A homecoming this weekend for Hopkins' Paige Bueckers, as her team the UConn Huskies advances to the Women's basketball Final Four this weekend in Minneapolis. UConn defeated North Carolina State 91-87 in double overtime.
Bueckers scored 15 of her team-high 27 points in the overtimes, something that did not surprise her high school coach Brian Cosgriff.
“She’s been doing that since eighth grade,” says Cosgriff. "She just has. She’s simply the best player to come through the state of Minnesota and now she’s the best player in the country. Even though she was injured this year, and she’s still playing at about 85% I’d guess, but she just has that kind of DNA.”
Cosgriff retired in 2020 after 21 years as the girls’ basketball head coach at Hopkins High School. Speaking with WCCO’s Vineeta Sawkar on the Morning News, he says he was not surprised at her effort Monday night leading her team to a win in the Elite Eight.
“I was in a restaurant in downtown Hopkins, and every TV set was on, and everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs,” Cosgriff said. “It was so much fun to see her. She played so well. We kept saying she’s going to take this thing over, she’s going to take this thing over. And she did.”
Bueckers was the top recruit in the country when she decided to go to Connecticut in 2020. She won all the national player of the year awards she was eligible for after her freshman season at UConn: AP Player of the Year, Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA Women's National Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award. She was the first freshman to receive any of the awards.
Bueckers has had to deal with injuries for most of her sophomore season. She had offseason ankle surgery and then injured her knee in December. It was later revealed that she suffered a tibial plateau fracture and a meniscus tear. She started playing again in late February and as Cosgriff noted, Bueckers is still dealing with recovery despite taking over the game Monday.
The Huskies will play Stanford on Friday night at 8:30 in the semifinals at Target Center. Cosgriff said that he will be in attendance this weekend at the games, and predicts UConn will win it all.
The other Final Four game pits number one seeds South Carolina and Louisville. That game tips-off at 6:00.
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