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Madeline Potts couldn’t travel further than five kilometers from her home province of Victoria, Australia, for two years due to COVID-19. But the small basketball court behind Potts’ house in Doncaster stayed open, allowing her to practice. It featured an undersized concrete surface that wasn’t wide enough to include the whole 3-point arc.

There, Potts practiced her 3-point shooting for hours on end. She watched videos of Stephen Curry and tried emulating him. According to Potts’ mother, Kristen, Potts’ grandmother, who lived down the street, used to hear the ball bouncing at the park and knew it was Potts.

Before the pandemic, Kristen admitted Potts wasn’t among the best players on her club team, Nunawading Spectres. But by the end, she made Victoria’s state team and was invited to Australian National Team camps.

“She could have just put the ball down and said, ‘I’m so s*****y, I don’t want to play anymore,’ and just said, ‘No, that’s enough,’” Kristen said. “But she didn’t. She said, ‘I’m just going to work. I’m just going to take the opportunity and get better.’”

Potts’ development led her to Syracuse, where she’s in her freshman season after enrolling in January 2024. The guard is averaging 3.4 points per game and flashed her potential with 11- and 13-point outings against Florida State and Clemson, respectively. Her calling card is her 3-point shot. Potts makes 37.8% of her triples as a spark plug off the bench for SU, which has an ACC-worst 133 made 3s this season.

“Her 3-point shot is what we count on the most,” Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack told Z89 on Jan. 9 following Potts’ then-career-high 11 points in its

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