Sterling High School’s Madison Austin recently committed to Illinois State University, where she will continue her basketball career. In Austin’s 2024 AAU season with Example Sports, she saw heavy exposure to college coaches and was flooded with a whopping 17 division one offers.
Austin has been a stellar multi-sport athlete during her time at S.H.S. Austin dominated in swimming, making multiple state appearances in her four years. Many thought she would swim in college, but freshman year Austin sparked a new love for basketball after trying it for the first time. “My goal was to swim in college until I started basketball. At first, I only played basketball for fun with my brother. But it was new and exciting, so I quickly fell in love with it,” said Austin. Her quick improvement from a beginner to a Division One basketball player in three years was a huge shock to many Warrior fans.
Austin’s teammates and coaches witnessed first-hand how much work she put into the sport.
“It’s been fun to watch Maddie improve her game. I truly think her commitment to the gym on her own time has improved her game so much. Her willingness to work on her skills and create tremendous strengths into her game has been amazing to watch,” said varsity basketball head coach Taylor Jackson.
Austin was aware that getting recruited for basketball wouldn’t be easy, but with her being over six-feet-tall and more athletic than ever, she knew with hard work that this goal was achievable.
“Developing in just four years took a ton of work outside of practice. I focused on the basics to start, then I started playing club and going to training in order to become the best I could be. The repetition of learning new skills really improved my confidence, and I’m still always learning new things with a ton of room for improvement.” says Austin.
Austin did face challenges during the recruiting process. “It was stressful in many ways: playing in front of big-time coaches, talking to coaches on the phone, and scheduling visits. The best part was to see what different types of coaches have to say about my skills, what I can improve on, and how I would fit into their program,” Austin shares.
With Austin having a multitude of offers, she could tell what she liked and disliked about every school.
“I loved the family feel of the team, the coaching style, the community, and the campus at ISU,” says Austin. Austin was also given the opportunity to bring along her twin sister Kate Austin as a team manager.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to still be involved with Madison and her basketball journey even at the next level. I was also offered this at Northern Illinois University and Bowling Green State University, but at ISU I’m getting 12 credit hours, which is a partial scholarship for my manager position,” says twin sister Kate Austin.
For Austin, going into her senior year already committed relieves pressure as she can play freely without the pressure of recruiting. Austin plans to finish out her senior year with the Golden Warriors, setting new goals for herself.
“This season, I plan to enjoy my last high school season with my teammates. My goals for the season is for our team to win at least 20 games, improve my game, and to reach 1000 career points to finish off the season.”
