Paige Bueckers, Minnesota Basketball Phenom, To Appear On Sports Illustrated Cover

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Paige Bueckers, this year's Miss Basketball Minnesota, will appear on a Sports Illustrated cover this fall.

Bueckers, 18, is slated to appear on the reverse flip cover of the magazine's September issue, Sports Illustrated announced Friday.
She'll be standing alongside fellow Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year, Arik Gilbert, a George football standout.

Bueckers played for Hopkins High School, scoring an average of 21 points per game and leading her team in a record 30-0 season. While the Royals made it to the AAA state championship game, it was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier this year, Bueckers won the Gatorade State Girls Basketball Player of the Year award. Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns presented her with a trophy.

The award recognizes both her skills on the court and excellence in the classroom. Out of nearly a million high school players, she was chosen as the national winner.

Bueckers is slated to attend the University of Connecticut in the fall.