Versatile UK Commit Maddyn Greenway is More Than Just a Scorer

Maddyn Greenway, second from right, and UK signee Kaelyn Carroll, center, watching the Cats play this year. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Maddyn Greenway’s father, Chad, was an All-American football player at Iowa and her mother, Jenni, was a standout track and cross country athlete at Iowa. Chad Greenway went on to an 11-year NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings where he had over 1,100 tackles in 156 career games.

Many thought Maddyn Greenway, a 5-8 guard, would likely either play her college basketball at Iowa or maybe home state Minnesota. Instead, she opted to play at Kentucky and the junior sensation verbally committed to UK before the season started.

However, with her athletic genes, she’s more than just a basketball scorer even though she has already scored close to 4,000 points midway of her junior season since she’s been a starter.

Greenway, a five-star recruit, had 42 goals last season to help Providence Academy to win its first state soccer championship along with her eighth-grade sister, Beckett. Maddyn Greenway now has 155 career goals and will have a chance her senior season to set a state record for goals scored.

“She is a striker and goal-oriented. She wants to find a way to get the ball in the net (goal),” Chad Greenway said.

Greenway already had an individual track and field state championship in the 300-meter hurdles along with a relay state title to go with multiple state championships in basketball.

“I think I get a lot of credit for the kids’ athleticism because of my professional career, but the mentality and the mindset really comes from their mom,” Chad Greenway said. “She was a really high level distance runner. Just really a competitive spirit but also really a tough mentality. What can really separate you at the top is just having that mental capacity when things get tough, to go harder. The best attribute from Jen goes to them in that capacity.

“And in our house, you don’t get away with anything without trying to get beat by somebody. Our fourth grader is a really nice athlete, and the younger one (second grade) coming up is really good. It’s fun because they all get to watch what Maddyn’s been doing, but also motivated to go take down all the records she’s setting and do their own things. So yeah, we compete at pretty much anything.”

Maddyn’s oldest sister, Beckett, is starting at guard as an eighth grader with her sister and averaging almost 12 points per game after being the top reserve on last year’s championship team.

“All our girls and multi sports athletes. They all run track as well,” Chad said. “We feel like a really important part of being a kid is maturing as an athlete and not just being focused on one sport but learning how to compete on different planes, on different fields. Having successes and failures in different ways is really important and valuable to grow. And then the hope is that you go to college and really kind of unpack that next layer of the sport you choose, which in this case is hoops.”

The former NFL standout says while his daughter can do a lot on the court, he believes her “competitive spirit” is her most important attribute.

“Being great is a mindset more than a skill but at the same time, that is a skill to have a mindset like that,” he said. “I think she shows up with a competitive edge and brings it as often as she can.

“She gets pushed hard up here. We have really good high school sports here in Minnesota, a lot of competition and she sees the best of the best and continues to rise. She played in the Nike circuit in the summer and she’s seen the best competition there as well. She’s not scared to rise up and compete against anybody.

“That’s why we felt like jumping into the SEC and where this program at Kentucky’s going is the right fit.”

Maddyn Greenway had played in 121 career games coming into this season and amassed 3,401 points along with 767 rebounds, 758 assists and 490 steals. She also was a career 51.6 percent shooter from the field with 263 3-pointers. Her sophomore year she scored 815 points in 32 games, an average of 34.3 points per game — her second season scoring 30 or more points per game (she went over 1,000 points total in each season).

This year Maddyn Greenway is averaging 31.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 4.8 steals per game for her 13-0 team. She is now over 3,800 career points, 800 rebounds and 800 assists.

“She’s been incredible with what she’s been able to accomplish as a high school player and in her AU career,” Chad Greenway said. “She’s been invited to the USA (Basketball) national tryouts a couple of different times. I’m just very proud of her.

“I think as a dad, it’s much different than doing it yourself. You go out there with control over yourself as a player. As a dad you kind of have to watch them go through ups and downs but she has handled it all great.”