Lady Tigers Get Big Boost From Transfer Reggie Maddox

Jan. 17, 2005

By Ashley Washington Clemson Sports Information

The Lady Tiger basketball team has a large group of freshman and transfer players this season. Reggie Maddox is in her first season with the Lady Tigers and has proven to be a strong all-around impact to the team. The 5-9 guard currently leads the team in scoring at 10.1 points per game. Reggie also ranks second in rebounding at 6.0 per game for the Lady Tigers, which is tremendous for a player at her height.

Reggie credits her rebounding skills to one of her favorite NBA players. “One of my favorite players was Dennis Rodman,” Maddox said. “People get it mixed up when they think about my height; I can get up there! Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

On the court, Maddox is aggressive and allows nothing to distract her from playing her best throughout any game. The only thing that may come in Reggie’s way before a game is that pre-game anxiety that she suffers from. “I usually can not sleep. I will be in bed, but I will be awake watching Roseanne or whatever comes on `Nick at Nite.'” But off the court she admits that she becomes extremely shy. Around school, I am pretty shy and I don’t talk to many people. I have a problem meeting new people.”

Her love for basketball began with a Play Skool hoop in Dyersburg, TN, that her parents had gotten her as a child. Reggie says that her father frequently chastised her for dunking on her toy hoop. “I would always knock down my goal when I tried to dunk on it.” Little did her parents know the impact that basketball would have in her life. “Basketball was all that I knew growing up. It was something to keep me out of the house.” In Dyersburg, Maddox grew up in a neighborhood where there were not many stars, simply because everyone was a standout athlete. Basketball began as a hobby but developed into an outlet for a successful future.

During high school, Reggie became a popular athlete and many knew that she would go on to play for a collegiate team. But she did not always take the passion that she had for the game into the classroom. “I messed up in high school, I didn’t put much into my books.” This led to Reggie heading to Chipola Junior College in Florida, having to forego the opportunity to automatically play at the Division I level.

Chipola sits in a small town that is not exposed to much media, giving Reggie and her teammates the opportunity to spend a lot of time together. The extra time helped to build good team chemistry both on and off the court. Maddox took advantage of this chemistry and played hard every season, even through injury at times. This aggressiveness helped her become Chipola’s first women’s basketball player to be named an All-American.

It was with this chemistry that she was able to perform very well and build good rapport among Division I coaches and recruiters. “I had to get out of there (Chipola) and I knew that I had a second chance at playing Division I ball.” When Maddox got to Clemson, her main goal was simple. “I didn’t want to sit on the bench. I’ve been going strong all of these years, now I’m somewhere else doing what I need to do.”

Although her individual statistics show that she has made a superb impact on the Lady Tiger’s team, Maddox does not feel that she has always played up to her high standards. “When I first got here I was frustrated because I was not playing the way that I knew I could. I was working hard, but I needed to work extra hard to get where I wanted to be.” Reggie’s best game thus far in the 2004-05 season came as the Lady Tigers hosted N.C. State. In that performance, she grabbed 11 rebounds, threw 10 assists and scored nine points; just one point away from a triple-double. She also performed well in an overtime win over arch-rival South Carolina. She had 17 points, 11 rebounds, and hit the game-tying jumper to send the game to overtime.

Reggie hopes to play in the WNBA after completing her career here at Clemson. “I would love to play for the Houston Comets. I like them, especially Tina Thompson.” That dream will not be far from reality if she continues to play as well as she has for the Lady Tigers.