GREEN BAY — These days, you can find Natisha Hiedeman on the floor of the Target Center in Minneapolis, where she plays for the Minnesota Lynx. This upcoming season will be her sixth in the WNBA.
"I just knew that basketball was always my main and thing and that it was going to take me places in life that I've never been," said Hiedeman. "I just poured a lot of time into it and around my junior or senior year I knew I had the potential to play college basketball. Obviously, I had a great career at Marquette and it was so much fun being there and being able to stay close to home."
But before she was a WNBA star, she was a multi-sport athlete for Green Bay Southwest High School, racking up a slew of accolades. A 2015 graduate, Hiedeman was named First Team All-State, FRCC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. She also was a track and field star, where she won the state title in triple jump in 2014, and even made it to state in tennis.
"Whenever you have a rare athlete like that coming from your school, you better acknowledge that," said Green Bay Southwest athletic director Chris Williams.
For all that she accomplished with the Trojans, the school retired her jersey in a ceremony on Thursday. It's the first jersey to be retired in school history and will be displayed in the rafters of the Southwest gym.
"It's just a huge accomplishment for me, my family and friends, this school and the community," Hiedeman said. "It means everything to me. I poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this school so just to be able to accomplish this means a lot."
Former coaches and even a neighbor spoke at the ceremony and all of them talked about how special it was to watch Hiedeman play basketball from her youth up until now, but they said what makes her even more amazing, is how big of a leader she is.
As for what she's most proud of during her time with the Trojans:
"The friendships and relationships that I created through basketball here and obviously, I'm still in contact with all my coaches," Hiedeman said.
