Maddy was very impressive when I saw her on Friday. She looks like she has gotten noticeably stronger, more explosive, and she’s playing with a nice confidence to her game. She is great in the open floor, she runs the lanes well in transition, but she can also push the ball herself. In the halfcourt, she’s good when she has a decided driving lane, and she can absorb contact, plus she has improved her perimeter shooting and can keep defenses honest when they help off of her. As for her defense, I think she does a nice job defending everyone from bigger guards to undersized ‘4s’.

What first caught my attention was on the defensive end of the floor with Maddy’s strength and physicality. She is tall kid with a long wingspan, but the muscles in her arms were popping out through her shirt so it was obvious she knows where the weight room is. She used that power to move offensive players off the block and did an excellent job boxing out and attacking missed shots in the air securing several rebounds for her team. She had a nice block coming over from the help side on defense as well. Offensively, Watko showed her ability to drain shots from downtown. She did an excellent job on a give and go play where came off a screen at the top of the key, took one dribble, and knocked down a nice looking shot from three point range. She was active slashing to the basket and getting out and sprinting on the break making herself an option to score the majority of the game. Watko has good vision and did a nice job finding open teammates as well.

Maddy used her versatile skillset, length, and strength to contribute for Team 4 inside and on the perimeter at the Sophomore ID Camp. She battled to secure rebounds and made a great kickout pass after grabbing an offensive board. She earned a trip to the foul line after a hard drive to the basket and converted the free throw with a confident stroke. Maddy caught a pass with soft hands, used a quick crossover, and accelerated to drive by for a layup off two feet. She buried many three-pointers and mid-range jumpers during shooting drills.