WBB: Scarlet Knights land 2019 G Joiya Maddox from Alabama

Back on July 30th the Rutgers women’s basketball program received its second commitment from an Alabama prospect in two years, as the Scarlet Knight received a commitment from Hoover High guard Joiya Maddox.

The Knight Report caught up with Maddox to talk about her commitment and how she decided on becoming a Scarlet Knight.

“In the end I liked the environment that the program was built on,” Maddox told TKR. “They have a true family bond between the team and the coaching staff. That was definitely the main thing that I was looking for in a school and I found it in Rutgers.”

Another reason that Maddox chose to commit to Rutgers was because of the coaching staff, as one assistant coach in particular played a vital role in landing the Alabama guard.

“I talk the most with coach (Timothy) Eatman,” said Maddox. “Coach Eatman is awesome. He really made me feel like I was needed at the school. Throughout the process he really just wanted my family and I to know that I would be taken great care of when I came to Rutgers because originally I wasn’t very happy about the distance. He also showed me that there are some great opportunities that Rutgers can make for me for life after college too.”

Maddox visited campus in June for an official visit and is hoping to come back up to the Northeast pretty soon.

“I went up in the begging of June for an official visit,” she said. “I had a blast. The team was so fun. I can only imagine how they would act towards me when I go back now that I’m committed. I would love to go back up there soon and visit the team if my schedule allows me to do so.”

In the last recruiting class, the Scarlet Knights hauled in another guard from Alabama in Zipporah “Zippy” Broughton. While the two don’t know each other that well, they will soon when they get on the court together in 2019.

“Zippy and I haven’t talked too much,” Maddox mentioned. “She did congratulate me when she found out about my commitment, so that felt pretty nice.”

Maddox is only the first commitment for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the 2019 class and is ranked as high as the number 13 overall guard in the class per ESPN.