Recruiting Report: Faith Buckley, Grand Junction 2020

Playing out on the Western Slope in Colorado, <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/faith-buckley/">Faith Buckley</a> doesn’t get the same number of eyes on her game as some other players do. The Grand Junction High senior also has an understated game that doesn’t turn many heads from afar with eye-popping scoring numbers on MaxPreps.com. But when she takes the court, Buckley’s talent and prospect value become obvious very quickly when the 6-foot-2 forward stuffs the opposing team’s best player or finishes the game with 15 rebounds. “People kind of forget about Grand Junction out there, which is kind of crazy,” Keithan Lyons, Buckley’s club coach with the Colorado Hawks, said. “She really doesn’t get seen a lot but she turned some heads in the summer. She’s over six foot and now that we’re going into the second half and the New Year, I think she’ll become a hot commodity.” As a senior, Buckley is averaging 6.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks through eight games. In the Tigers’ final game before the winter break, Buckley led Grand Junction to a win with 18 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks. Buckley has reportedly received interest from college programs ranging Division I through JUCO, but is still waiting for more official offers to come in. Lyons expects Buckley’s recruiting to pick up with the live period in April, especially from teams desiring a tough post player taller than 6-foot-1 that has offensive upside. “She’s a great athlete,” Lyons said. “She can run the floor like a deer and block shots. She’s not really a big offensive threat yet but that will come along because she’s been working a lot on her post moves. That offensive game will improve in college with any coach who wants to work with her. “Faith is very intelligent and she’s very active, and she’s a great passer. You really see that with her high school team. She’s gotten a lot tougher and more aggressive over the past couple years because she’s had to go against some really good players and she decided no one was going to push her around.”