“I committed to the University of Minnesota today,” Buckingham said Jan. 2 after leading the Lady Lions to a 56-19 win over Roger Bacon.
Buckingham, who is 6 feet 5, averages 16.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.0 blocks for the Lady Lions. She also considered UC, Iowa and Virginia Commonwealth.“When I visited there I felt like I fit in very well and I really loved the coaches and the team and how they ran their program,” said Buckingham, a 4.0 student who plans to major in pre-med.
“It’s a very good school and they have a good Med school which I can look forward to after undergraduate.”
Buckingham and her mother, New Richmond Hall of Fame player Liz Misheff, visited the University of Minnesota last fall and Golden Gopher coach Pam Borton’s staff followed that visit up with multiple trips to New Richmond to observe Josey.
“It’s a great opportunity and a good fit for her and it puts New Richmond on the map as a place that develops basketball players,” said Lady Lions coach Brad Hatfield. “The Big Ten plays a defensive, grind-it-out type of game that uses a true post player and that suits Josey because that’s what she’s been doing here for 2 ½ seasons.”
Borton, who is in her 10th season at Minnesota, has guided the Golden Gophers to a Final Four, three Sweet Sixteens, six NCAA Tournament appearances and three seasons of 25 or more wins. Minnesota is 11-3 this season.
“Coach Borton will be following Josey’s progress this season via my Twitter account (@nrhatfield),” noted Hatfield.
