3
Nov
2026
Crystal Ball
‘One through five’: Ryan shows why LA28 is legit possibility
Southside Flyers’ Madi Ryan drives to the basket during their Round 1 WNBL clash against the Sydney Flames at VIC State Basketball Centre in Melbourne on October 16, 2026. Photo: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images.
Press Conferences
A 1.9m tall 17-year-old in Year 11 is scoring 10.75 a game in WNBL, Sandy needs size in LA
- Madi Ryan, 17, is averaging 10.75 points a game for the Southside Flyers.
- She scored a career-high 16 against Adelaide while still in Year 11.
- Sandy Brondello said a lack of size hurt the Opals at the World Cup.
Australia's greatest-ever basketballer, Lauren Jackson, was just 19 when she played her first Olympic Games for the Opals in Sydney in 2000.
Victorian Madi Ryan will be 19 when the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles tip off in about 20 months.
Ryan, who is 1.91m tall, is already one of the most decorated Australian junior basketballers in history: four FIBA gold medals; a FIBA Under-19 Women's World Cup silver medal; a FIBA Under-17 Women's World Cup bronze medal; and four All-Star 5 Awards.
She is also four games into her WNBL career with Sam Mackinnon's Southside Melbourne Flyers.
Ryan is 17 and seven months old.
"Look, Madi's in Year 11," Mackinnon said after the Flyers fell 81-74 to the Adelaide Lightning in Round 3.
"She's got a lot going on, and we have limited ability to train with Madi, but she picks things up.
"Her IQ is very good. She understands basketball. She can play one through five.
"That's the reality of it.
"We're lucky to have her here, and the girls have embraced her.
"You can see the impact she has on the game. It's really positive."
Ryan, who is averaging 10.75 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.25 assists per game, put up a career-high 16 points (7-for-14 from the field) in 24:50 minutes against Adelaide.
"I think just the belief that all the coaches and the girls have in me," Ryan said.
"As Sam said, I'm not able to turn up to every single training, but every time I go out on the court, I have that confidence in myself that I can take the older girls on and just lean on the girls in my team for experience."
Southside is 1-3 and has had a couple of close ball games (73-77 vs Sydney and 69-74 vs Geelong), and Ryan said it was invaluable for her development. She is not unaccustomed to making big shots, winning the 2026 FIBA Under-18 Women's Asia Cup gold medal on the buzzer against Japan 83-82 in early October.
"We've had a couple of close losses, and I've been able to be on the court at that time," she said.
"I think it's just that learning curve. It can be stressful those last couple of minutes when it's a close game, but I've just leaned into them, and they've trusted me to do what I do and taught me so much stuff along the way."
Australian Opals head coach Sandy Brondello made no secret of what the national women's team needed after being knocked out of the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup in the quarter-finals in September.
"A lack of size hurt us and, in the past, we've been extremely big," Brondello said.
"We've got to find solutions for that."
Quick reminder: Ryan is 6'3" in the old scale and, as Mackinnon said, "She can play one through five".
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