What makes Maddy special? Dallas Wings officials discuss Siegrist's potential and role

Maddy Siegrist sometimes wakes up wondering if her new reality was merely a dream. The last week has included several pinch-me moments that prompted gleeful whispers to herself, saying, “Oh, my God! This is really gonna be my job!?”

Well, a career, if things go according to plan.

The dreamlike sequence began last Monday when the Poughkeepsie native was chosen by the Dallas Wings with the third pick in the WNBA Draft, that evening fulfilling a childhood fantasy that even Siegrist didn’t believe was realistic until recently.

She explained the “whirlwind” her world has become and excitedly described the FaceTime conversations with her new teammates, almost starstruck, while being told that she belonged.

A few minutes after Siegrist discussed that, during an introductory press conference in Dallas on Monday, her new head coach said this:

“Maddy reminds me of a younger, shorter Elena Delle Donne,” Latricia Trammell said.

Hoo! That’s high praise from a longtime coach, likening the rookie to an all-time great.

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Delle Donne is 3 inches taller and has two league MVPs and a championship on her professional resume, while Siegrist compared herself to a “freshman” at this level. But there are obvious similarities, Trammell explained. Both players have good length and are versatile offensively, able to score from several positions on the court and operate well in different sets.

“Maddy’s a player I’ve followed for some time,” Wings president Greg Bibb said of scouting the 6-foot-2 forward. “Her offensive prowess is well documented, but other aspects of her game are impressive. She’s a leader, plays the game the right way, and she makes players around her better.”

Their hope, of course, is that the former Villanova University star will maintain those qualities and further refine the skillset that made her a collegiate superstar.

WNBA training camps open April 30, and the regular season begins in a month with the Wings hosting the Atlanta Dream on May 20.

“Dallas is one of the most exciting places to be in the league and it’s one of the best teams,” Siegrist said of the franchise, which won three championships in the 2000s as the Detroit Shock. “They’re hot right now and coming off a good season. I can’t wait to get settled in and officially get started.”

Siegrist led the NCAA in scoring at 29.2 points per game during a record-breaking season. She shot 51% from the field and 36.1% from 3-point range, along with averaging 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks, while leading the Wildcats to their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2003.

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She also set the Big East scoring record, and Trammell marveled at the 22-year-old etching her name atop a conference that once included legends Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore.

‘Checked all the boxes’

The basic statistics were eye-popping, and it made Siegrist a finalist for national player of the year. But Bibb was more impressed after perusing her advanced metrics and considering it in the context of the defenses she faced.

“Maddy was fifth in the nation in usage, but fourth in turnover efficiency,” he said of her 5.2% turnover rate. “Those numbers were huge in my evaluation. She went into each game knowing when she caught the ball, at a minimum, she was facing two players, and was still able to operate efficiently. I’m excited to see what she can do at this level when she doesn’t have all those (defenders) around her constantly.”

Trammell insisted Siegrist fits well in the system she is installing as the coach begins her first season with the Wings.

“We’ll try to help her transition into the pro game and put her in positions where she feels comfortable and confident,” Trammell said. “But that’s just about every position on the court for her.”

Bibb acknowledged that the transition into the WNBA is difficult and seldom do players have immediate success. But, he said, “I know whether Maddy plays five or 35 minutes a game, she’ll find ways to contribute.”

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Her potential, and their projections, made Siegrist the highest-drafted Villanova basketball player ever.

The Wings went 18-18 last season and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Other areas of need were addressed, Bibb said, and they went into the draft looking for “shooting and good size for their positions.”

Dallas had multiple first-round picks and also selected Lou Lopez-Senchal out of UConn and Abby Meyers from the University of Maryland, and acquired Iowa State's Stephanie Soares in a trade.

But the organization believes Siegrist can be a foundational piece and eventually develop into a star alongside Arike Ogunbowale.

“The better the players are around you, the better you have to be,” said Siegrist, a graduate of Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie. “I’ll do my best and try to contribute in any way I can … It’s like being a freshman again and I’m gonna approach it with the same mentality as when I got to Villanova: Just put your head down and work.”

That demeanor and maturity is part of what endeared her to team officials. Trammell said she jotted “old soul” as a description in her scouting notes and loved that Siegrist is a “film junkie” who enjoys studying.

Trammell is a head coach for the first time in the league, but she had a lengthy career as a college coach and worked previously as an assistant with the Los Angeles Sparks, specializing in defense. She helped them in 2020 get four players onto the All-WNBA defensive teams, including Candace Parker, who was Defensive Player of the Year.

“I start on the defensive end because I think that says a lot about the person, about their determination,” Trammell said of evaluating prospects. “I also want to see how they respond when they come out of a game. Can they take hard coaching? Do they celebrate their teammates?

“And then, offensively, it depends on the need of the team at the time, and we needed shooting. Maddy checked all the boxes.”

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: WNBA: Poughkeepsie's Maddy Siegrist praised by Dallas Wings officials