Rachel Banham's leadership role keeps growing for Lynx — and Gophers, too

Rachel Banham's value to the Lynx has always gone beyond how many minutes she played, how many three-pointers she hit, how many point she scored, how versatile she can be in the team's backcourt.

All of this, of course, is vital. Which is why, with Lynx training camp in its first week, she feels confident.

Banham is coming off perhaps the best season of her seven-year career. As a reserve guard last season — her third with the Lynx — the former University of Minnesota star averaged a career-high 7.9 points and made 38.3% of her three-pointers. She played with pace.

"I feel I came out every game confident,'' Banham said. "I can sit here and say I want to be better at everything. But I want to continue to be consistent at the three-point line, with my little midrange game. Make sure I'm finding my teammates in good spots.''

But Banham's value goes deeper than stats, which is why coach Cheryl Reeve wants more.

Banham has always been one of the team's most popular players, the team's glue. Reeve calls her the Pied Piper.

On a team with a lot of new faces, with a lot of youth, this puts Banham in an important position. She has the players' ear. Sometimes they may need to hear some tough talk.

"If you see something you know is not within the boundaries of our culture and you let it go, then you become a part of the problem,'' Reeve said. "She has a really powerful position in that. Everyone loves being around Rachel.

"To me that's only half the value. Because you have their attention, you can use your voice in a way to say, 'Hey, we're not going to do that.' So, stepping into that space is important. Because Rachel probably saw some things last year that she let go that she probably wishes she hadn't.''

The good news is Banham has gotten some on-the-job training for this.

Last fall Banham joined Gophers women's coach Lindsay Whalen's staff as the director of quality control, an intro into the world of coaching. Banham has been kept on in that capacity by new coach Dawn Plitzuweit. Having dipped her toe into the world of coaching has changed Banham's point of view.

"I feel I'm more of a leader this year than I've ever been,'' Banham said. "Directing things, making sure we're on our P's and Q's. I just see things differently.''

And Reeve can see that, too.

"I was thrilled about that,'' Reeve said of Banham's work at the U. "And we talked about it, how she sees things. So when I say something, she'll now say, 'I get why that's important to you.' "

Some of this has always come with being a point guard, Banham said. But she is determined to take it to another level. Already she and Napheesa Collier have adopted former all-star center Sylvia Fowles' role of acting as a go-between the players and Reeve.

On the court? On a team without a ton of experience or depth at point guard, Banham adds both. Her ability to play on and off the ball helps, too. The new Lynx offense should suit her ability to hit the three.

The key will be putting her on the floor in rotations that include players able to penetrate, get to the rim, collapse a defense, kick the ball back outside.

Banham will be ready. "I felt [last season] was my best in the league,'' she said. "I felt at home, I felt like myself, I felt good. I don't want to lose that. I want to continue to build off that.''