By Sabreen Dawud
Special to the AFRO
Madison Scott learned she had secured her very first spot on a girls basketball team while sitting in her fourth grade at Ardmore Elementary School in Prince George’s County, Md.
Now a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player for the Washington Mystics, Scott remembers the moment well.
“The head coach got on the announcements and called out the names of the girls who made the basketball team for the whole school to hear. They were going through the names and I didn’t hear my name. I’m sitting there and I’m sweating. Next thing you know, the last name was called ‘Madison Scott.’”
Madison Scott shoots the ball at the Washington Mystics vs. Los Angeles Sparks game on Aug. 17, 2025 at the CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C. Credit: Photo Courtesy of Madison Scott (Photo Courtesy of Madison Scott)
“Me and the game of basketball have been inseparable,” Scott said, thinking back to that moment in grade school.
What began as playing basketball in neighborhoods from Montgomery to Prince George’s County, turned into athleticism and a rich education that made the 2025 WNBA draft pick we know today. Being a native of the D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area not only shaped her character, but it carved her path to securing a spot in the pros.
Scott has seen many sides of the DMV area and says she has taken lessons taken from every county she has called home.
“My mom was in foster care, so I was with her in foster care. She was a resident of Silver Spring, Md.”
From there Scott, her mother, and her step-father ventured to Bowie, Md., during her time in elementary school. From the suburbs of Bowie, Scott transitioned to studying in the city of Washington, D.C., where she attended Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan.
Scott spent her high school years at Bishop McNamara high school in Forestville, Md., a school in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). It was during her time there that her perspective on basketball shifted from a joyful expression of self to a career path worth pursuing.
“McNamara was really the place for me,” Scott said. “McNamara truly accepted me in all my facets. I didn’t come in the same woman that I left. They helped develop me. They helped raise me. To this day, I’m forever grateful for McNamara.”
Madison Scott engages young athletes at the 2025 Madison Scott Basketball Foundation Youth Camp in Oxford, Miss. (Photo Courtesy of Madison Scott)
Scott’s love for the DMV made her choice to go to University of Mississippi all the more surprising. The city of Oxford, Miss., was far from home and would introduce an entirely different experience. For Scott, this was more of a reason why she felt called to pursue her collegiate career there.
“It was important that I could be somewhere and not have to leave, not have to transfer. Somewhere where I can truly grow on and off the court. That was really big for me,” she explained.
“They were on the come up. For me, that intrigued me. That made me excited. I didn’t want to do what was popular. I didn’t want to do what everybody expected me to do. I wanted to do what I felt like I was meant to do,” said Scott. “I wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than myself. Something that was going to take work. Something that was going to make me uncomfortable because I didn’t want to be comfortable. That was Ole’ Miss.”
Ole’ Miss offered her the growth that she truly wanted to see within herself. As she grew, so did the university’s women’s basketball program.
During her time at University of Mississippi Scott gained a deeper understanding of what she wanted to do off the court as well.
“I knew I was also going to come into opportunities to branch out and to explore more things that Madison wanted to do as a person, not the ball player. Being there, that’s where I learned that I really wanted to give back,” Scott recalled.
Her interest in community work and self exploration led Scott to becoming a fall 2023 initiate of the Xi Zeta Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (SGRHO) at the University of Mississippi.
“The biggest thing for me with SGRHO was how inclusive they were. They didn’t want to change me. They wanted me for me. That is something that I am forever, forever, forever grateful for,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself that still allowed me to be myself.”
Having studied psychology and sports administration, Scott has an unwavering love for the youth and their athleticism. It was vital that she create something that was an extension of her passion. The Madison Scott Basketball Foundation, a non-profit youth basketball camp, allowed her to show up for kids with dreams much like hers.
Beginning in 2023, today the camp invites select children ranging from the third to eighth grade to join Scott and staff members in sharpening their basketball and life skills on a court in their local community. The camp is free for attendees and has been hosted in St. Croix and Oxford, Mississippi thus far.
“I didn’t grow up with a lot of money and I grew up with a young mom. So many people stepped in and were hands on in my development and they saw something in me, again, before I saw something in myself. I’m forever grateful for that. For that reason, I want to pay it back,” Scott shared.
The development of the non-profit foundation was no easy venture but Scott loves a challenge. With the help of her supportive team, they were able to bring her vision to life.
“It was a lot of late nights and game planning and figuring out. To see where we started and where we are now, it’s really exciting … One thing about Madi, she always wants to be better than the last. She has such big ideas for improvement,” shared Jordan Berry, Scott’s long-time friend and secretary of the Madison Scott Basketball Foundation.
What started as Scott hearing her name on the announcements for her elementary school girls basketball team led to her name being uttered as the 14th overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. Scott was drafted to the Dallas Wings in the second round.
“Even at the draft when my name was called no matter how much I tried to hold back those tears, it just was overflowing. All the work that was put into that moment,” she remembered.
“I could go down the list of so many people who didn’t let me give up.”
In the height of what Scott describes as a dream come true quickly came feelings of sorrow when Scott was waived from the Dallas Wings prior to the start of the 2025 WNBA season.
“I was on this high and then next thing you know I’m at a really really low point. It was crazy how quick that happened. At that low point was when I finally took the time to really reflect and really talk to God,” she expressed.
“I took 24 hours to just let it out. I was off of social media. I didn’t get on anything. That next day after that 24 hours, I was in the gym going even harder. Because it was like I can’t stop now.”
She recognizes the trying time following being waived as one of the moments she noticed the personal growth that she had developed over the years. From lessons as a kid who had just touched the ball to the experiences she had during her collegiate career, everything had prepared her for facing that challenge. To Scott’s surprise, it had also brought her back home.
While preparing to work a camp hosted by Nike in Los Angeles, Scott received a call from the Washington Mystics for a seven-day contract in August. Scott would later sign a rest-of-season deal with the Washington Mystics in September.
“That organization is simply amazing. I’m not just saying that because they gave me an opportunity. Of course I’m forever grateful for that but it’s how they handled me. How they understood that not only was I a rookie, but also I was coming in at the end of the season when they’ve already been there, learned, grew together, built that camaraderie. They never made me feel like an outsider.”
Though she came in at the end of the season, Scott developed a sense of belonging within the Mystics franchise. As she awaits the beginning of the 2026 WNBA season, she remains hopeful that she can continue to develop herself both in the pros and personally, while carrying her DMV grit with her.