MADDIE DUNFEE FROM THIS TO THIS| The 2031 GOAT?

OVER THE YEARS, I have written about 8th graders. They are those special ones, the type everyone knows are going to household names in HIGH SCHOOL and maybe in college. The ones who we all know will one day play Division One basketball. Their is only one question when it comes to these type players. Will they develop? What is their improvement curve year to year? Will they continue to work like kids who are desperate? These are the things nobody can really predict as they get older. There natural ability we carry them to the mountaintop but on that mountain they won’t be alone. This is when the great one separate themselves from the pack. This is when the superstars separate themselves. MADDIE DUNFEE IS ONE OF THOSE KIDS.

Tuesdays I run a program called Core Skills. It’s a training session of older kids and younger kids. The older kids are on one end. The younger kids are on another end. Madison Dunfee, is a rising 8th grader. She is on the end with the older players. There are starters on their high school teams, they are players with D1 offers or players who will get D1 offers, some of the best freshman in the state are their. Despite all of this, the best player in the gym, on Tuesday was Madison Dunfee. She was in a word “SENSATIONAL”. She put on a three point shooting display that you rarely see in a training session, especially by such a young player against such type of competition. She posted up one of the best juniors in the state and proved she is not afraid of competition, in dominating fashion. She flashed her special ball handling and passing skills. It really was just a reminder of what Madison Dunfee aka “Little one” , has truly become in the past year. One of the two best players in the Shore 2031 class.

I can Madison Dunfee “little one”, usually I give nicknames because I can’t remember a kids name. But in the case of Madison Dunfee it was because of how she looked. Two years ago she was short, with a round face and protected by baby fat. She was just a cute little girl playing basketball. I didn’t think too much of her and my guess is nobody else did either. I had a training session with her team. I told them all to get in the gym and train if they wanted to be good. The fact of the matter is I didn’t think I would see any of them in the gym with me, it’s too intense, to much talent and a whole lot of stressful yelling. But Maddie Dunfee, showed up and she keep showing up. So much, that I need a new nickname for her these days. That’s because Maddie is now 5’9″ tall, lean and strong. She is a beast physically, if you see her now, you can’t understand the change. You can’t picture what she was then and what she is now. She also is not just a little kid playing basketball now. These days she is a force, a player with all the tools to one day be a ALL SHORE, PLAYER OF THE YEAR TYPE.

MADDIE is very lucky, thats because her parents honestly don’t believe she is special. It’s not a act or someone pretending to be humble. They are the real deal and it just may be the reason Maddie will be the most in demand 8th grader next year. When I tell her mom and dad this, they say lets wait and see and they are dead serious. When Madison is at NBS and I match her up with a weaker opponent, she doesn’t complain, her parents don’t complain. She dominates the competition and smiles with joy after. There is no ego and expectations of special treatment. I don’t match Maddie up with players of her age anymore. It’s a waste of time because she gives 100% effort regardless of the opponent. Weather they are blind, cripple or crazy. She is on the so called Shoreshots AAU “B” team. Her parents say that’s ok, she likes her coach and its good for her now. She is destroying the competition on the AAU circuit. 20+ points in almost every game is the norm. She doesn’t care about the level of competition. SHE JUST KICKS ASS! Now that other AAU teams have discovered her, some are hoping she moves out of unhappiness and the EGO, that’s because they don’t know th family. MADDIE’S PARENTS worry more about “LITTLE ONE” becoming a happy BIG ONE.

I asked Madison where she wants to attend high school one day? I thought she’d say RBC or SJV, she said she didn’t know. Now, not because she was being evasive or trying to attend a school with promises and stats. She wasn’t running from the smoke like maybe some others. She simply doesn’t know, that’s because hype and playing to the crowd is not who she is or what she is about. She just likes basketball and she just happens to be very good at it, in fact better than most. The truth of the matter is this, Maddie Dunfee is already one of the biggest GYM RATS IN THE ENTIRE STATE. She is in the gym everyday, even when she has other appointments, she’ll show up for 30 mins if that’s all the time she has… she refuses to take a shortcut of skip a workout. Her maturity for her age is off the charts. It why and how we have gotten to where we are today.

I tease and joke with Madison, I tease because I like her, I like her parents, I even like her brother. I like them because they are a reminder. There are still great players with a great work ethic, not looking for special treatments or constanting seeking attention. Madison Dunfee has a dream INNER CIRCLE IN HER PARENTS AND FRIENDS. When you throw this god given focus and determination on top of it all… YOU GET THAT HUMBLE GREATNESS WE ALL PRAY FOR!

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