Madison Greene stood at half court of Memorial Gymnasium on Jan. 17, 2023, and checked in for the 11th appearance of her first season at Vanderbilt. Little did she know that those five minutes against the Lipscomb Bisons would be her final minutes of the 2023-24 season.
Just five minutes after subbing in, Greene tore her ACL. This devastating injury started her on a journey that no athlete wants to face.
“When I got hurt my heart was broken. It was really broken,” Greene told The Hustler. “Right when I fell, I knew it was something, possibly [even] a season-ending injury, from what I felt. I [couldn’t] walk off the court.”
Three hundred and twenty-three days later, though, Greene returned to the court. The location and opponent, coincidentally, were the same as when she tore her ACL. Greene didn’t just prove she was back, though; she proved she is an SEC-caliber player, dropping 14 points and collecting 6 steals en route to a 102-50 Vanderbilt win.
This remarkable performance by Greene — against the same opponent she was injured against, no less — is an incredible testament to her strength and perseverance. But anyone who truly knows her, both as a person and player, knew that this comeback wasn’t a one-off occurrence. It was inevitable.
The backdrop
Greene was four years old when she started playing basketball in a YMCA league. However, she was primarily into gymnastics and cheerleading at that age. As a result, she wouldn’t play basketball more seriously until she got to fifth grade and started playing AAU. Most of all, she enjoyed the people the sport brought into her life.
“I really enjoyed [playing AAU], [its] competitiveness and meeting new people,” Greene said.
Greene says she leveled up her skill and dedication to the game once she got to high school.
“I feel like my high school career was really good,” Greene said. “I had great coaches and great teammates around me [who] made me better and [got] me to where I am right now.”
Greene’s high school career wasn’t just good; it was excellent. In her four years at Pickerington Central High School, she collected almost too many accolades to count. The guard led her team to four straight district titles, played in the OHSBCA North-South All-District game, received first-team all-state honors and was a finalist for Miss Ohio Basketball. In her senior year, she was named the 270 Girl Hoops Senior, the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Division I Player of the Year and was a McDonald’s All-American Nominee.
Greene’s gritty and relentless play put her on the radar of Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph.
“[Greene] is a bulldog [on the court],” Ralph said on Nov. 11. “It’s one of the things I recognized right away [about her] when we went to watch her play in high school. She’s relentless [and] I like coaching players like that. She’s able to distribute, score and defend.”
Needless to say, Greene had plenty of options when it came to continuing her career at the college level. She credits her AAU coach at the Cincinnati Angels Basketball Club, Dante Harlan, with putting Vanderbilt on her radar.
“[Harlan] said a lot of good things about [Vanderbilt]. He already knew the coaches and visited here before,” Greene said. “[Harlan] was like a second father to me, so I trusted his words and everything he said.”
Trusting Harlan’s praise of the program, Greene visited Vanderbilt’s campus herself. She was more than impressed by what she saw.
“When I came to visit [Vanderbilt] I just loved everything that [the coaching staff] said,” Greene said. “It was also coach Ralph’s second or third year with the program and I liked the vision she had for it. [Vanderbilt is] a family atmosphere, and that was one of the main things I was focused on.”
So Greene — with plenty of other Power Four offers — committed to Vanderbilt on Sep. 16, 2022.
“I felt like God put me in this place for a reason,” Greene said.
It’s just basketball
For any athlete at the Power Four level, there comes a significant adjustment period after arriving at campus. The process of getting acquainted with a high-level program isn’t quick. Greene’s experience was no different. Her thought that she was playing the game she had her whole life kept her nerves in check, though.
“Coming here in the fall was a little tough at first. Coming from high school to college is a way different experience, and I feel like the pace was much faster than what I [was] used to,” Greene said. “But I felt like, ‘I’ve been doing this my whole life, I’m just playing basketball,’ so there [was] no need to take a step back.”
