Hopkins High School’s Paige Bueckers makes Sports Illustrated cover

Tommy Wiita
[Courtesy of Sports Illustrated]

Back in March, Hopkins High School basketball player Paige Bueckers was presented the Gatorade National Player of the Year award from Minnesota Timberwolves center, Karl-Anthony Towns.

On Friday, Bueckers joined Arik Gilbert in being honored as the 2020 Gatorade Players of the Year.

Hopkins basketball star Paige Bueckers presented Gatorade National Player of the Year award from Karl-Anthony Towns

Bueckers, who will be attending the University of Connecticut in the fall, was named the Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year for 2019-2020. She averaged 21 points, 9.2 assists, 5.2 steals and 5.1 rebounds per game for Hopkins High School as a senior, guiding her team to a 30-0 record and the Class AAAA state championship game, which was canceled due to COVID-19. Additionally, Bueckers was also named Most Valuable Player for the gold-medal winning USA Basketball U19 Women’s World Cup Team, according to Sports Illustrated.

Gilbert is set to attend LSU in the fall, ranked as the nation’s No. 1 tight end prospect in the Class of 2020 by ESPN. According to Sports Illustrated, the 6-foot 5-inch, 255-pound tight end caught 105 passes for 1,860 yards and 15 touchdowns for Marietta High School in Marietta, Georgia, leading his team to a 13-2 record and the Class 7A state championship, the team’s first title since 1967.

Bueckers and Gilbert will appear on an advance flip cover release for the September 2020 issue of Sports Illustrated. The cover and issue will be on sale on Aug. 25.