Her return visit to familiar surroundings and friendly faces on the basketball court last month at the Northern Sport Centre will almost certainly be Madison Landry’s last homecourt hurrah as a varsity athlete.
But don’t think for a minute she’s done with Prince George.
If Landry follows through on her plan to become a medical doctor, the 24-year-old Duchess Park Secondary School graduate could end up back at UNBC, studying in the Northern Medical Program.
Heading into the sunset of her stellar U SPORTS career, Landry is in her final season of university eligibility but playing for a different team - the Calgary Dinos - and on the Nov. 27-28 weekend she came back home to play face her former UNBC Timberwolves teammates.
Landry’s 21-year-old sister Rebecca, a UNBC forward/guard who was the T-wolves’ top rookie in 2019-20, was injured and did not play either game against Madison.
“Playing against my old teammates was very weird on the first night, but then I saw everybody watching was super-welcoming and kind, just like I knew they would be,” said Landry.
She is currently enrolled in graduate studies in kinesiology and sports medicine at the University of Calgary, specifically focused on studying the anterior cruciate (knee) ligament.
“I still have this year, next year and then we’ll see what I end up doing but I’m still thinking of going to medical school, once I’m officially done basketball after this year,” Landry said. “We thought it was, two years ago, but we’re still kicking.”
Landry has already passed her Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).
“I’d like to either stay in Calgary or go to the Northern Medical Program,” she said. “I’ll just apply everywhere and whoever takes me, that’s where I’ll go.
“I’m really enjoying school. They have the Number 1 sports medicine and sports science school in North America. I’ve played against Calgary so many times and knew their style of basketball and thought I might be good fit for the program as well and it all fell into place.”
Landry left the Timberwolves during the height of the pandemic in May 2021 when she signed a pro contract to play for AB Contern in Contern, Luxembourg. She played 12 pro games and was one of the top scorers on her team, averaging 17.9 points. But after four months she returned to Canada and stayed. Travel restrictions ruled out family visits to Europe and that homesick feeling was enough to convince her to quit the team.
Landry’s four-season career at UNBC spanned 110 games, 82 as a starter, and she averaged 14.5 points per game. With 1,166 career points, she’s third on UNBC’s all-time list and her 212 career assists in Canada West is tops among T-wolves. Her 19.8 point-per-game average in 2019-20 led to a Canada West all-star team selection.
Landry was the MVP for Duchess Park in 2016 when the Condors captured the double-A girls provincial championship.
