When rapper and producer Jay-Z released The Blueprint 3, which included the hit single “Empire State of Mind,” on Oct. 20, 2009, Breanna Stewart was a towering, 15-year-old athlete who had already been shattering the competition with her elite basketball skills at Cicero–North Syracuse High School.
As Alicia Keys performed the chorus with the perfect blend of voice and harmony of the popular song, New York is what Stewart’s hoops dream was made of. But she couldn’t limit herself to central New York. Stewart would showcase her talents worldwide.
After playing for Team USA’s teen squads, she made the more than four-hour trips to Storrs, Conn., for four years to win four NCAA titles under legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma before jetting 44 hours across the country to Seattle to spend six incredible seasons with the Storm. They weren’t orthodox WNBA seasons for Stewie.
