‘The sky's the limit’

When Rod Wells was hired as the new head coach of the Salem High School’s varsity girls basketball team before the 2021-22 season, he was told that there was a girl on the team that was going to be “decent”. After watching the girl play in the first week of practice, Wells knew he had a special kid on his team.

“She was touching the rim in my first couple of days of practice,” Wells said. “ When I saw her ball handling and her ability to score the ball and how the other kids looked up to her even though she was just a sophomore, it just kind of blew my mind.”

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Madi Morson left quite an impression on her new coach in high school. Now a freshman guard for Central Michigan University’s women’s basketball team, Morson continues to make an impact on the court.

As her first season as a Division 1 basketball player came to an end, Morson’s continued growth as a player led to a breakout season in which she starred as one of the best players on the team.

By the end of the season, Morson’s performances had earned her numerous awards and put her name in the record books. Notably, Morson was awarded Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year while also earning a spot on the All-MAC Second Team and the MAC All-Freshman Team.

Early introduction

Some of Morson’s earliest memories of basketball come from her father.

“My dad, he basically introduced me to every sport available,” Morson said. “ I eventually got to start playing (basketball) at Life Time Fitness, like the kid’s little area, and I was like, ‘Dad, this is fun,’ and he bought me a hoop when I was like 7.”

Morson first started playing organized basketball in middle school and continued throughout all four of her years at Salem High School. 

After Wells started coaching at Salem, he and Morson began a friendship that has lasted to this day.

“ I love that man to death,” Morson said. “He changed my life, for real. I would not be here if it wasn’t for him.”

In addition to basketball skills, Wells taught Morson how to better live her life, sharing lessons like discipline and commitment. Even though he was her basketball coach, Wells helped Morson grow as a person during her time at Salem.

"Him and (assistant) coach Jordan always said, ‘I’ll be more happy with a call from you saying you got a degree, and you’re pursuing whatever you want to do in life,’” Morson said. “So it’s bigger than basketball, and he put that into perspective for me.”

During her time in high school, Morson helped Salem to both a district and a regional championship in 2023 and earned numerous accolades. Morson was named to the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan’s Best in 2023, was a two-time all-state and all-state dream team selection in both 2023 and 2024 and was named a Michigan Miss Basketball Finalist in 2024.

A new opportunity

High school wasn’t the only place Morson grew as a basketball player before college. 

During the summer of her junior year, Morson dove into the sport in a new way, playing in Amateur Athletic Union basketball.

The program allowed Morson to sharpen her skills while also showcasing her play to college coaches looking for recruits.

“Coaches aren’t just going to show up to a high school game just to see (you play),” Morson said. “They go to AAU, see you play there and then they’ll come to your high school game because they know they want to recruit you. So it definitely gave me experience, playing against different kinds of people, playing with different people, different play styles.”

It was through AAU that Morson’s current coach, Kristin Haynie, first spotted her. There was one specific skill set of Morson’s game that stood out to Haynie when deciding to recruit her.

“For me, (it was) her mid-range game,” Haynie said. “I had a mid-range game in college and some coaches, they don’t teach it, and for me, it’s hard to guard. In college you play against taller, longer athletes and people over-penetrate. So I think it’s very important to have a mid-range game.”

Haynie also admired Morson’s ability to play on both ends of the court.

“Madi would get rebounds, block shots, I mean, she D’d up,” Haynie said. “So we really liked that about her. She wasn’t just an offensive player.”

Picking a college

When deciding which college she wanted to attend, Morson had plenty of options. After her success in high school and AAU basketball, she had offers from several schools including North Dakota and Nebraska Omaha. But there was a different school that eventually caught her eye: Central Michigan.

Morson was attracted to CMU for several different reasons, one of which was academics.

“I was thinking education-wise at first, because mechanical engineering, I mean we have a great program here,” Morson said.

The coaches at Central Michigan also made an impact.

“Definitely the coaches, they’re so genuine, they’re good people too,” Morson said. “It just felt like they cared about me more as a person than as a player or as a number.”

Morson also paid attention to the different play styles, looking for one that fit how she wanted to play. Haynie and Central Michigan matched with what she was looking for.

“ I like to play fast and I like to press,” Morson said. “That’s just how I’ve always wanted to play, and the way (Haynie) described it to me, it was like, ‘Yeah, I want to do that.’”

Starting at CMU

When Morson first got on campus, there were adjustments that had to be made. College basketball presented tougher training than she had previously done, requiring both physical and mental changes.

“It (the transition from high school to college) was pretty hard mentally,” she said. “It started with conditioning and weightlifting and stuff. Because I had never consistently lifted weights like this before, let alone at this intensity, especially in the summer …  I had to get my mind right for real with that.”

