When evaluating prospects in any sport, it's extremely difficult to tell how a player and their game will translate to the professional level.
Just because someone dominates as a teenager doesn't necessarily mean that they will flourish into a star. The same can be applied the other way, with certain athletes being late-bloomers who may have been cut from the top youth teams but have since passed their peers.
Bottom line — scouting players at such a young age is incredibly difficult to be right on. That is unless you are Gary Knox.
You are going to be hard-pressed to find a take that has aged as well as Knox's opinion on UConn star Paige Bueckers. The Minnesota-based media member of gPrep correctly predicted Bueckers' rise to stardom back in 2013 when she was in sixth grade, and his opinion has aged like the finest of wines.
Bueckers is in the midst of another dominant NCAA campaign. After missing all of last season due to injury, the Huskies star has been a force this year, helping UConn reach the Final Four where the Huskies will play Caitlin Clark and Iowa for a spot in the national championship.
With Bueckers excelling on the court in college, a photo that is over a decade old has been making the rounds online.
Here is more to know about the Bueckers pic going viral and her background.
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Paige Bueckers old photo, explained
In September of 2013, Knox snapped a photo of young Bueckers and posted it on his X, formerly Twitter, account. At the time, the hooper was a month away from turning 12 years old and was starting her sixth-grade year in school.
Despite her age, Knox boldly compared Bueckers to the legendary Diana Taurasi, calling her the best sixth grade guard he's ever witnessed.
"Remember the name: Paige Bueckers," Knox's post read. "6th grade, think Diana Taurasi. Best 6th grade G I've ever seen. St. Louis Park."
Knox clarified in a post earlier this year that he was not a middle school scout when he came upon Bueckers. He was at an open gym session at Hopkins High School when sixth-grade Bueckers took the court against the older group of girls.
"Just to clarify. I wasn’t a middle school scout. We were at Hopkins High School’s open gym when Paige did her thing against the high schoolers while in 6th grade."
The post has since taken on a life of its own. Comparing any player to a star like Taurasi is bold, especially a sixth-grader. But Bueckers has done her part to back up what Knox's eyes saw that day at Hopkins High School.
Bueckers has turned out to be as advertised, sweeping the national Player of the Year awards as a freshman in 2021 and receiving two Big East Player of the Year recognition. She very well could pick up another Player of the Year honor in 2024, as she is one of the semifinalists for the 2024 Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Award.
The one thing missing from Bueckers' college resume is a national championship, and she has a chance at earning that title in Cleveland. A win over Clark and Iowa puts UConn in the title game, where it would play either South Carolina or NC State.
Gary, if you're reading this, send along some lottery numbers. Because you, my friend, have a knack for seeing the future.
MORE: What year is Paige Bueckers at UConn?
Where is Paige Bueckers from?
Bueckers is from Hopkins, Minnesota, a town just west of Minneapolis. She went to Hopkins High School, joining the varsity team as an eighth grader.
In Minnesota, she dominated high school hoops, winning three Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year awards. She was tabbed as the nation's top high school recruit in 2020, according to ESPN, outranking the likes of Angel Reese (No. 2), Cameron Brink (No. 3), Caitlin Clark (No. 4) and Kamilla Cardoso (No. 5).
Bueckers averaged 21.0 points, 9.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 steals per game in her senior season, winning 2019-20 Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year and the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Her team went 30-0 before the season was cut short due to the pandemic.
