Paige Bueckers serves as inspiration for local girls basketball stars
Paige Bueckers gives local girls basketball stars inspiration
The WNBA draft is on Monday, and Minnesota native Paige Bueckers is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick. With so much talk about Bueckers and the hype around women’s basketball, we talked to the next generation of athletes inspired by women's basketball stars like Bueckers.
PLYMOUTH, Minn. (FOX 9) - The WNBA Draft is on Monday, where NCAA Women’s champion and Minnesota native Paige Bueckers is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick.
With so much talk about Bueckers and the hype around women’s basketball, FOX 9 talked to the next generation of athletes inspired by women's basketball stars like Bueckers.
The impact of Paige Bueckers
What we know:
Maddyn Greenway is the talk of Minnesota girls high school basketball. She’s the fourth player to reach the 4,000-point milestone, and she’s already committed to The University of Kentucky.
"It's so crazy to think I could be on the court with some of the players. That I grew up, you know, wanting to play with or against," said Greenway, a junior point guard at Providence Academy.
Greenway says meeting Bueckers years ago had a huge impact on her.
"I remember seeing Paige. I was practicing in fourth grade, like, across the gym was the seventeens, and I just remember, like, me and my friends looking over like, fan girling," said Greenway.
Miss basketball and the state’s top-rated basketball recruit for the class of 2025, Jordan Ode is heading to Michigan State. Bueckers is someone she models her game after.
"She's a huge inspiration. She's someone I grew up looking up to. Her last year, her senior year was my seventh grade year, so I went to probably all of her games," said Ode.
The elevation of women’s basketball
What they're saying:
Both Caitlin Clark and Bueckers have elevated the sport of women’s basketball. The exceptional athletes faced adversity in college through injuries, and Greenway was inspired by their comebacks.
"I think being able to see like them, talk about it, and talk about how they went through hardships is really like promising for me, knowing that college will come with some things that I'm not used to," said Greenway.
Ode is excited to see the sport grow.
"Just a couple of years ago when people started talking about the women's NCAA Tournament. People had never done that before," said Ode.
She hopes to inspire young people one day as well.
"I don't think you can have a legacy without inspiring younger girls to do the same thing. Otherwise, the legacy won't mean anything. So just like having those players to look up to, and just the way," said Ode.
The next generation could be in the WNBA
What's next:
Jordan Ode could be the No. 1 pick for the WNBA Draft in 2029, and Maddyn Greenway in 2030. One thing is for sure, they will have someone from here to look up to in the WNBA. The WNBA Draft is Monday and the Dallas Wings have the first pick.