The ultimate bling: North Tartan’s Paige Bueckers owns a shiny gold medal
“Surreal.” That’s the word Paige Bueckers used to describe what it felt like to stand at attention with her teammates, wearing the jersey of Team USA, listening to the Star Spangled Banner, and clutching a shiny new gold medal. “You…
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Continue Reading“Surreal.” That’s the word Paige Bueckers used to describe what it felt like to stand at attention with her teammates, wearing the jersey of Team USA, listening to the Star Spangled Banner, and clutching a shiny new gold medal. “You watch gold medal games on TV and to actually be a part of it is just so humbling,” Bueckers said early Monday from Argentina, where the USA won the FIBA U16 Tournament of the Americas with a 91-45 victory over Canada. “It just makes you realize how blessed you are to be representing your country with great coaches and teammates who have your back.”
Bueckers is Minnesota’s top player in the Northstar Girls Hoops class of 2020, and most have considered her the best player in the state for more than a year. Now the talented 9th grader from Hopkins High School and North Tartan AAU has gained national and international attention. In Argentina, she and standout guard Azzi Fudd – the youngest players on the team – were first off the bench in every game. Bueckers averaged 11 points per game, finishing in the tournament’s top 10 scorers. At 61.5% for the week, she led in shooting percentage and was also top 10 in assists and steals.
The 15-year-old phenom loved her assignment on Team USA. “When you are working with 11 other great players, you have a role to play. You are not going to be the superstar, and you are not going to do everything for the team,” she said. “It’s just about bringing energy and doing everything you can to put your team in the best position to win gold,” she explained. “Me and Azzi worked great together, and we were always pumped up to go into the game at the same time. We just had a mentality that we were going to compete, play our hardest and be workhorses.”
It has been a whirlwind three weeks for Bueckers, who returns to the Twin Cities on Tuesday. This weekend, she’ll be on hand for the North Tartan Summer Jam, one of the best tournaments of the AAU season. While other players will be focused on impressing college coaches as the most important part of the summer season tips off, Bueckers has plenty of great offers on the table already. She’ll just keep trying to get better. “It’s relieving to know that your hard work does pay off,” Bueckers said. “It just shows that there are players just as good or better than you, so it motivates you to be the best you can be.”