Photo Courtesy Harrison Soep
The Dean College Men's Basketball team is gearing up for Senior Day on February 17th against Saint Joseph College of Maine. One senior on the team is Jayden Madise, who has been a key figure on the team. Emotions will be running high for Madise on Saturday, who said, “I think it's probably going to be the biggest game I've ever played. I've been playing basketball in college for four years, and it's finally ending. After this, I'm pretty much done, and it's going to be a lot of emotions. My mom, my dad, my sister, they're all coming out, and there's going to be a lot of emotion in the air.”
Madise started his basketball career in Palmdale, California at the age of four. He got into basketball because of his dad and explained that his inspiration growing up was Kobe Bryant. “I am a big Lakers fan, I got into basketball at age four because of my dad. From there I started developing and becoming each and every day just trying to get better at the game.”
Before Dean College, Madise played at Monterey Peninsula College and had nothing but positive things to say about his time there. “I had the best time at that place, everybody was close to one another, it was right next to the beach, and I had an amazing time there with my boys, and the coaching staff.”
Photo Courtesy Harrison Soep
In 2022, Madise made the move from California to Massachusetts to attend Dean College. Not only did he want to play basketball, but Dean is well-known for its Communications program. “They have a Communications degree. I was kind of looking into that field,” Madise explained. Once he made the jump, he said it was easy, stating that, “Basketball and school wise, I already went through Junior college, it was a lot tougher than being at an actual university.”
In his two years with the Dean Basketball team, Madise expressed the difference between last season and this season. Several players either transferred or quit. Madise, however, decided to stay, and expressed how much effort he was going to put in. “I had to up my game a lot more,” Madise continued and said how he was already willing to do that to up his game.
This season, Madise said the best word to describe is the word faith. “Having faith in being able to just to continue to keep on going it’s been a rough season, working hard, trying to motivate myself to keep on going and get some wins and make the playoffs.”
Photo courtesy Harrison Soep
Madise credits several figures in his life for helping him get to where he is now. “I want to thank God first, he helped me through everything. I also want to thank my stepdad and my mom. They have been helping me through every day," Madise explained.