Former University of Minnesota basketball star Lindsay Whalen is returning to Minnesota, and her mother-in-law can’t be more excited. Whalen, whose trade to the Minnesota Lynx was announced last week, is married to 2000 Annandale High School graduate Ben Greve. For his parents Sandy and Dave, who teach and coach in the Annandale school district, it’s a dream come true to have all of their children living in Minnesota once again. For women’s basketball fans, it’s a dream come true to have their golden girl back. Greve said she read that ticket sales have already started to climb since the Lynx announced the trade. Whalen, a Hutchinson native, was originally drafted fourth overall in the 2004 Women’s National Basketball Association draft by the Connecticut Sun after elevating the Golden Gophers’ program to national prominence during her four-year career at the U of M. It included the school’s first-ever Final Four appearance her senior year, a Lynx press release said. Since playing for the WNBA, the 27-year-old has averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game in 197 career regular season games, all with Connecticut. She is in the process of trying out for the 2012 summer Olympics team, Greve said. "I’m really excited about the opportunity to come home and play in front of my hometown fans," Whalen said in the Lynx statement. "I believe Minnesota is a team with a lot of talent and is ready to contend for the top spot in the Western Conference." The Greves hope to be a part of the excitement that has hit the state with Whalen’s return by being familiar faces at the Target Center whenever the Lynx play at home. "We’ll get to take in so many more games," Greve said. She also hopes to snag a few more minutes with the busy couple now that they will be living considerably closer to Annandale. Ben Greve and Whalen met their freshman year at the University of Minnesota. That was before Whalen was a Gopher star and before Greve earned his stripes as a golfer. An acclaimed athlete in his own right, Greve in 2002 helped the U of M golf team earn an NCAA national championship. A year later the Gophers were Big Ten champions. He played professional golf on the Hooters Tour and the Canadian Golf Tour before settling on a career as a golf pro at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, Conn. He’s excited about the career opportunities in Minnesota, his mom said. In the winter the couple moves to Prague, Czech Republic, where Whalen plays basketball until the WNBA season starts up in the spring. The Greves have two other sons who live in the Twin Cities area. Tim is an athletic trainer for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Nick is an accountant in Eden Prairie.