A seventh-grade interview has taken on new meaning after Maryland’s Addi Mack delivered a remarkable performance against South Carolina in Paris, bringing her childhood basketball inspiration back into the spotlight.
Long before Addi Mack became one of Maryland’s emerging stars, she already knew the kind of basketball player she wanted to become. Her inspiration was Paige Bueckers.
Now, following a career-best performance against South Carolina, Mack’s childhood words have resurfaced, offering a glimpse into the ambition that helped shape her basketball journey.
The Maryland sophomore guard poured in 35 points against the No. 1-ranked Gamecocks on November 2 at Adidas Arena in Paris. Although the Terrapins ultimately suffered a 101–93 defeat, Mack’s individual performance commanded attention, particularly after she helped fuel a second-half comeback against one of the country’s strongest programs.
As highlights of her performance circulated, Sports on Prime and TerpsWBB brought back an old interview featuring a much younger Mack. The footage, recorded when she was in seventh grade, showed her discussing her basketball ambitions and the player she hoped to emulate.
Her answer was simple.
“All I want to do is play like Paige Bueckers,” Mack said in the interview.
She also spoke about the areas of her game she wanted to improve, specifically her ball handling and ability to drive to the basket.
Years later, that ambition has become an interesting part of her story. The young girl who admired Bueckers is now making a name for herself on the college basketball stage.
The Paige Bueckers Connection Started Long Before College Basketball
Mack’s admiration for Bueckers was never just about watching an accomplished player from a distance. The two guards share Minnesota roots, and their paths were connected geographically long before Mack arrived at Maryland.
Bueckers attended Hopkins High School, while Mack played for Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. The schools are roughly 15 miles apart, making it possible for Mack to watch Bueckers play during her high school years.
Mack has previously recalled attending Bueckers’ games whenever she had the opportunity. At the time, Bueckers was approaching the end of her high school career, while Mack was still in seventh grade.
That admiration stayed with her.
In a December 2025 feature published by Maryland, Mack reflected on what having Bueckers as an early role model meant to her development.
“I think even at that young age, having her to look up to has really allowed me to kind of be in the place where I am now, and hopefully have other girls look up to me,” she explained.
There is something particularly meaningful about that reflection. Mack once watched Bueckers as an aspiring young player. Now, she is beginning to build a profile of her own, with younger basketball players potentially finding inspiration in her performances.
From Minnesota’s Scoring Charts to Maryland’s Starting Lineup
Mack’s confidence on the basketball court did not appear overnight. Her high school career at Minnehaha Academy offered plenty of evidence that she had the scoring ability to compete at a high level.
She finished with 4,687 career points, the second-highest total in Minnesota high school basketball history. During her senior season, she averaged 34.2 points, 6.4 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 4.3 steals over 30 games.
Those numbers helped establish her as one of Minnesota’s most productive high school players.
Her transition to Maryland also showed that she could make an impact against stronger collegiate competition. During the 2025–26 season, her freshman campaign, Mack appeared in 31 games and started 26. She averaged 11.0 points and 2.9 rebounds, reaching double figures in scoring 21 times.
Her contributions earned her a place on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team.
Bueckers, meanwhile, set an extraordinary standard during her first season at UConn. In 2020–21, she averaged 20.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. She also became the first freshman to win the AP National Player of the Year award, Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy.
Their freshman numbers are different, but the comparison is not necessarily about matching statistics. For Mack, Bueckers represents the kind of player whose work ethic, skill and achievements helped shape her own ambitions.
Addi Mack’s 35-Point Night Nearly Changed the Story Against South Carolina
Mack’s latest performance gave Maryland fans another reason to be excited about her future.
Facing top-ranked South Carolina at Adidas Arena in Paris, the sophomore guard delivered the best scoring performance of her collegiate career. She finished with 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting, including six three-pointers on 10 attempts.
She also contributed six assists, three rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes.
Her 35-point total tied for the 11th-highest single-game scoring performance in Maryland women’s basketball history.
The result, however, did not go Maryland’s way.
South Carolina came out aggressively, putting up 33 points in the opening quarter and building a commanding 61–33 halftime advantage. The Gamecocks appeared firmly in control, but Mack had other ideas after the break.
She scored 31 of her 35 points in the second half, giving Maryland the offensive spark it needed to make the contest considerably more competitive.
Her third-quarter performance was particularly impressive. Mack scored 17 points while shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Maryland outscored South Carolina 26–17 in the third quarter before adding another 34 points in the fourth. The Terrapins continued to chip away at the deficit, eventually cutting South Carolina’s lead to six with just 42 seconds remaining.
Despite the late push, the Gamecocks held on for a 101–93 victory.
For Maryland, the defeat was disappointing. For Mack, however, the night represented a significant individual breakthrough against elite opposition.
A Childhood Dream Is Becoming Its Own Story
There is a full-circle element to Mack’s journey that makes the resurfaced interview especially interesting.
As a seventh grader, she looked at Bueckers and imagined reaching that level of basketball. She identified the skills she needed to develop and continued working toward becoming a better player.
Now, she is establishing herself at Maryland, earning conference recognition and producing performances that put her among the program’s notable individual scorers.
Her 35-point outing against South Carolina does not erase the difference between her career and Bueckers’, but it offers another indication of how far she has come.
Mack left Paris without a victory, yet her performance provided one of the biggest talking points from the matchup. And with her childhood admiration for Bueckers now back in the conversation, fans have another reason to follow the next chapter of her development.
The seventh grader who once dreamed of playing like Paige Bueckers is now writing a basketball story of her own.
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