Throughout her career, the Lady Bears won 75 games, 3 Sectional titles, and a Regional title, after winning just 4 total Sectionals in the history of the program before her arrival at Central. Additionally, this season she missed 4 games due to injury, and the Bears went 0-4 during that stretch. She is as skilled and fundamental of a front-liner as there has been in a while in the state, and she could instantly affect the University of Southern Indiana’s success next season. Maddy finished the season averaging 23.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.2 blocked shots per game.

Simply put, Madalynn is the best player in the state’s third biggest city, and she has produced year-in and year-out for the Lady Bears. Evansville Central has won 3 Sectional titles and a Regional title in her stead, so a deep tournament run in Class 3A this year could certainly help her case on a statewide platform. For her career, she has scored nearly 2100 points, grabbed more than 1000 rebounds, blocked more than 250 shots, while shooting 53% from the field, 44% from 3-point range, and 80% from the charity stripe. If you haven’t seen her, she is the Lillian Barnes Lillian Barnes 5'11" | SF/PG Valparaiso | 2026 State IN (above) of front-liners…incredibly skilled, incredibly smart, hard-working, and if you can call a forward crafty…crafty. She will receive a lot of votes from area coaches.

To round out this version of Team Indiana, this choice was pretty easy for me. Maddie brings more size, a quiet toughness, and great effort to the lineup. For her CAREER, Maddie is averaging 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, plus she has made 53% of her field goal attempts. I’ve harped on it over and over again, but Maddie is one of the most complete, skillful forwards in the Midwest, let alone Indiana. She has an accurate 3-point shot, plus she can take smaller defenders to the block and abuse them. This University of Southern Indiana commit could produce a double-double for her team as a substitute player.

Maddy has had one of the most productive careers of any member of the 2026 class in Indiana. She does it all, from score the ball in the post, to make jump-shots as deep as the 3-point line, to rebound and defend. One of her weapons offensively is utilizing the free throw stripe. She is shooting 84% from there this season behind 66 makes. Last season she reached as many as 158 made tosses. For her career, she is over 1800 points and 900 rebounds, so she could very well graduate as an exclusive 2000/1000 club member. She’s averaging a double-double once again this season (23.8 ppg, 11.4 rpg).

What Lillian Barnes Lillian Barnes 5'11" | SF/PG Valparaiso | 2026 State IN (above) is to the perimeter, Madalynn is to the frontline. Maddy is incredibly skillful, she plays with an extremely high basketball IQ, and she always outworks her matchup. She is one of the best mid-range shooters in the state, plus she has range to the 3-point line, and she can play a little with her back to the basket. She has nice length, a wiry strong frame, and she pursues rebounds aggressively.