Madi Conner has always been chasing it.
It’s been this way since she started playing basketball and, as she tells it, wasn’t very good.
Sunday afternoon, Conner lit it up rival Arizona State for career-high 16 points in a 62-58 Wildcats win. Still, the UA’s redshirt freshman sharpshooter said she wasn’t satisfied.
She went just 2 for 4 beyond the arc and missed one 2-pointer and her lone free throw. “I had some open shots and didn’t knock them down,” Conner said.
Still, Conner’s UA teammates will happily take a similar performance on Friday, when Arizona (18-4, 8-4 Pac-12) takes on Washington (5-13, 0-10 Pac-12) in Seattle.
“My standards for myself are super high,” Conner said. “When I do stuff like that, it doesn’t really satisfy me because I know … whenever the opportunity comes to me, I want to excel at it. I got an opportunity I did well, but always can do better. I consistently think of what I can do better, how I can improve, how I can help the team and how we can get better as a whole — not just myself, but how I can help the team.”
This isn’t anything new for the 5-foot-11-inch guard. She decided early on that no one would out-work her.
It’s why Conner was back in the gym shortly after Arizona lost last season’s national championship game. There were no days off as Conner worked on her speed, agility and lateral movement. Defense was a big focus of hers — it still is. She taps into the expertise of some of her teammates Sam Thomas and Bendu Yeaney, who are considered defensive specialists, for advice. They’ve told her not to reach and to use her hands and her length.
Conner’s speciality is long-range shooting.
She comes off the bench when the Wildcats need the last basket at the end of a quarter or when they need to spark the offense. Conner is hitting 38% of her 3-point attempts this season, the second-best mark on the team behind Thomas (46%); she’s also getting better at driving to the basket and hitting mid-range jumpers. Conner is shooting 40.9% from the field.
“As I’m getting more comfortable and getting reps against some of the best defenders in practice every day and see what I can do (against them). I know I can do this but just getting more confidence in the game,” Conner said. “Definitely just trying to show that I’m a three-level scorer and when people are going to start running me off the 3-point line, I’ve got to be able to do something else.”
Conner is also known for something else: a 600-shots-per-day routine she started when she became a Wildcat. Conner brings a big speaker to the McKale Center floor, puts on her gym playlist and hoists up shots. She shoots around the 3-point line (80 attempts from six separate spots), puts up 20 mid-range shots and finishes up with 100 free throws.
“I think it’s a good number. I don’t get burnt out. Just consistently focused on shooting the ball well and staying locked in,” Conner said. “Get in there 45 minutes to an hour, get some shots up, be productive and then get out of there, go rest, get homework done.”
Conner enrolled at the UA in January of 2021, and was with the Wildcats when they made their NCAA Tournament run. Coach Adia Barnes said the added experience is paying off this season.
“I think being able to watch a pro like Aari (McDonald) work and go No. 3 the (WNBA) draft, being able to experience what the tournament’s like — she didn’t come in here with expectation of playing. She was just learning everything,” Barnes said. “But I think that experience was extremely valuable because she’s not like a freshman this year. It’s more like she’s a sophomore. And she’s still here four more years. For her to experience that and be hungry and see what leadership is like — all those things — it’s extremely valuable. It was the best thing she ever did. … I think it was the best thing for her. She’s going to be great. She’s just getting better and better. I love her.”
Rim shots
Conner said that mid-range jumpers are harder to make than 3-pointers.
“(The) defense is right out of your hip or right in front of you. It’s a hard read to just stop and take jumpshot, but I work on it quite a bit,” she said. “It’s not too hard, but it’s definitely more difficult than a 3, I’d say.”
For the third time in the last four seasons, Thomas has been named to CoSIDA’s academic all-district first team. The senior won the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup last month and is a finalist for the Senior CLASS award. Thomas said she’s “soak in all the moments that I have here” as her college career comes to an end. Thomas wants to play professionally, whether it’s stateside or overseas. She has talked to former UA standout Dominique McBryde, who has played in Hungary and Greece, about life overseas. “I talked to Dominique a lot, so just getting her perspective on what it’s like, preparing myself — packing a suitcase full of snacks so when I go over there possibly, I have stuff that I know (to eat),” Thomas said with a laugh.
