Maddie brings a little “Magic” to Coyote core

Slowing down is not something that comes instinctively to Maddie Krull, a second-year freshman guard for the University of South Dakota who has quickly become a vital part of a lineup loaded with veteran players. 

Krull’s tendency to want to get things done quickly carries over to her real world. She had two years' worth of college credits before she was enrolled at USD, for instance. It means she's going to be able to graduate with a degree in social work with two seasons of eligibility remaining. With no plans to end her basketball career early, it opens up a lot of opportunities for additional education for this self-described “people person.”

It’s clear that procrastination has no place in Coyote Nation. Not in this section of it, anyway.

There are times when that attitude might get the best of her, according to coach Dawn Plitzuweit, but not too often.

Krull chuckled as she described her coach’s instructions, fully aware that they’re coming from someone not known for hitting the brakes too often herself.

“This year it’s been go-go-go, but sometimes you need to slow down,” said Krull, who like other NCAA student-athletes, was granted another year of eligibility after the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season.

“Coach P calls it ‘Mach I speed.’ I’ll hear ‘You’re always going at Mach I speed! Take a minute and slow down. Take a minute and look at the floor!’ And I’m like ‘OK, OK.’ Coming from her sometimes I’m thinking ‘What do you mean? You’re always go-go-go. You’re always Mach I.’”

Krull’s next words were about how much she enjoys playing for Coach P and the rest of the Coyote coaches. She went right down the line about the entire staff, including specifics about each and why she values their presence.

“We have an incredible coaching staff, to say the least,” Krull said, summing it up. “I have really enjoyed playing for them.”

It’s one thing to love playing basketball and to say you love it when people ask. It’s sometimes more difficult to remember to enjoy it as it’s happening. That’s where Krull has established a distinctive presence.

Plitzuweit’s favorite all-time basketball player is Magic Johnson. Earlier this season the coach showed her team a picture of the all-time great and began listing off his attributes. He played hard, she told them. He made others better and a lot of the time he had a smile on his face. It was the way she wanted all of them to embrace the season.

“The day before we played Oral Roberts, I walked up to Maddie and I said ‘That’s it. Look at you smiling and getting after it.’ And she said ‘Basketball is just really fun.’”

Plitzuweit laughed at this basic and heartfelt response and said, “That’s what it’s supposed to be.”

“She has that kind of charisma to her,” Plitzuweit said. “She has a joy in playing this game and it’s contagious.”

She is also a fierce competitor who was put in what potentially could be a difficult spot when she became a significant contributor for a veteran team with high expectations. Seniors Chloe Lamb, Hannah Sjerven and Liv Korngable have played in a combined 366 games for the Coyotes, with 212 starting assignments. Those games have included some of the best seasons this program has ever had, many of them coming with Summit League titles and NCAA tournament berths on the line.

“It was a little bit intimidating to come in and be expected to play at the same level as some of these guys when I got here,” Krull said. “But I think their experience with playing with different teammates – they played with older kids at one point, too – has given them the ability to help drag me along and make me feel comfortable. They brought me into the mix without there being much of a drop. The coaching staff did a great job as well in instilling confidence in me.”

Krull graduated from Millard South High School in Omaha with school records in steals and assists while scoring 1,312 points, the second-most ever in school history. She was all-state for four years and, not surprisingly, emerged as a top prospect when it was time to start thinking about making a college decision.

The Coyote staff had been watching her for some time, it turns out.

“From her eighth-grade year on, you could tell she had very special leadership capabilities,” Plitzuweit said. “People would follow her because she played really hard, but she was also a very encouraging, very vocal leader on the court.”

Krull averaged 31 minutes and 9.2 points a game for the NCAA tournament-bound Coyotes a year ago during a pandemic-laced college basketball season. A year later, she returned with the same core group for another run. To date, the point guard is averaging 6.9 points and 32.7 minutes a game for the 9-4 Coyotes, who are 2-0 in the Summit League and resume conference play on Dec. 30 at home against North Dakota.

While it’s more difficult to quantify defensive contributions, part of Krull’s role as a leader at USD has come at the other end of the court.

“When you’re in transition defense and the ball handler gets to come up the court and see everything, it’s really hard to take a lot of things away,” Plitzuweit said. “What Maddie does for us is that she puts pressure on the basketball early. That helps the rest of the defense because everyone gets a few seconds back. That second or two can make a big difference. That’s something that is incredibly valuable for us. The fact that we’re able to depend on such a young player to do that says a lot about Maddie.”

Part of Krull’s reason for coming to USD had to do with geography. Omaha isn’t too far from Vermillion and gives the Krull family plenty of opportunities to see games, both home and away.

Earlier this year, she scored 16 points with a 4-for-5 effort on 3-pointers in a 73-71 win at Creighton in front of a strong and vocal contingent of former high school and AAU teammates.

This on-target effort wasn’t intended to be a personal favor to her loyal followers but it easily could have come off that way, starting with mom and dad.

“There are a lot of things my family had to give up in order for me to play basketball,” Krull said. “My dad was the head coach or an assistant coach for all my teams until high school. I think sitting in the bleachers was a little difficult for him. My mom was another one who was always there for us. She does a great job of creating boundaries for how much we can talk about a game after it’s happened.”

Her sister, Karly, is not a basketball player. Instead she dances and sings. In that sense she’s also played an important role within the Krull family.

“She’s done a great job of opening our eyes to things besides sports,” Maddie said. “She gives my parents a run for their money because when you’re sitting in the stands for a dance recital, you can’t cheer. In show choir after a solo you have to put your hands in the air and wiggle your fingers. If you start cheering, you don’t hear the other singers and the judges can’t judge.”

If you see a Krull family member standing silent and wiggling their fingers above their head after Maddie hits from downtown, now you’ll know why. Somebody got their signals crossed.