GREENFIELD — Madison Wise didn’t have a set date in mind. A week before the start of the 2016-17 girls basketball regular season, the Greenfield-Central senior honestly had no clue when she was going to break the news.
A highly-sought-after 6-foot-1 wing with college coaches from across the nation awaiting her decision, the five-star prospect remained content with weighting her options.
“I know it’s kind of late compared to some others, but I’m still not 100 percent,” Wise said earlier this month. “It’s been a great time through the recruiting process starting since eighth grade. I’ve met a lot of awesome people and coaches, and I’m really blessed to have this experience, but I’m still not decided.”
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On Wednesday evening, Wise made her choice.
The Indiana Miss Basketball candidate signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her career with the Iowa State Cyclones.
The news was delivered Thursday afternoon via the Cyclones Basketball feed on Twitter.
“We finished our 2017 class by adding Maddie Wise, and I could not be more excited about the players, people and families that are now Cyclones,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said in a news release. “Maddie is a dynamic athlete who has the skills and versatility to play all over the floor. She has been very well coached and is ultra-competitive which will help her move to the next level and impact our team immediately.”
Wise is ranked as the 45th best player in the Class of 2017, according to ESPN HoopGurlz, and 10th at her position.
As a junior, she averaged 22.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game with 3.0 blocks. Greenfield-Central finished the year 23-5 and sectional champions for the first time since 2004.
The 2015-16 Indiana Junior All-Star entered this season as the school’s record holder for single-season rebounds (293), career rebounds (809) and career blocked shots. She carried 1,450 career points into her final campaign with a 483.3 points per season average.
Through three games, she is averaging 29.0 points and 10.7 rebounds in leading the Class 4A Cougars to a 2-1 start. The Cougars are ranked 10th in the most recent ICGSA Poll and eighth overall in the IBCA Top-20 rankings.
In August, Wise narrowed her list of college choices to eight, including Arkansas, Ball State, DePaul, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan State, Iowa State and Pittsburgh before picking the Cylones.
All-Star Showcase
Hancock County will be well represented at Sunday’s Indiana North-South All-Star Showcase.The event conducted by the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association will showcase three volleyball matches at Lawrence North High School, beginning at 1 p.m.
The first match features the Junior All-Stars, followed by the Class A/2A All-Star game at 2:30 p.m. and the 3A/4A All-Stars at 4 p.m.
New Palestine head coach Kelli Whitaker is leading the 3A/4A South All-Stars with Mt. Vernon’s Jaclyn Bulmahn on the roster.
Marauders’ Grace Hurst was named a Junior All-Star along with New Palestine’s Allison Dennemann.
Signing-day
Several area student-athletes finalized their collegiate futures this past week by signing their letters of intent.Greenfield-Central: Drey Jameson (Ball State/baseball) and Morganne Denny (IPFW/softball).
Mt. Vernon: Ashton Barr (Ohio Dominican University/volleyball), Oliver Mast (IPFW/golf), Micheal Ertel (University of Louisiana-Monroe/basketball), James McCloud (Taylor University/basketball), Jaclyn Bulmahn (Valparaiso/volleyball).
New Palestine: Madison Whitaker (Wright State/softball), Abby Davis (University of Dayton/softball), Keegan Watson (Nebraska/baseball), Elisha Barker (Embry-Riddle/softball), Mary Crumlin (Marian University/softball).
