They won 4 tournament titles together at Boise State. Now they’ll go head-to-head as pros
Before they were teammates on the Boise State women’s basketball team, Braydey Hodgins and Riley Lupfer were rivals in the high school ranks in Washington state.
Their careers will come full circle this fall when they again suit up for opposing teams as rookies in the Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga, the top women’s professional basketball league in Germany.
Hodgins signed with the Saarlouis Royals in early June, and Lupfer recently inked a deal with the Flippo Baskets BG 74. Saarlouis and Göttingen, where the Flippo Baskets are located, are about a four-hour drive apart.
“The season is condensed, so we both don’t get to come home for Christmas,” Lupfer told the Idaho Statesman by phone earlier this week. “So we’re like, ‘Let’s meet up.’
“... We might go through times where we feel homesick, and we’ve talked about it. If one of us ever feels like that, we’ll just come together. We’re teammates and family for life. If we need each other, we’ll just reach out.”
Together at Boise State, Hodgins and Lupfer won an unprecedented four straight Mountain West Tournament championships. They would have made a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in March if not for the coronavirus pandemic. Both players are former Mountain West Tournament MVPs, with Lupfer taking home the honor in 2018 and Hodgins in 2019.
Only 22 players in Boise State history have scored 1,000 career points or more, and Hodgins and Lupfer are on that list. Hodgins ranks 16th with 1,150 points, and Lupfer finished No. 4 with 1,538 points.
They’re also dangerous from beyond the arc.
Lupfer owns Boise State single-season (122) and career records for 3-pointers made (350), and Hodgins ranks fifth all-time for 3-point percentage (35.7%) and 10th in 3-pointers made (145).
They formed a dominant combo for four years in the Mountain West alongside fellow class of 2020 alum Jayde Christopher, who will begin her pro career with the Visby Ladies in Sweden.
“You don’t get a lot of teams where three or four of your same class goes overseas and plays professionally,” Lupfer said. “It’s pretty cool to see how Boise State is going in that direction and getting more people who can do that.”
But it will no doubt be weird when Hodgins and Lupfer step onto the hardwood on opposite teams in the DBBL this October.
“Honestly, it’ll be an adjustment, but nothing we aren’t used to. In high school, we competed against each other quite a few times,” Hodgins said. “I think, when the time comes, I will just be excited to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar territory. But at the end of the day, she will forever be my teammate and friend.
“Knowing the two of us, during the game, we will compete as if we don’t know each other, but after the game, things will resume as normal.”
The DBBL has not yet released its 2020 schedule, but both women anticipate heading to Germany soon to get settled in. They may have to quarantine for 14 days once they arrive in Germany because of restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And just like they approached their days at Boise State, they’ll put no limits on how far their professional careers can take them.
“I’m going to take this game as far as it will let me and just keep working hard,” Lupfer said. “I know the WNBA just started back up last weekend, so just watching those games, I’m like, that’s definitely something that I want to work towards.”
