Mara Braun ready to represent her home state on the basketball court
PLYMOUTH, Minn. (BVM) — On Dec. 7, Mara Braun made a dream come true when she verbally committed to play basketball at the University of Minnesota.
No place like home〽️ #SkiUMah pic.twitter.com/PsegaEys5o
— Mara Braun (@marabraun10) December 10, 2020
“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Braun said. “I had to put my phone down for a second and when I picked it back it was already blowing up. It’s still surreal.”
The decision has been years in the making ever since Minnesota first began recruiting her the summer after she finished eighth grade. In fact, Minnesota was the first college to give her an offer.
“That’s when I realized, ‘Wow it’s becoming real,’” Braun said. “I always dreamt of it and I went to Gopher games as a kid and just to have this all become a reality is pretty cool.
For Braun, along with the Gophers, basketball had always been a part of her life.
“I grew up in the gym,” Braun said. “I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember.”
Although she played other sports growing up, basketball had always been above the rest. Both her brother and dad played as well, so she was never too far from a court or a basketball.
Braun was a natural and with her dedication to get better, she began playing a year up, first on travel teams and then with the North Tartan AAU team. She credits playing a year up for giving her confidence and pushing her to be better.
“It created this extra love for the game and me wanting to keep going with it,” Braun said.
By the time she reached high school she was good enough to make varsity for Wayzata, and even though she initially came off the bench, she soon earned the starting guard job.
“Being a guard comes with a lot of responsibility, being a leader on the floor and giving direction,” Braun said. “Being able to be that player for everyone on the team, I take that to heart.”
Since joining the Wayzata team, she has played both with and against some of the best basketball players not just in the state but the country. For example, her longtime AAU teammate, Jenna Johnson, is also a Trojan and after this season will go on to play Division I basketball.
“It sets the bar high,” Braun said. “It’s preparing me for the future.”
Over the last two years, Braun has also gone toe-to-toe with the best player in the country from the 2020 recruiting class, Paige Bueckers. Bueckers is now playing at the University of Connecticut, but she says she will miss going up against the best player in the country.
“Playing against her, I loved it. Just the crowd that she brought I’m going to miss that,” Braun said. “Playing against her only made me better.”
Although Bueckers has moved on to college, Hopkins is still ranked as the best high school team in the nation. However, Braun and the Trojans are ready for them once the season starts after it was postponed due to COVID-19.
For now, Braun is training, getting shots up every day and making sure the rest of her team is ready too once they get the OK to return to play.
“We just have to prepare now and take it day by day,” Braun said.
This season is also special because Johnson is healthy after missing half of last season due to injury, and Braun wants one more season with her longtime teammate.
“Being able to play with her (Johnson) again before she heads off to college and playing with the girls I’ve been playing with for as long as I can remember that are seniors, it’s all going to be fun and it’s going to be a great season,” Braun said.
Braun also enters the season knowing that there is a target on her back. Being a Gopher commit means something and she’s ready to prove why her hometown team wants her to stay in the state for a few more years.
“Now I’m one of the players that’s going to be representing the state, so I’m going to prove that that’s what I’m capable of,” Braun said.
Braun wouldn’t have it any other way and just like she looked up to Gopher greats like Rachel Banhaman, Carly Wagner and her future coach Lindsay Whalen when she was growing she’s ready to do that for the next generation.
“To be able to now be part of a class that has two other girls staying home and they’re really good players too so I think we’ll be creating something special here,” Braun said. “It’s going to be pretty cool to have people see this all come together.”
