What Happened to Breanna Stewart?

By CelebPaid Editorial Team · 8 min read

Breanna Stewart.Image via Wikimedia Commons

The Rise to Fame

Breanna Mackenzie Stewart ( bree-ANN-ə; born August 27, 1994), nicknamed "Stewie", is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Mist of Unrivaled. She is one of the most accomplished basketball players in history. Stewart is a co-founder of the Unrivaled basketball league together with Napheesa Collier.

In high school, Stewart was the National Gatorade Player of the Year, the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year, and a McDonald's All-American. She led the University of Connecticut Huskies to four consecutive national championships, was named the Final Four's most outstanding player a record four times, and was a three-time consensus national player of the year.

She was the first overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft and was named the 2016 WNBA Rookie of the Year. She was named the WNBA MVP in 2018 and 2023, and was named an All-Star in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. She led the Storm to two championships in 2018 and 2020, and received the WNBA Finals MVP award both times. She also won the 2024 WNBA championship with the New York Liberty. In 2021, Stewart was named to The W25 as one of the top 25 players of the WNBA's first 25 years.

Stewart is a three-time EuroLeague Women champion and was MVP of the league in 2019, as well as winning national league titles in Russia and Turkey.

As a member of the U.S. women's national team, Stewart has won gold medals in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympics and at the 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 FIBA World Cups.

The Peak Years

Early life

Stewart was born Breanna Mackenzie Baldwin in Syracuse, New York, to a single mother, Heather Baldwin. Her biological father was not involved in her life, and her mother worked multiple jobs to support herself and her daughter. When Stewart was a toddler, her mother began dating Brian Stewart, who later adopted Stewart after marrying Baldwin. She has a younger half-brother, Connor.

Stewart began playing basketball at an early age. Due to her height her coaches wanted her inside as a rebounder, but her father encouraged her to practice ball handling skills and a perimeter shooting ability. She started a daily routine of dribbling around her block, wearing headphones, for a mile. Her routine improved her ball handling to the point she routinely dribbled behind her back or between her legs.

In a 2017 essay in The Players' Tribune, Stewart publicly revealed that she had been a victim of sexual abuse from age 9 to 11. She reported the abuse to her parents, who immediately called police. The perpetrator, who was married to her maternal aunt, confessed to the abuse and ultimately served prison time.

High school

What Changed

Stewart attended Cicero–North Syracuse High School (C-NS) in Cicero, where she played for head coach Eric Smith. She was nicknamed "Bean" by her teammates, and "6–10" because of her wingspan. Stewart first played for the high school team while still in eighth grade. She played as a starter in most games, and averaged nine points, almost nine rebounds and seven blocks per game. In her freshman year, she almost doubled her point production, scoring 17 points per game. That year, her team had a 21–3 record, and made it to the regional final game.

In her sophomore year, she was a starter in every game, and upped her scoring average to 22 points per game. In that year, her team's record was 18–4. As a junior, she helped lead her team to the state AA public school title, with a 22–3 record for the year. Stewart averaged 24 points and 15 rebounds for the season. During her junior year, she announced that she would be attending the University of Connecticut. The day after the announcement, she dunked the ball in a game against Baldwinsville, her first career dunk. Stewart achieved a milestone on January 31, 2012, when she scored her 2,000th point, as part of a 31–0 run against Auburn.

Stewart was selected as a member of the 2012 McDonald's All-American team, which represented the 24 best female high school basketball players. The selected players were grouped into two squads that competed in the annual McDonald's All-American Game, held that year in Chicago. Stewart was selected to the 2012 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) High School Coaches' All-America Team. The top 20 high school players in the country were named as WBCA All-Americans and were eligible to play in the all-star game. She participated in the 2012 WBCA High School All-America Game, scoring 10 points. Stewart was named the 2012 Naismith High School Girls' Player of the Year, the honor awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the best female high school basketball player in the country.

In March 2012, in a surprise presentation by Tamika Catchings, Stewart received the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award. Stewart was one of six finalists for the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year.

High school tournaments

Where Breanna Stewart Is Now

In addition to regularly scheduled post-season tournaments, the success of her high school team led to invitations to prominent national tournaments. In 2010, the C-NS team traveled to Philadelphia, New Jersey and Disney World; in 2011, the team went to the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Arizona, considered the "premier showcase of all high school girls tournaments"; and in 2012, the Northstars played in a Basketball Hall of Fame Tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Tournament of Champions

The Tournament of Champions is an annual event, since 1997, showcasing the best high school girls basketball teams. The 2011 event, held in Phoenix, Arizona, included 96 of the best basketball programs in the country. The C-NS team was assigned to the Smith Division, where they faced Bolingbrook High School, considered to be the number 1 team by USA Today. Despite being viewed as a 30-point underdog, Stewart helped her team to the first round upset, scoring 15 points in a 43–40 win.

In the quarter-final game, Stewart scored 29 points and had 19 rebounds to help the team beat the number 22 ranked team in the country, Dr. Phillips High School from Orlando, Florida. Although double-teamed, she scored ten points in a 12–0 run that gave C-NS a commanding 23-point lead early in the fourth quarter. That win secured a place in the semi-finals of the division. In the semi-final game, C-NS faced St. Mary's, the number 2 ranked team in the country. Stewart had 33 points and 16 rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome the scoring of the eventual champion of the tournament. Although the team lost that game, Stewart's overall performance earned her the most outstanding player of the tournament honors. Stewart was viewed as an offensive threat in the low post, high post and perimeter, and was effective as a defender because of her long wingspan.

Stewart's Northstars team were invited to play in the annual Hoophall Classic; the event was held in Springfield, Massachusetts, and typically featured some of the best high school teams in the country. Their opponents were the local West Springfield team, not nationally ranked, but 8–0 at the time of the meeting. The result was not close, as C-NS beat West Springfield 60–20, with Stewart alone scoring more points than the opposition. Stewart ended the game with 22 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks, despite leaving the game in the third period and not returning. Her performance earned her the Most Outstanding Player award for the event.

Legacy

College career

Stewart was recruited by many schools, but after a campus visit to UConn in 2011, she told the coaching staff, "I would like to commit if you'd take me." Stewart signed her commitment letter on the hood of her car, then gave it to her father at his office to fax to the school.

Freshman year

Stewart started her freshman year in strong form, scoring at least 20 points in three of her first four games. She scored a total of 169 points in her first ten games, which broke Maya Moore's record for most points in a player's first 10 career games. However, her output slowed, and her scoring average dropped below ten points for her last eighteen regular season games. In March 2013, she started early morning sessions with Chris Dailey, associate head coach, to concentrate on shooting and post moves. She came back strong in the Big East tournament, with a total of 51 points, matching the number scored by Diana Taurasi in her tournament debut. Her strong performance continued in the NCAA tournament. She did not play in the first round, due to a calf injury, but scored 105 points in the last five games, earning her the award of the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, the first freshman to win the award since 1987.

Sophomore year

Stewart continued her stellar play in her sophomore year; her coaches noticed that she was demanding the ball more often, something she occasionally did as a freshman, but usually only if she thought she was playing well. By the end of her sophomore year, she was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year in the league's first season after the split of the original Big East Conference, which she would go on to win the following two seasons. Additionally, she was named AP Player of the Year, only the third time in history it went to a sophomore. Stewart started and played in all 40 games of 2013–2014 season. She led the team at 19.4 points and 2.8 blocks per game,...

Frequently asked questions