From the uncertainty of coming back from a season-ending knee injury through her selections as the fourth player taken in Thursday's WNBA draft, Gophers star Rachel Banham went through an extraordinary senior season.
After injuring her knee in a nonconference game at North Dakota before the start of the 2015 Big Ten season through all of the accolades of her final year at Minnesota, it was Banham who brought profile to the Minnesota women'a basketball program.
There was the record-setting 60-point game at Northwestern and the buzzer-beating three-pointer against Iowa that caused Kobe Bryant, the just-retired Lakers superstar, to talk of her #mambablood on social media. There was her finalist status for the John Wooden Award, which goes to the college game's outstanding player. There was one final show in the WNIT tournament at Williams Arena.
Now, the journey continues with the Connecticut Sun, who made her the fourth pick in the WNBA draft.
Click on the photos above by Star Tribune photojournalist Carlos Gonzalez to follow her through a memorable year.