Greene’s quiet confidence helped her become a role player from her very first game. She appeared in all 11 contests before her injury, tallying 76 points across and 15 steals including a then career-best 17 points against Louisiana Tech. Greene was on the verge of a breakout season from the bench, but it all came crashing down when she checked in against Lipscomb.
The breakdown
Greene remembers the fear she felt when she tore her ACL. She had never experienced this emotion when it came to basketball and couldn’t go back to her ‘I’ve been here before’ mentality to get through. Greene was embarking on a whole new journey — one she didn’t have an immediate solution to.
“That was my first serious injury,” Greene said. “I [had] never had surgery in my life, so that was pretty scary for me.”
She was quick to turn to her community — filled with coaches, teammates and friends — as sources of comfort and inspiration.
“I also knew I had people around me, like [Iyana Moore], coach Ralph and [Jordyn Cambridge]. They all [went through] the same [injury ],” Greene said.
Surgery was almost the easy part of the injury for the now sophomore, though. It was the rehab — having to step into the gym and weight room every day aiming to eventually get back to her peak from before her injury — that really wore on her. There was no game for Greene to look forward to. She echoed how rehab was a day-in and day-out challenge.
“Rehab was so tough,” Greene said. “Having to come in every single day and strengthen my leg back up was really a struggle.”
Once again, her community inspired and pushed her through the tough times. Greene reflected on how Allison Shepherd — the team’s athletic trainer — pushed her every day during rehabilitation but also provided her with a light at the end of the tunnel.
“Having a great trainer like Shep [was helpful],” Greene said. “She always pushed me, no matter if I was like, ‘I don’t feel like doing this.’ She helped me get back on the court [and get] the confidence to do what I do.”
Ralph was another source of solace for Greene throughout the entire process.
“[Ralph] standing by me throughout everything really helped me. Her telling me everything was going to be alright and I’ll be back on the court soon made me push myself harder because I know she truly believes in me.”
Soon enough, through the constant recovery, Greene made her way back to the court. She was full go for summer practices and would be a key piece for a team with high expectations, and Greene rose to the challenge.
The inevitable comeback
Going into her first game back, Greene knew she was ready, but still had some nerves surrounding that day, especially against Lipscomb
“I was a little nervous at first, especially knowing that we were playing the team that I had got hurt against,” Greene said. “But then when I got to the court I was like, ‘You’re here, you’re back; why not show out like nothing ever happened?’”
That’s exactly what she did.
Greene scored 14 points in her game against Lipscomb. Cementing the fact that she was not only back, but better than ever. Ten games later, Greene returned to her home state of Ohio when the Commodores played Dayton in a nonconference matchup.
With her family in the stands, Greene had a career-best performance of 25 points en route to an 80-66 Vanderbilt win. That moment — putting on a performance like that for her loved ones — after all she had been through in the past year was a moment of pride for Greene.
“It was amazing,” Greene said. “Being back home, being in that atmosphere and having [my] family come was just a blessing. Not everybody’s family can make games like that. I was really proud of myself.”
With 170 points on the current season — and counting — Greene has established herself as a role player on a Vanderbilt squad that is seemingly en route to its second straight NCAA Tournament bid. Although her role is primarily off the bench, Greene has embraced this, contributing to win after win for the Commodores.
Greene averages 8.5 points per game and has eclipsed double figures in nine matchups this season. She’s chipped in 2.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 22.7 minutes per game, which ranks fifth among all Commodores.
“There’s no problem with coming off the bench,’ Greene said. “It doesn’t really matter to me. [I’m focused on] going out there and doing what my coach wants me to do, and I’m going to do everything possible for us to win.”
Greene also received some good news last week — the NCAA granted her another year of eligibility because of her injury. After thanking her family and friends, she had just one message for Commodore Nation.
“We have more time together and much more to accomplish,” Greene wrote.
With immense fortitude and humility, the sky is the limit for Greene as she continues to make a difference for Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball.
