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Vizza, a 5-foot-6-inch guard entering her final season with the Huskies, has been working her way back since suffering a major knee injury in 2022.
Maddie Vizza has invested three years of pain, patience and hard work in this, her final season of women’s basketball at Northeastern.
“It was a long time coming for sure,” the sharpshooting graduate student says in advance of the Huskies’ home opener at 7 p.m. Thursday against New Hampshire (NESN+). “I felt like I had one more year in me.”
Vizza, a 5-foot-6 guard, suffered a torn ACL early in her sophomore season. Most of her junior season was devoted to rehabbing. Returning to the court last season helped restore her confidence.
“The rehab physically, it’s definitely tough, but mentally I would say it’s even tougher to get back,” Vizza says. “Last year I was getting back into the flow of things. And all last summer I worked on just trying to feel like myself on the court. It takes a little bit of mental toughness to get over some of the fears — but I was able to overcome it and I feel great now.”
Fans may take for granted that players will return from major injuries like Vizza’s because the surgery and rehab have evolved to a high level. Despite the prognosis for success, a torn ACL can be traumatic for athletes who must push through the pain and grind of physical therapy while feeling disconnected from the team.
“Basketball is such a big part of your college experience,” Vizza says. “You’re practicing three hours a day, you’re lifting three times a week. I love playing and going to practice has always been fun for me, so I had to find other things that made college fun.”
Such as?
“I did a lot of cooking,” Vizza says. “I would look up recipes and I found a lot of joy in that, cooking for my teammates.”
Those homemade meals were an investment in maintaining relationships with her teammates. Last season Vizza was hoping for a return to normal — but it turned out to be anything but that as a stunning variety of injuries unraveled the Huskies’ goal of reaching the NCAA tournament.
“With people going in and out with injuries I tried to be a resource, to give the best advice that I could,” says Vizza, who ironically was among four players to appear in every game for the 10-17 Huskies. “Everybody on the team last year was pretty good about cheering on the sidelines. Things like that may not seem like a big deal, but they mean a lot.”
The Huskies (0-2) are rebuilding around a versatile roster that includes Vizza (a career 36.2% shooter from the 3-point line), returning senior center Asha Parker and transfers Natalie Larrañaga (a redshirt junior guard from Guatemala) and Abby Jegede (redshirt sophomore guard from Canada).
“We’re excited with the presence that Maddie brings as an older player, an experienced player,” says coach Priscilla Edwards-Lloyd as she begins her second year at Northeastern. “She’s doing a really good job of providing some leadership for us. Obviously, she can shoot the ball. But she also can speak the language and show some of our younger, new players how to work.”
Vizza is pursuing a master’s in business management for health care with the idea of eventually working in health care administration.
But for now she’s focused on making the most of what she figures will be her final season of basketball. The opportunity means more because she’s had to work so hard to earn it.
“Coach says all the time in practice that stepping onto the basketball court is not an easy thing,” says Vizza, who has been playing since she was 5. “You’re working with your team to overcome challenges every single day. You build those skills, you build communication, you build a work ethic pushing through tough times. I’m thankful basketball has done that for me.”