Oxford’s Madalyn Barrows signs a letter to attend and play basketball for the Shepherd University Rams. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

OXFORD – On Thursday evening, friends and family, along with former basketball coaches, gathered around to celebrate Madalyn Barrows. Barrows signed her letter of intent to attend and play basketball for the Shepherd University Rams. Barrows is a three-sport athlete at Oxford who plays volleyball, basketball, and tennis.

Barrows found out about Shepherd University, a NCAA division II college located in West Virginia, from a former AAU basketball coach.

“My AAU coach knew the new head coach, who worked as an assistant at a Division I program and just came back from Shepherd. He had the connection,” she said. “She came and saw me play multiple times over the summer and really liked my style of play. She reached out to my head coach and we made the connection.”

Barrows has also visited the campus, where she knew right away it was fate.

“I really liked the school and thought it was a good fit for me. As soon as I was on campus, I fell in love with it,” she said.

At Shepherd University, Barrows intends to study sports marketing with a minor in business. She is most interested in the social media aspect in sports and sees herself working for a professional team one day.

While Barrows still has a full season of basketball and the rest of her senior year to go, she is thankful for her time at Oxford, especially for the coaches throughout her youth and high school career.

“All the coaches who have supported me and my dreams. They’ve always pushed me because they knew that was a level I wanted to play,” she said. “They pushed me more than anyone else in practice and held me to a higher expectation than anyone else. That really pushed me and made me the player I am today and help me achieve my goal of playing in college.”

Good luck to Madalyn Barrows, who will be putting on her #3 jersey for the Oxford Blackhawks one last time this season. The Lady Blackhawks begin their 2022 season on the road against Marathon on December 2.