As the final buzzer sounded for the Lady Bruins on March 12, the team looked ahead to one more consolation game after a victory over #7 Champion Christian College in the NCCAA DII National Tournament consolation round. Instead, they learned the tournament would be cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The season had come to an end. The sudden realization was all too real for senior guard Madison Shupe as she began to cry and hug her teammates and coaches.
The tears represented more than just the disappointment that this was the end of the season and her basketball career. These tears represented years of hard work getting back to playing the game she loved. Five years earlier, Madison wasn't even sure she would be alive, much less ever being back on a basketball court.
Madison grew up in a small town in Virginia. She played every sport that she could and loved to be outdoors, spending countless hours in the woods, riding horses and spending time with family and friends.
"Growing up, I had two sisters so we were always outside playing and we loved being together," Shupe said. "We really played softball most of the time, but my Mom got me playing on an AAU basketball team which really opened up a lot of opportunities for college coaches to see me play."
By the time she got to high school, Shupe was garnering attention from some notable NCAA DI and college programs because of her skills in basketball and softball. Everything seemed to be going her way and her dreams of taking her talents to the college ranks were closer than ever. But those dreams would come to a screeching halt.
During her junior season, Shupe began to have frequent spells of dizziness. These bouts continued to grow worse, even coming on during her time asleep. "I just remember several times waking up in the middle of the night and the room would be spinning," Shupe said. "It would make me really sick and I was missing a lot of school because of it."
The family made the decision that Madison should see a doctor about her ongoing issues. Initial diagnosis pointed towards vertigo issues which had been hereditary in the Shupe family. But just as a precaution, the doctor also ordered a CAT-scan. "It was actually my 17th birthday when I got the scan done," Shupe said.
Two weeks later, the doctor informed Madison that she had a cyst on her brain and that they wanted to do an MRI to further see what was going on. After getting the results back, Madison found out she had a brain tumor.
"It was a life-changing experience," Shupe said. "Everything stops when you hear something like that. You think that this isn't happening to you. Other people go through things like this, but not me. But it was real and it was something I was going to have to deal with in my life."
Shortly after hearing the news, Madison was scheduled for brain surgery in May. After surgery, Madison began the long road to recovery. She had lost feeling in some parts of her body and worked with physical therapists to try to regain balance and strength throughout her body.
"Before I went into surgery, I could do a layup and smack the backboard," Shupe said. "After surgery, I was having trouble even getting off the ground in jumping. I couldn't run or jump like I used to and it was very discouraging."
Day in and day out, Madison continued to work hard in therapy sessions, hoping one day she would regain some sense of normalcy. Still, she continued to struggle to progress as her hopes of getting back to the sports she loved began to dwindle.
Her senior season, Madison decided to join the State Line Rush, a local homeschool basketball team. Although limited, Madison was thankful for another opportunity to play. "They were great to me," Shupe said. "They knew how I could play from seeing me play at the public school I was at, but they were patient with me and encouraged me even though I wasn't the player I was before."
During that season, Bruins women's basketball coach, Mike LeViere, came to a game to scout Madison's teammate Rachel Clark. After meeting Madison and hearing her story, LeViere offered her a spot to play on the women's basketball team.
Madison had thought her dreams of one day playing college basketball were gone, and now, here was a real opportunity to continue to play the game she loved. After making a trip to visit Bob Jones University, Madison decided to join the team and come to college.
The rest is history. During her four seasons with the Lady Bruins basketball team, Madison grew into a formidable offensive weapon for the team. Her senior season, she became the fifth player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
She also helped lead the Bruins to four-straight NCCAA DII National Tournament appearances and two NCCAA DII South Region Championships. To cap it all off, this season, Madison was voted by coaches in the NCCAA as a 3rd Team All-American.
"God humbled me through that whole experience," Shupe said. "He always leads us where we are supposed to be. I realized that I wasn't playing for the right reasons. Basketball and life were about me before, but now I have a new priority."
Through tears, Madison said goodbyes to her teammates and coaches after playing her last collegiate game. Yet walking off the court that day, there wasn't a sense of defeat. No, this was a player who had gone from wondering if she would ever walk again to fulfilling her dreams of playing college basketball.
When all seemed lost, Madison chose to believe that God had a plan and a purpose for the trial. As a result, she worked hard and got back on the court. Now, she ends her career as a two-time region champion and an All-American. More importantly, she is an example of God's grace and presence in one of life's most difficult valleys.
