Visitors walking out of the baggage claim area at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport this weekend were greeted by a local celebrity. “Welcome to Minneapolis,” said Lindsay Whalen, in a recorded message broadcast over the loudspeaker. Whalen is a Minnesota native who helped lift the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team to its only Final Four in 2004 and who was a core piece of the Minnesota Lynx’s dynasty that won four championships. Today, she is the head coach of the University of Minnesota Gophers.
Whalen’s story is just one of many that explain how Minneapolis, which is hosting the 2022 women’s Final Four, became one of the country’s most fervent women’s basketball communities.