There are common words you’ll hear when Rachel Banham’s teammates are asked to describe the Connecticut Sun guard.

Silly. Funny. Outgoing. Fun.  … Even Banham herself describes her personality as a “goofball.”

This is the player who jokingly photo-bombed officials during warmups every home game. The player who can always make anyone laugh, doing just the simplest things to keep the mood light. And she’s also the player who scored 60 points (then an NCAA record) in a single game in college, was a First-Team All-American, then-the Big Ten leading scorer, and a top-five WNBA draft pick.

“It’s just Rachel being Rachel,” former UConn women’s basketball star and Sun forward Morgan Tuck said with a laugh. “Her personality is really infectious.”

After beginning her WNBA career with the Sun in 2016, Banham is back in Uncasville this summer. The former University of Minnesota star signed a two-year contract with the Sun this offseason as a free agent after playing the past four years with the Minnesota Lynx.

“Just playing here before obviously made it a lot more appealing,” Banham said Tuesday after the Sun’s training camp practice session. “I’m familiar with the organization, with the fans — I love the fans. They’re amazing here. It’s just a great organization and a great team, like a really talented team. So, it wasn’t really hard to make that decision to want to come back here.”

Banham left Minnesota as not only the Big Ten all-time leading scorer but the then No. 6 leading scorer in NCAA Division I women’s basketball with 3,093 points (Banham now sits at No. 10 on the list). Despite missing her true senior year with an ACL injury, she made herself known during her fifth and final year with the Gophers after her 60-point game against Northwestern. She led the nation in 2015-16 with 28.6 points per game.

And weeks after her final collegiate season ended, the Minneapolis native traveled to Uncasville for the 2016 WNBA Draft at Mohegan Sun Arena to begin her professional career.

UConn great Breanna Stewart was taken No. 1 overall by Seattle and fellow former Husky Moriah Jefferson was selected No. 2 by the San Antonio Stars. The Sun were up next with three of the first six picks. The team chose fellow Husky great Morgan Tuck with the No. 3 pick, Banham with the No. 4 pick and former Sun legend Jonquel Jones with the No. 6 pick.

“It was cool because I was here,” Banham said of being drafted by the Sun inside Mohegan Sun Arena. “I was in the place I was gonna play and there were fans there. It was really special being in the home that I was going to play in for the next four seasons. This is just a special place.”

Banham, Tuck and Jones entered training camp as the Sun’s most prominent rookies. They joined a roster led by Alyssa Thomas (in her second year in the league), former Husky Kelly Faris, Chiney Ogwumike and Jasmine Thomas.

“It was kind of the three of us together,” Tuck said. “She’s (Banham) funny, really outgoing, I think one of the best personalities I’ve been around. If you’re with Rachel, you’re gonna have a good time. You’re gonna laugh. You’re gonna smile. I think she’s just such a great person, a great friend to be around.”

The former Gopher became close with Tuck and Alyssa Thomas and made her warm, silly presence known. Whether making her teammates laugh off the court in their apartments or photo-bombing officials during home games, her goofiness made everyone feel at peace.

“Sometimes she can’t even help it, it’s just her personality,” Thomas said grinning. “… Just Rachel in general just makes you laugh. She’s just so lighthearted with everything.”

Added Tuck: “She’s really comfortable being herself. And so, I think that’s why it comes across like she’s super confident in a positive way. … She’s just herself no matter what and I think people gravitate towards it.”

Banham said during her first few years in Connecticut, she enjoyed hanging out along the shoreline, eating the fresh seafood (she’s a huge fan of clam chowder) and going with her teammates to gamble at Foxwoods (Note: since the Mohegan Sun tribe owns the Connecticut Sun, its players are employees of the casino and state law prohibits employees from gambling at their casino).

As a Sun player, Banham became a fan favorite for her light and fun personality and skills on the court. Across her four seasons in Uncasville, she averaged 3.95 points, 1 assist and 0.9 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game. While she spent the majority of her time coming off the bench, she did earn five starts during the 2018 season.

In 2020, the Sun traded Banham to her home team of Minnesota in exchange for a 2021 Draft pick. Banham spent four years with the Lynx playing the best basketball of her WNBA career. Despite still coming off the bench, her point production nearly doubled, and she averaged about 15 minutes per game.

She stayed in contact with Tuck and Thomas frequently and often shared meals with the two whenever the Lynx were in town for games. Tuck retired from playing in 2021 but returned to the Sun that same year as its Director of Franchise Development. Now, the former Husky is also an assistant general manager.

“(Tuck’s) one of my best friends,” Banham said. “… It’s so fun to see her and I’m proud of her for all that she does. It’s funny, like we’re so grown up, you know, she’s got a big-girl job. But it makes it a lot easier coming back.”

Banham’s best year in Minnesota came in 2022 when she averaged career-high 7.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in a career-high 17.5 minutes per game. That was also the same year she played with Jefferson for the first time (Jefferson played just the lone season with the Lynx and is now with the Sun). The two immediately hit it off and became close friends.

It’s those close friendships like that that made Banham’s decision to return to Connecticut this offseason as a free agent easy.

“When you’re in free agency you’re thinking of teams that you would want to go to outside of like when I was in Minnesota,” Banaham said. “And this was definitely top of the list because playing with players like AT, Breezy (Brionna Jones) and DeWanna (Bonner) were really important to me.

“Such talented players. It’s really fun to play with really talented players. And I know this organization and I really like it. I like the culture around it. It’s not something I was thinking about, but it was something I was comfortable with knowing, like if I was to go somewhere else outside of my home state, this is the place I’d want to be.”

Banham said the Sun welcomed her back with open arms. During the team’s season-ticket holder event on Tuesday, the crowd gave Banham a loud welcome-back cheer when she was introduced. The guard says she still recognizes Sun fans in the seats from her first stint in Uncasville. Even when she was a Lynx visiting Mohegan Sun for games, Banham says the Sun fans were always kind to her and said hi.

Thomas is the lone player from that 2016 Sun roster still playing in Uncasville. Tuck is around the team daily because of her role in the front office. The two said Banham is the exact same now as she was five years ago when she was last in Uncasville.

“Rachel has not changed a bit,” Thomas said. “Just a great personality to have on the team. A great teammate. It’s fun playing with her again and seeing how she’s developed over the years and it’s good that it’s all come full circle. … Playing with her again, it’s just like old times.”

Added Tuck: “I’m really glad we have her back. … I’m really excited that we have her personality on the team because she’s one-of-a-kind for sure.”

The Sun kick off the 2024 season on Tuesday, May 14, hosting Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at 8 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.