Paige Bueckers, the 2020 MaxPreps National Female Athlete of the Year, can add having her hometown renamed in her honor among the many accolades she has received over her career.
On Friday, the former
Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) star made her WNBA debut for the Dallas Wings as her hometown became "Paige Bueckers, Minnesota" for the day.
"I didn't believe it at first. I thought it was fake news," Bueckers told the
Dallas Morning News. "It's all so surreal. It's crazy to me they would name the whole city after me."
Paige Bueckers, Minnesota also celebrated its famous daughter by declaring May 16 Paige Bueckers Day and renaming streets Bueckers Boulevard in her honor.
Paige Bueckers tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists in her WNBA debut Friday, a 99-84 loss for her Dallas Wings against the Minnesota Lynx.
There was a watch party at Hopkins, a town of 19,000 in the Minneapolis suburbs, as the Wings took on the Minnesota Lynx.
Bueckers was the 2020 MaxPreps National Player of the Year after leading the Royals to an unbeaten record in a campaign that ended prematurely due to the pandemic. She averaged 21.4 points, 9.4 assists, 5.4 steals and 5.0 rebounds per game for the nation's No. 4 team.
She scored nearly 2,000 points in five seasons at Hopkins, winning a state title in 2019 before heading to UConn, where she won a national championship as a senior. She was taken No. 1 in this year's WNBA Draft.
