Playing for Team USA is a ‘huge deal’ for Maddyn Greenway

USA Basketball Photo

When Maddyn Greenway got the call that she was being added to the USA team that would be playing in the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup from July 12-20 in Brno, Czechia, she admitted that not only was she stunned but “it was a shock to her whole family because my parents knew how much I wanted this.”

The Kentucky commit, a five-star point guard from Minnesota, is now in Colorado Springs practicing with teammates and loving every minute of the experience.

“Obviously it is exciting to get to play with such a great group of players,” Greenway said via phone after Thursday’s morning practice session. “To compete with these girls in practice and then play against different girls from around the world will help me grow my game for what I will need at Kentucky. So getting to play for Team USA is a huge deal.”

She was a finalist for the 2023 USA Women’s U16 National Team and attended trials for the 2024 USA U17 National Team. She was one of 25 athletes to compete in trials for the U19 squad in June.

The 5-foot-8 point guard is a top 10 player in her recruiting class who has already been part of four Minnesota state high school basketball state titles and scored 4,454 points in 153 games — 29.1 points per game — going into her senior year.  Greenway averaged 32.8 points per game last season, her third straight year with more than 1,000 points, and shot 58.6 percent from 2-point range, 37.7 percent from 3 and 52 percent overall. She had 278 assists, 232 rebounds and 155 steals.

She was preparing to finish her AAU season when she had to shift her mindset to play for Team USA for the first time.

“I was ready to go immediately when I got the call,” Greenway said. “Sure, I’m getting used to playing with different teammates after being set to finish out with my AAU team. It’s a different role, different mindset but this is a huge opportunity for me.

“We’ve been practicing a lot to let me adjust to my point guard role and getting the team into offense and get the ball where it needs to be so we can just attack and play ball.”

Greenway knows she’ll be a “scoring point guard” at Kentucky, much like All-American Georgia Amoore was last season.

“I do look to score  but I also look for teammates,” Greenway said. “I have so many talented teammates here just like I will at Kentucky. I just have to use the parts we have and make whatever sacrifices it takes for us to win.

“This is going to be great prep for me at Kentucky with all the pieces we are going to have at Kentucky. I just want to be ready for what coach (Kenny) Brooks needs from me and playing for Team USA is a great way to do that.”

In Brno, USA Basketball will compete in Group A alongside Israel, Hungary and Korea. The first game will be against Korea on July 12 before playing Hungary July 13 with both games starting at 2:15 p.m. EST. Group play will conclude against Israel on July 15 at 8:30 a.m. EST.