Maddie Scherr's mother cried two years ago when her daughter told Kyra Elzy she was going to Oregon to play. Now Scherr has transferred to UK to play for Elzy. (Photo by Twitter)
Former Kentucky Miss Basketball Maddie Scherr of Ryle opted to take her five-star talent to Oregon for her collegiate career two years ago rather than stay in the Bluegrass to play for Kentucky.
Her mother, Amy Scherr, wanted her to make her own decision even if her mom was not thrilled with the distance between northern Kentucky and Oregon. However, the former Ryle star has now decided to transfer to UK after two productive seasons at Oregon and her mom is thrilled for a lot of reasons.
“She knows the coaching staff from before and they were always great and amazing to her even when she had to tell them she was going to Oregon. They handled it amazingly well,” Amy Scherr said. “I was on the phone with (then associate head) coach (Kyra) Elzy and cried. She was so sweet and said it was okay.”
“I am kind of crazy. I get close to everybody. It’s a loyalty thing to me. She (Elzy) was so great recruiting Maddie. It was hard for me when Maddie didn’t pick Kentucky.”
The former Ryle High School standout averaged 4.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 31 games with 28 starts last season. She shot 34.4 percent from the field, 32.8 percent from 3 and 78.9 percent at the foul line. As a freshman, she played in 22 games with four starts and averaged 2.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
Scherr was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Kentucky, named a McDonald’s All-American and led Ryle to the 2019 state championship. She scored over 2,300 points and 1,000 rebounds in high school along with nearly 700 assists and 550 steals. She is Ryle’s all-time leader in points, rebounds and assists.
Now she is back in Kentucky playing for Elzy, who is now UK’s head coach. Scherr’s mother says her daughter has “tons of friends” at UK but again her parents did not try to influence what school she picked.
“We had to help her get through why she left and what she was looking for,” Amy Scherr said. “Bottom line, she wanted to be close to home and all the schools she looked at were close. We just talked about the pros and cons for each school and let her make her decision because she’s the one that has to live it.”
“When she decided to go to Oregon it was very hard for us (her parents) but you want your kids to make their own decision and follow their dreams. You didn’t want her to wonder if she did not try. But we are thrilled to have her back. In Oregon, we could not even see all her games. Friends have texted me saying they are already looking into season tickets (at UK). A lot of Maddie’s teachers are excited to get to see her play again.”
Scherr’s parents and their families are from Cincinnati and she did not grow up a Kentucky fan. She liked basketball, but was not a die-hard UK fan. However, there was one BBN fan in the family.
“My dad is a major UK fan. He is from Pineville and tells her UK is hallowed ground,” Amy Scherr said. “She was ready to come home and in her mind, it was UK all the way even though she looked at other schools. She might not have grown up a die-hard UK fan like my dad, but she just felt Kentucky was the right place.”
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