Just months removed from high school, sharpshooting Madison Conner ready to helps Cats in NCAAs

Madison Conner is living in the moment.

And what a moment it is.

Arizona’s 17-year-old freshman guard, a player who joined the Wildcats in January as an early enrollee, is one day away from playing in her first NCAA Tournament game. The third-seeded Wildcats (16-5) will take on No. 14-seed Stony Brook (15-5) at 11 a.m. Monday in San Antonio.

Conner is one of 15 players across the country who jumped at the opportunity to start their college careers a semester early. Five play in the Pac-12; three of them — Conner, Oregon State’s Talia Von Oelhoffen and UCLA’s Dominique Darius — made the NCAA Tournament.

Conner was starring for AZ Compass Prep when coach Adia Barnes called to see she’d be interested in making the leap to college. There wasn’t much of a risk in doing it, she said; NCAA rules dictate that everyone playing during the pandemic-shortened season will receive an extra year of eligibility.

Conner’s response?

“Shoot, sign me up,” she said. “I was ready for whatever came along with that.”

Conner logged her first minutes in a game Feb. 14 against Washington. She said she was nervous and “super tense.”

“It was like, ‘Oh my god, don’t mess up. Don’t do this,’” she said.

“I think I needed to calm myself down from that because you don’t play good when you’re tight and tense, worried about making a mistake. I had to get into that groove of like,’ I know, it’s new, I’ve played basketball before. It’s not a new thing that I’m doing. It’s just a higher level.’”

Conner played against Cal and Arizona State down the stretch, and made appearances in both of Arizona’s Pac-12 Tournament games. She scored her first basket, a 3-pointer, in the Wildcats’ runaway win over Washington State in the quarterfinals. That week, Conner won the first gold jersey — for “passion plays” — of her UA career.

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Expect Conner to find minutes in Monday’s NCAA Tournament opener. Barnes has said Conner’s shooter’s mentality will help the Wildcats when it matters. The UA could use the long-stance threat; the Wildcats hit just 31.8% of their 3-pointers this season, a mark that ranks seventh in the Pac-12 and 137th nationally.

The guard should be ready. Conner has been watching film with her teammates, who have helped make the transition to the college game easy. She talks extensively with the Wildcats’ coaches, especially Barnes.

Barnes told Conner “don’t let anybody or the circumstances or anything else change me,” Conner said. “Focus on myself, and how I can get better and help the team. No matter what that is — if that’s playing 10 minutes or sitting on the bench the entire time — just having a good mindset. And don’t let that discourage me, because I shouldn’t even be here right now. It’s an opportunity — just stay motivated and keep my work ethic and keep working hard.”

Conner has found a way to fit in, too — even if her teammates joke that they’re playing with an eighth-grader.

In that regard, Conner shares something with her coach. Barnes similarly started her UA career at age 17. Asked this week about how Barnes would’ve handled playing in the NCAA Tournament just a few months after joining the team, her former coach took a moment to think.

“That’s a tough question,” Joan Bonvicini said. “Basketball-wise, Adia played well, yet (her) freshman year was a big adjustment for her. Being accountable to rules — Adia was always late. That was an issue. It’s hard (to adjust) as you have to be more accountable in college basketball. Adia was pretty good right away and she averaged 14 points, I think and was Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. I think if you have an opportunity to play an extra semester it advances your game, helps your maturity-wise and gives you a head start.

“Adia has confidence in Madi. I asked her how she was in practice and she said, ‘She’s killing us’ (by playing against the starters). When you see positive things happening in practice and your head coach has confidence in you, that’s a big thing. The time when she’s going to shine will happen soon.”

Conner still follows her former high school team, which is run by ex-Sabino coach Jaamal Rhodes. It stung when AZ Compass Prep lost in the final of The Grind Session World Championships.

Conner knows she could’ve helped them, but bigger things awaited her.

“It kind of stinks that I couldn’t finish the season with them, but I definitely wanted to take this opportunity,” Conner said. “I definitely would not change my decision. … I’m so happy to be here. I definitely would not change that. I gave up something to get a little bit more.”