Grange’s journey back to the court

New adventures come planned and sometimes unplanned. The trick for Madison Grange, a senior on the USD women’s basketball team, was to figure out how to make the best of both kinds.

In pursuit of a look at life outside where she grew up, this Utah native transferred to USD from Utah Valley University prior to the 2022-23 season. With a bachelor’s degree already in hand, she would be able to complete her eligibility while acquiring a graduate degree in sport management.

As a future college coach, she would gain a broader basketball background to draw from while contributing as a scholarship player to a Division I program with a strong tradition. It was the perfect plan.

Then she was done in 2022-23 after five games with a torn ACL that needed surgery. It became apparent during the ensuing rehab that a persistent ankle issue was going to necessitate an additional procedure. Collectively that rehab continued into this season.

She made her debut in a win over Omaha on New Year’s Eve and has appeared in three games thus far. In total she has played in eight of the Coyotes’ 47 games over two seasons going into Thursday night’s contest with Oral Roberts.

“I’ve definitely been part of an interesting situation,” said Grange, who played in 109 games at Utah Valley while averaging 10.6 points her final year with the Wolverines. “Now I’m just coming back and we’re already playing conference games and the stakes are high and I’m trying to jump back in there. I just want to provide a spark for the team wherever and whenever I’m needed.”

Given her injuries, an alternative route would have been to decide she’d had enough of basketball and this part of the country and go home. That would be ignoring how much she liked playing, however, and how much she enjoyed being part of her new team.

“It’s been interesting to see how she’s been coming along,” USD coach Kayla Karius said. “I can see her continuing to take steps forward the rest of the year, building even more confidence in her knee and trusting her body again.”

The Coyotes’ 2023-24 motor was already headed for full throttle when she was just getting started. If she wanted to complete this long-term rehab process successfully, she was going to have to avoid complicating the process with what would have been an understandable amount of discouragement. There simply wasn’t time for that kind of indulgence.

“She has been so motivated,” Karius said. “She’s had the willingness and the drive to get back in shape and learn our system and play within our system as quickly as possible. She is clearly trying to make the most of her last year.”

So how does someone with no real local connections decide to transfer from a school in Utah to a school in South Dakota? It’s definitely part of Grange’s Coyote story.

“I had a great career at Utah Valley – I played all four years and I was going to school about 40 minutes from where I grew up and five minutes from my grandparents,” Grange said. “I had easy access to go home and had a lot of my family come to my games but I wanted a change. I wanted to go out on my own a little more and get a feel for what that would be like.”

She entered the transfer portal and made a list of things she wanted out of her last year as a student-athlete. As a 5-11 proven performer with an excellent perimeter game, she had major-college suitors in her own state. She remained curious about out-of-state possibilities, however.

If Grange’s recruiting process was recast as an actual game, the pivotal moments would have occurred late in the second half. As it was, Grange and her mother flew in a day after committing to a visit. She arrived at around 4 p.m., went to dinner with the team, then attended a 7 a.m. team work out the next day.

She would be on her way back to Utah shortly thereafter.

As Karius remembers it, Grange was talking to her father on the phone about the possibility of making a decision on USD while Karius’ staff was telling the coach they needed to get going if the Granges were going to make their return flight.

“I kept thinking, ‘Well, you’re going to have to drive faster, then, because we’re waiting here until we get a ‘Yes,’” Karius said. “I’ll never forget that. The team had just wrapped up their lifting and I looked at her and it was like ‘Come on board.’”

Grange looked at her mom and nodded. She was in. Karius notified the team, who were standing nearby. They started yelling.

“I was relieved – I felt really good about it,” Grange said. “Just hearing those girls cheering made me feel like I was home. That was huge because this was a long way from Utah. I wanted to be around people who had my back and make you feel like you’re part of a family. It was hard leaving home but I felt comfortable with the culture and a sense of family almost right away.”

Though she has endured unfortunate stretches of inactivity, Grange has remained focused on how the Coyotes are playing the game this year. The time on the sidelines gave her a chance to see things from more of a coach’s perspective. Given her career plan, that’s a good thing.

“Mentally if you’re injured you can just sort of float away at practice and not pay attention, but she has remained fully engaged,” Karius said. “It’s a new offense we’re running this year and if she wasn’t really into it you’d be able to tell now that she is back out there. That’s not easy and I give her a ton of credit for that. She wanted to use this year to build her knowledge of the game and she is doing that.”

Grange spent the first part of her recovery from knee surgery in Utah. She got letters in the mail and texts from teammates wishing her well during that time. The gesture left a lasting impression. In the mental notebook she will take with her as she advances in her career, she can write down and highlight this: Sometimes the little things make a big difference.

“These girls have become my best friends,” she said. “Looking back on it, coming here was ultimately the best decision I could have made.”