Father-daughter bond helps drive Iowa Wesleyan

MT. PLEASANT — Former Mt. Pleasant prep Maddie Williamson thought she was all done with organized basketball. The former Panther standout had opted out of her sophomore campaign at Iowa Wesleyan, and gone into the coaching field instead.

The hiatus from organized hoops lasted less than a year. Soon, she’d be working back to get ready to play back at the same school, but with a different coach — her conference championship winning, national tournament qualifying father.

Iowa Wesleyan head coach Steve Williamson made his triumphant return to the school after last season wrapped up. Maddie was one of the first members of his new squad, which is now headed to the NAIA national tournament.

“It's been a lot of fun,” said Coach Williamson. “It's been fun to watch her interact with my players, who I've always felt like were my family anyway.”

Teaming up together was never in the plans for either Coach Williamson or his oldest daughter. Neither pictured the combination happening once Maddie hit college, but as the dominoes fell, she ended up not only playing for her dad, but playing for the school she had seen reach historic heights when she was younger.

“When I was growing up, everybody said, 'Oh, are you going to play for your dad in college?’” Maddie recalled. “I said nope, and now here I am.”

Maddie is one of just seven players on the Iowa Wesleyan roster. That didn’t stop the Tigers from rolling through the Continental Athletic Conference tournament to earn a spot at nationals.

“Everybody looked down on us because we had seven players,” Maddie said. “We took that and used it as our motivation every day.”

While the wins have been fun, Coach Williamson has enjoyed the change of pace with spending more time with his daughter. He says because of their mutual love of the sport, it wasn’t easy in the past.

“I never really got to spend much time with Maddie in basketball season because she was playing games and I was going somewhere,” he said. “Us being able to have that time together now has been awesome.”

Maddie says it wasn’t a shoe in that she would go back to playing just because her dad was at Iowa Wesleyan, but the competitive itch from sitting out a year was pushing her toward putting back on the Tiger uniform.

“ I remember when (New London) played in the first round, and we weren't doing very well,” Maddie said. “I was just like, 'I just want to get out there.’”

When it was finally time to get back on the court, Maddie admits some nerves. A packed house filled Ruble Arena for the home opener on Oct. 27, a home blowout of Waldorf University. She scored six points in 11 minutes.

“I was so scared,” Maddie said. “I was really nervous because it was my first game back, and it was my dad being a coach. They had all these high expectations, and I was like, 'oh gosh.'”

Maddie isn’t a starter for the Tigers, although all seven players usually see the floor. Even when she’s not on the court, her dad says she brings an extra energy to the squad.

“She's very passionate,” Coach Williamson said. “You see her on the sidelines, and she's almost like another coach on the bench. She knows the scouting report. She knows what I want to do.”

The 15th-seeded Tigers, which are making their sixth NAIA tournament appearance under Coach Williamson, will begin nationals on Friday evening, a 6 p.m. showdown at second-seeded Morningside University.

Win or lose, Iowa Wesleyan’s accomplishments in Coach Williamson’s first year back are stacked sky high. The Tigers earned 19 wins, a conference title, a national tournament berth and a year full of memories for a coach and his player.

“It's pretty cool to experience that with my daughter,” Coach Williamson said. “Seeing how excited she was to go to the national tournament the other night. It's something we'll remember for the rest of our lives.”