Yes, the greatest female basketball player of all time is our own hometown girl!

Oh sure, there’s an argument to be made among those from decades past … from Nancy ‘Lady Magic’  Lieberman to Cheryl Miller to Sheryl Swoopes.

But what Cicero-North Syracuse product Breanna Stewart accomplished prior to her season-ending injury -- a ruptured Achilles tendon — leaves other greats in her rearview mirror.

And Breanna, the Post-Standard’s pick as the county’s greatest athlete (male or female), is not yet 25 years old!

In our midst, Stewart was Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year, Naismith Prep Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American for C-NS Coach Eric Smith.  She won Gold with USA Basketball Under-16, Under-17 and Under-19 teams.  ‘Stewie’ was one of two scholastic players ever selected, at the time, for a USA Pan-American Games team.

Stewart was named USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year in 2011, ’13 and ’18, Associated Press Player of the Year in 2014, Women’s Naismith College Player of the Player in 2015 and in 2016, she  has
received the ESPY as Best Female Athlete.

Playing collegiately for Geno Auriemma at Connecticut, the Huskies won four consecutive NCAA championships.  All four times, Breanna was Most Valuable Player in the Final Four (a record, needless to say).  Three times, the 6-foot-4 forward with a 71-inch wingspan was the consensus Player of the Year.
In 2016, she won Olympic Gold and was the first player chosen in that year’s WNBA Draft.

Before playing her first professional basketball game for the Seattle Storm, she signed a multi-year deal with Nike.

Breanna was Rookie of the Year in the WNBA.  She also has garnered MVP honors in the WNBA and the WNBA Finals

Last year, she was FIBA World Cup MVP.  Internationally, Stewart played for the Shanghai Swordfish, then the Dynamo Kursk (Russia) this past off-season.  During the EuroLeague title game, she ruptured an Achilles tendon, requiring surgery and a lengthy rehab.

That caused her to miss the remainder of the current WNBA season.
While rehabbing on the West Coast, Breanna Stewart becomes a member of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2019.