WBB: “Rare Gems” highlights Minnesota’s influence on women’s basketball

When you think about basketball-obsessed regions of the United States, the Midwest is either at the top of the list or close to it. The climate in the states like Indiana, Iowa and Kansas, and to a lesser extent Illinois and Michigan, with harsh winters, forced youth to spend long months in gyms and, due to a lack of other forms of entertainment, play basketball. A lot. And then practice shots in the driveways, regardless of the amount of snow that needed to be shoveled to free up some space to plant one’s feet.

One of those Midwestern states whose basketball culture remains somewhat unexplored and neglected is Minnesota.

While the 2023-24 iteration of the Minnesota Timberwolves is highly entertaining, fun and simply good at basketball, they have made the NBA Playoffs four times in the last 20 years. The University of Minnesota’s men’s basketball team’s only Final Four appearance, in 1997, was vacated by the NCAA after it was revealed that head coach Clem Haskins paid a staff worker to write papers for his students.

Luckily for the state though, they have women’s basketball to rely on when in need of witnessing sports…