By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Maddie Scherr, a Ryle graduate who was named Miss Kentucky Basketball in 2020, has been invited to a training camp tryout for the United States women’s basketball team that will play in the 2023 AmeriCup, an international tournament that begins July 1 in Leon, Mexico.
Scherr will be competing for one of five remaining roster spots at the training camp to be held June 22-24 in Colorado Springs. The 5-foot-11 point guard received an invitation following her remarkable junior season at the University of Kentucky.
Maddie Scherr
As a starter in 29 games for the Wildcats, Scherr averaged 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and a team-high 4.3 assists. At the end of the regular season, she led the Southeastern Conference in free throw percentage (91.8), ranked fifth in total assists (110) and fourth in steals (55).
Scherr was a double-figure scorer in 17 games and was the Wildcats’ assists leader 19 times. She set a team record for most blocks in an SEC tournament game with six against Alabama.
Scherr transferred to Kentucky after two seasons at Oregon. As a sophomore starter, she led the Ducks in assists (102) and steals (46) while averaging 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Several major college teams that recruited Scherr while she was in high school. Ryle won a state championship, three 9th Region titles and compiled a 100-39 record with her playing point guard in all but eight games. She ended her high school career with Ryle team records in total points (2,297), rebounds (1,094), assists (679), steals (535) and blocks (233).
As a junior, she was selected most valuable player in the 2019 state tournament after leading Ryle to the title. As senior, she was named Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year for the second straight season and topped the all-state balloting in two coaches polls.
If she is selected to the U.S. team for the AmeriCup, the tournament will begin with pool play that will determine berths in a single-elimination bracket. The original field includes teams from 10 nations — Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. and Venezuela.
