Breanna Stewart Won’t Stop Making History
The most decorated college basketball player ever graduated on Sunday.
It’s hard to imagine University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma not getting a little misty about the departure of All-America star Breanna Stewart. She was literally the center of the most dominant run for any player in college basketball history — male or female.
Check these Stewart stats: four-time national champion, four-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and three-time National Player of the Year. No other player has accomplished each of those feats in NCAA history. Irreplaceable is an understatement.
I promise you this is only the beginning. In any sport, the time comes when a transcendent talent launches the game beyond the stratosphere. Women’s basketball has grown its profile over the past several years, driven by stars like Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Elena Delle Donne. But Stewart is the superstar.
Stewart is basketball’s Abby Wambach or Serena Williams. She’s the once-in-a-generation player that young girls will emulate in the gym or on the blacktop. Women’s basketball players over 6 feet tall will no longer be relegated to the paint. At 6’4", with a wingspan bigger than LeBron’s, Stewart can do it all. She overwhelms opponents in the post, makes jumpers with Steph Curry-like precision, and is a defensive menace at all points on the floor.
The closest on-court comparison for Stewart since she enrolled at UConn has been Kevin Durant. Both players possess devastating individual skills that leave opposing coaches scrambling for any defense. And they’ll both be forever tied to the city where their professional careers began. The Seattle Storm selected Stewart as the No. 1 overall pick in last month’s WNBA Draft, and Durant was the second overall selection of the now-defunct Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA Draft.
It was fate that brought Breanna Stewart to Seattle. The Sonics left the Emerald City after Durant’s rookie year, moving to Oklahoma City in 2008. Seattle has been a proud basketball town for decades, and the Sonics’ move left a void in the city’s sports scene. Stewart is arriving just in time. The Storm open the regular season this Sunday in Los Angeles. Fans should sprint to Key Arena for the team’s home opener on May 22 to witness a superstar whose fierce talents hearken back to the one who left them eight years ago.
By the time Stewart turns 22 in August, she may have added an Olympic gold medal to her list of precocious triumphs. She is the youngest player on the U.S. roster for the Rio Games…and also the team’s most vital player. The Olympics are the platform that produces American stars, and a gold-medal run will make her a magnet for more endorsements and appearances beyond the Nike deal she recently signed.
This week, Stewart and her Huskies teammates went to the White House for the fourth time, to celebrate their most recent championship. President Obama has spent more time with Stewart over the past four years than he has with many world leaders. Her presence is becoming more global. Her greatness can go beyond basketball. She has left a storied institution in a better place. She will help resurrect a sport in a city that needs hoops for its culture to feel complete. Young girls looking for their next American role model, not just in sports, will turn to Stewart.
Her impact started in college basketball. Next up for Stewart? The world.
