessions in a split second, no individual fouls and the FIBA 3-point line is really a stretch. It was so fun, though, and much faster-paced… Our team did really well and won the championship and everybody contributed in a huge way.”

It was what she did after winning in Colorado, however, that tells us more about Bueckers than another trophy or medal. A couple of days later, she hosted “Buckets with Bueckers” in Billings, Mont. where her mom lives, a clinic that drew dozens of kids and raised more than $1,500 for charity. Keep in mind, this is a high school sophomore we are talking about.

“It’s amazing knowing you can use your platform to make a positive impact,” she said. “We did drills, played games, had a Q&A and I signed their shirts and shoes. I tried to teach them that at their age I had no idea that I would be on Team USA, or be as good as I am, so anything is possible if you work for it.”

One more big one to win

Hopkins finished the season at 28-3. That third loss still stings as the Royals fell in the title game for the third year in a row. Bueckers may have accomplished a lot so far but one thing she hasn’t done is win a state championship. “It definitely hurt in the moment,” she admitted. “I know I just have to keep faith in God through the ups and downs. He has a path for me and maybe the state championship wasn’t in the plans this year, but I will be working hard to try and get them my last two years.”

Before concluding our conversation I had to ask Paige one final question: Notre Dame or UCONN? No, it wasn’t a recruiting query, although both schools have been working diligently to bring Bueckers on board in time for the 2020-21 season. No, I was referring to the NCAA Women’s Final Four matchup Friday night. “I would have to say a tie,” she said, not wanting to tip her hand. “I have no idea!”