Maddyn Greenway Has Become a Star Doing it Her Way

By the time linebacker Chad Greenway had finished his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, his oldest daughter, Maddyn, was already “starting to hoop,” and he jumped right into coaching and developing her skills.

“She just found a real love for the game, and it has really been fun to watch her do this her own way and become the type of kid she has become,” said Chad Greenway.

Maddyn Greenway is a five-star point guard who signed with Kentucky in November. She recently became only the third girl in Minnesota high school history to surpass 5,000 points and now has 5,128 after scoring 37, 41, and 57 points in her last three games. She has led her team to four straight state championships and has a chance to add another championship this season.

“At first, it was me trying to mature as a dad to understand this was not about me but about growing her love for the game. There was a point in sixth or seventh grade where she said she really wanted to be great and took it upon herself to work to do that,” Chad Greenway said. “I gave her tips and pointers. The best part in Minnesota is that you can play varsity hoops in seventh grade, so she jumped in, and her high school coaches really helped get the best out of her.”

She was good enough to score 504 points as a seventh-grade player at the high school level and went over 1,000 points the next season, scoring 783 as an eighth grader. It got better — she had 1,019 points as a freshman and another 1,098 her sophomore year. She went over 1,000 points again as a junior with 1,050.

This season, Greenway is averaging about 34 points per game — she has 635 points in 18 games —while also grabbing six rebounds, dishing out eight assists, and making six steals per contest. She has 1,186 career assists and already holds the state record for assists. Greenway also has 1,109 rebounds and 782 steals in her career. She was the first Minnesota girl to have at least 1,000 points, rebounds, and assists.

Greenway has already won four state basketball titles, two state soccer titles (she is also the state’s all-time leading goal scorer), and a state championship in the 300-meter hurdles, along with being part of state championship relay teams.

Maddyn Greenway was recruited by many of the nation’s best programs, starting when she was only a high school freshman. Not only was her father a star football player at Iowa, but her mother was also a track and cross-country standout at Iowa. Obviously, following Caitlin Clark at Iowa was a potential script for Maddy Greenway before she chose Kentucky.

“We love the University of Iowa, and Maddyn loves that program as well. But she really wanted to go and kind of make her own mark. That was not a slight in any way to Iowa. It was more about her going and kind of carving her own path,” Chad Greenway said. “I played my whole pro career in Minnesota. She feels that every time she walks into a gym, it’s always part of her story that she’s so and so and gets things because of who her dad is. She’s heard those things since she was in third grade.

“I think for her this is an opportunity to go write her own story. I think that’s really important for kids. I had one scholarship cut offer coming out of high school, so I went to Iowa. So how could I say you go this direction or that direction. As a dad, I wanted to support her and just list the pros and cons of each program. In the end the people at Kentucky made it happen. Coach (Kenny) Brooks and his staff are good people, but he also knows what he’s doing. As we learned more about the UK program and what it means to be part of that, we are proud to be joining Big Blue Nation.”

Maddyn Greenway had a “connection” with Brooks while he was coaching at Virginia Tech, which easily carried over to Kentucky.

“Kentucky was my top school going into my visit, and I fell in love the moment I set foot on campus and ended up committing that night,” Maddy Greenway said. “The connection I had with coach Brooks and that staff was something that I didn’t find even close at any other school.

Obviously, she loved the connection Brooks has with point guards — think what Georgia Amoore and Tonie Morgan have done at Kentucky. After Greenway officially signed with UK, Brooks said he would throw her immediately into the fire next season.

“That was great to hear, and I know that we’ve been talking about that for a little bit. I think it’ll be challenging playing in the best conference against some great competition. I am sure there will be some tough moments but that only makes you better,” Maddyn Greenway said. “I know that regardless of the mistakes or the good moments, he’ll continue to let me grow and put trust in me. So, it makes it a little bit daunting, but I’m excited. I know Coach Brooks will put me in the right spots. It will be challenging mentally, but I think I have had enough competition in my years growing up that it has helped prepare me (for college).”