Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers has been looking forward to her first game back in her home state of Minnesota since she was drafted first overall in April. Many people who supported Bueckers throughout her life and career made appearances at the Wings' May 21 game at the Minnesota Lynx, including family members and former UConn teammates Aubrey Griffin and Azzi Fudd.

But one stood out for his on-point assumption that she'd one day have this WNBA achievement. In 2013, local Minnesota photographer Gary Knox tweeted a prediction about Bueckers' professional potential that went viral and resurfaced when Bueckers was taken at No. 1. Bueckers made it clear she never forgot the member of her community who had faith in her early on.

“Me and G-Prep go way back,” Bueckers said enthusiastically. “I played with his daughter, I played with and against his son all the time in open gyms. But just with the investment and being a part of Minnesota … to me, it means everything. Super proud to be from this state, and the belief and the support that I've felt from the state, it's meant everything to me.”

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“Full-circle moment today,” Knox began on X, formerly Twitter, with an attached photo from the Wings' press conference. “Watched Paige Bueckers, great even as a 6th grader, grow into one of the best. Hearing her call me ‘the originator' and mention our connection from a 2013 tweet was a reminder of what it's like to witness her journey from the start.”

Knox's original tweet from September 2013 read, “Remember the name: Paige Bueckers. 6th grade, think Diana Taurasi. Best 6th grade [guard] I've ever seen. St. Louis Park.”

Bueckers is still looking for her first career WNBA victory and hopes to help the Wings get in the win column against the Lynx, a team she grew up idolizing.