The Connecticut Sun played their first preseason game against the New York Liberty on Thursday. The Sun, though losing the game, came as close as 79-82, thanks to a brilliant performance by their point guard Rachel Banham. Banham smashed 20 points, the game’s highest in a matter of only 20 minutes. 

While her performance was applauded by pundits, not much is known about her background. Not many would know that apart from playing for the Sun, Banham is also an assistant coach at the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Rachel Banham groomed herself as a baller

Born on June 15, 1993, Banham was always a basketball fan. She got in the starting five during the 8th grade. Banham capitalized on that and by senior year she averaged a decent 17.8 points per game with 5.3 rebounds per match. She represented Lakeville National High School and propelled her team to win the conference championship with an exceptional 29-3 record. 

The Minnesota-born then took up balling for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. During her freshman year, she played in all 36 games and also earned a call to Freshman All-American First Team. She was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the Big Ten being the conference in which Minnesota played. She averaged a whopping 16.1 points per game with 5.2 rebounds per contest and 2.7 assists per match.

She improved her gaming abilities during her sophomore year and averaged 20.7 points per game with 4 rebounds per contest. She also got better at her assisting ability with 3.9 assists per game. Therefore, she proved to be a valuable member of the squad. She went into her junior season in 2013 and gained an exceptional 22.1 points per game with 3.7 rebounds per game and 3.9 assists per match.

Rachel Banham delivers during her senior year after a tragedy

Tragedy stuck Banham during her senior year in 2014-15 when she could only play for 10 games before injuring her ACL. The event was unfortunate since Banham had made it to ESPN’s top 5 players to watch in the season but had to be out due to an injury. Later she received a waiver and was allowed to participate again as a senior during the 2015-16 season. That was Banham’s fifth year in college.

During her last year, Banham unleashed the demon in her and thrashed out 28.6 points per game with 5.9 rebounds per match and 3.8 assists per contest. She was instrumental in getting her team to occupy the fifth place in Big Ten WBB. She also won the Big Ten Player of the Year and First Team All American AP. Currently, she is the 10th leading scorer in NCAA women’s D1 charts and eventually she was drafted as the fourth overall pick by the Connecticut Sun.

She played only 15 games during her rookie season and averaged a paltry 3.7 points per game. Her season was done due to an MCL injury and surgery. She could only play for 10.9 minutes per contest during those 15 games. But here shooting skills were commendable during that time. She shot 40.8% field goal percentage with 35.1% three-pointers. Even in free throws, she had 66.7% free throws.

However, Banham struggled to become a mainstay for the Sun. In the subsequent seasons, she played more games for the Sun but always had a decent scoring rate which didn’t replicate what she had done at the college level. Her best season for the Sun came in 2018 when she blasted 5.2 points per game and played for 12.8 minutes on average – the most time for the Sun.

Rachel Banham tries to make a mark in the WNBA, also takes up a coaching position at Minnesota

In February Banham was traded to Minnesota Lynx for a 2nd round pick. She got more time at the Lynx than what she was getting for the Sun. Banham’s maiden season with the Lynx saw her basketing 6.9 points per game. Her best season with the Lynx came during 2022 when she smoked 7.9 points per game with 2.3 assists per match. However, with the emergence of Kayla McBride, Natalie Achnowa and Aerial Powers, Banham’s responsibilities saw a gradual decline and she could never reach the level she had achieved in NCAA.

Struggling with an underdog career, Banham took over the job as the assistant coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, her university team in 2023. She also landed the position of director of quality control. Thus, she might have the possibility to build a path that she can utilize post-retirement from the WNBA. It also remains to be seen if she will take up a full-time coaching position once she is done with her WNBA career. But as for now, this is not the end for her. Before the beginning of the 2024 season, Banham got back to the Sun and showed her dominant side in the pre-season game.

Hopefully, now with her exceptional performance, Banham will be recognized as a quality player. Hopefully, she will rise in the ranks for the Sun, and just like her preseason display, Banham will continue to decimate her opponents. And someday she will become as crucial for her team as she was for the Gophers during her college career. On behalf of all the fans, Essentially Sports wishes her the best of luck.