ESPN awards Hopkins girls basketball team national title
Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns surprised Hopkins star guard Paige Bueckers with the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award on Monday morning.
MINNEAPOLIS - Paige Bueckers and the Hopkins girls basketball team didn’t get the chance to win their third state championship in four years due to Coronavirus, but ESPN did them one better on Friday.
ESPNW 25 released its final national power rankings for the high school season on Friday. The Royals were national champions, ranked No. 1 in the country. Hopkins beat Stillwater in the state semifinals at Williams Arena last week and were set to face Farmington for the Class 4A title, but the tournament was canceled as concerns over Covid-19 grew rapidly across the country.
Hopkins was 30-0 at that point, and riding a 62-game win streak. In that game, Bueckers nearly had a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. On the Monday before the state tournament, she was surprised by Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns with the Gatorade Player of the Year Award.
“This one means a lot because it’s not just basketball, it’s about being a great person. The way they pick their award is not only the accomplishments you do on the court, but off the court. Being able to be named this, it’s amazing,” Bueckers said that morning.
Bueckers has won the Gold Medal with the 19-and-under Team U.S.A. at the World Cup. She was a lock for the McDonald’s All-American Game, which is now canceled due to Covid-19.
Leading up to their section final game, Bueckers was averaging 21.4 points, 9.4 assists, 5.4 steals and five rebounds in 27 games. In that 86-76 section title win over Wayzata, Bueckers had 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. She played that game with Towns, D’Angelo Russell, Josh Okogie and James Johnson watching courtside.
“There’s certain players that just have that aura that when they step on the court, just things seem to gravitate toward them. Their presence is felt regardless. She has that kind of ability and that special talent,” Towns said. “She has this gym filled, not one single seat, the top standing level is full, you can’t get any more ways of seeing the basketball game and it’s for a women’s basketball game. Take time to think about that, you never hear about that and that’s the kind of impact Paige has. She draws people in.”
Bueckers will begin her college career in the fall with coach Geno Auriemma at UConn.