Morson also had to change parts of her lifestyle in order to become a better athlete. 

“You gotta eat right,” she said. “You gotta put in the extra work, even more than you think you have to. Like, I’ve been getting in the gym more consistently too, outside of practice and stuff. So I would say those are like really big changes that I’ve had to make.”

The key is confidence

As Morson progressed through her freshman season, her game saw lots of improvement which she credits to a growth in confidence. When she first started at CMU, Morson didn’t believe in herself.

“ I was timid,” she said. “I didn’t want to mess up. I was not confident in what I could do.”

Morson had a somewhat quiet start to the season, averaging around eight points for the first five games on the schedule. Haynie even took her out of the starting lineup after the first three games, telling her she needed to “earn her spot back”.

Morson’s demotion to the bench didn’t phase her. After being told what she needed to work on, she grew as a player and began to have a breakout season.

“It was just hard,” Morson said. “I haven’t felt like that since freshman year of high school, and it was like, damn, what is wrong with me? But, I finally got it together. 

“It was more mental. … I’ve always been able to get my shot, and I was just in my own head about it and I needed to relax for real.”

Haynie has admired both Morson’s confidence and her mindset this season, especially considering that she is a freshman.

“Her confidence has been awesome,” Haynie said. “It’s very hard to go from starting to getting taken out and being like, ‘Oh, what did I do wrong?’ But she’s coachable and she had a growth mindset where she didn’t let that get her confidence. So it was great to see her bounce back after a few games to get her confidence back, and she hasn’t looked back ever since.”

After getting her spot back in the lineup, Morson scored double figures in 22 of the 25 games she started in, helping the Chippewas make their first conference tournament since 2021. Morson finished the season averaging 16.5 points-per-game and ranked sixth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring.

With 511 total points accumulated over the season, Morson set a new CMU record for most points scored by a freshman.

Growth as a player at CMU

In addition to an increase in confidence, Morson has seen other improvements to her game.

“I was able to get away with bad habits in high school… especially senior year. I could get away with standing on defense because, again, I would out-athletic somebody, and I would just get into these habits,” Morson said.

Here at CMU, Morson credits the team’s “no excuses mentality” with helping her refine her skills.

“They know I can be better, and so that’s why they’ll get on (me) about something, which I appreciate, even though it’s frustrating in the moment,” she said. “ But I know it’s for the better of the team and for the better of me as a player.”

“It’s been really fun to watch her grow,” Haynie said. “ It’s just not a secret to success. So we just talk about being in the gym and putting in that extra work. And that’s why she’s growing, because she’s getting in the gym and she’s watching a lot of film and studying the game.”

Bonding with the team 

Throughout her short tenure with the Chippewas, Morson and the rest of her team have become quite close.

“They’re like my sisters,” Morson said. “ I really love them like family. …  We just meshed. It was so fast and easy, and we know we can rely on each other.”

To her teammates, Morson’s character has an impact both on and off the court.

“ She’s really social,” fellow freshman forward Ayanna-Sarai Darrington said. “She’s like an empath, I guess you would say. She brings people together with her jokes and stuff.”

Morson’s character and work ethic also serve as motivation for her teammates.

“ She definitely inspires a lot of us,” junior guard Satori Griffin said. “She works hard…  She’s always trying to build up her teammates and cheer and contribute and try to get everybody else to be loud and stuff.” 

What’s Next?

According to the people around her, Morson has the opportunity to become very successful on the court. Wells, who has continued to watch her develop in college, knows there is still room for growth and thinks that she can accomplish great things at CMU.

“ I feel like a proud father, that this kid just went this far,” Wells said. “Know that she’s gonna still grow (at) Central Michigan. … They’re barely touching what she can really do.” 

After this season, Morson hopes to stay a Chippewa for at least another year. While she said she doesn’t really want to transfer at all, she admitted that Name Image Likeness deals and the transfer portal have made the decision much harder to make. Morson said she has to consider what she wants her life outside of basketball to be like, so she can best pursue that.

“I don’t want to transfer,” she said. “I’m really big on the loyalty thing… I don’t like leaving, especially if I really like the people I’m around. But, I have to put me first, so if it comes down to it, I will have to, but I really don’t want to.” 

The general consensus among her coaches and peers is that Morson may someday be good enough to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association. 

“The sky’s the limit for her,” Haynie said. “She can play pro if she keeps working and developing.”

Morson, however, is not ready to make that decision.

“I could really see it,” she said.  “And it’s just hard, because that’s really a commitment. I mean it’s a commitment now, but damn, that’s your livelihood. But women’s basketball is growing so much …  it’s still up in the air. I don’t want to just be like a definite yes or no, though.”