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 the SEC, Mid-American Conference, Big East, Big 10, Big 12 and the ACC awaiting her decision, the five-star prospect remained content with weighing 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.”
On Wednesday night, 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 on Twitter via the Cyclones Basketball feed on Thursday afternoon.
“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 remarked in a press 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 joins 5-7 guard Rae Johnson (St. Michael Albertville) and 6-2 center Kristen Scott (Kasson-Mantorville), who both hail from Minnesota, as 2017 commits for the Cyclones.
Iowa State’s current recruiting class ranks 27th by ProspectsNation.com 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, which led her team and Hancock County to earn 2015-16 Daily Reporter Player of the Year honors. Greenfield-Central finished the year 23-5 and sectional champions for the first time since 2004.
She 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 latest ICGSA Poll and eighth overall in the IBCA Top-20 rankings.
“I’m just pretty focused on having a really great season as a team and hopefully getting really far in the tournament,” Wise said during the preseason. “We want to win it all.”
In August, Wise narrowed her list of college choices to eight, including Arkansas, Ball State, DePaul, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan State, Iowa State and Pittsburgh.
This year, Wise is in position to topple both the school’s career-scoring record and the county mark, which was set at 1,985 last season by Mt. Vernon’s Sydney Shelton.
Wise is third on the school’s all-time list behind Beth Davis (1,617) and Ellen Hamilton (1,885). She is 80 points away from tying Davis and 448 from Shelton.
Named a core member of the 2015-16 Indiana Junior All-Stars this past summer, Wise received the most all-star votes of any junior in the state and showed why during both exhibition contests against the seniors.
She led the juniors in overall scoring with 30 points combined, reaching double figures in both games with 16 points in Bloomington and 14 points in Lebanon.
“She’s a superstar, but she’s so easy to coach. She’s the easiest player I’ve ever coached in my 26 years,” Greenfield-Central head coach Laker remarked prior to the season. “She works incredibly hard and it’s paying off.”
