After a season — and offseason — of firsts, former Villanova star Maddy Siegrist is ready for Year 2 in the WNBA

WNBA rookies learn a lot about themselves as players in that first season. The offseason, meanwhile, offers a chance to learn who they are away from the game.

For former Villanova star Maddy Siegrist, this past year taught her all of the above.

“The first year [in the WNBA], everything is always challenging just because it’s all new,” Siegrist said. “So knowing what to expect and having really a full offseason to prepare, it makes you more excited.”

In her first year with the Dallas Wings, Siegrist appeared in 39 games and averaged 3.7 points in 8.2 minutes. The Wings reached the WNBA semifinals before they fell to the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces.

After her season ended, Siegrist wasted no time in getting back to her roots.

“Coach [Denise] Dillon reached out and was like, ‘Hey, we would love to have you back on campus. Not sure what it’s going to look like yet, but we’d love to have you be a part of our program,’” Siegrist said.

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Dillon kept her word and made sure Siegrist had a place at Villanova after her historic career there.

Siegrist’s newly created role as the special assistant to the senior women’s administrator was announced in October.

In this new position, she worked on the promotion, branding, and marketing of the women’s basketball program. She called working for her former coach “seamless.”

“It was just a great experience to be on the administrative side,” Siegrist said. “Just seeing how much goes into a program like events, season ticket events, things like that.”

» READ MORE: Maddy Siegrist has enjoyed ‘a little bit of everything’ in her offseason job at Villanova

Working at Villanova also meant that Siegrist was close to her childhood home in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which afforded her more time at home for the holidays, an opportunity she hadn’t had in five years.

“I went home for four days for Thanksgiving, and I couldn’t remember the last time I wasn’t leaving either Thanksgiving night or the next morning,” she said. “And same with Christmas this year. … I was like, ‘Oh, this is what the 26th is like.’”

Being home also meant more family time for the 23-year-old.

“We’ve spent so much time together this offseason … going to my little brother’s high school games, my other brothers in New York … and my grandparent’s 77th birthday, I just [shot] home for that,” Siegrist said. “It was so nice just to have that freedom and really be able to spend a lot of time with my family and my friends.”

Siegrist also got to work on the court during the offseason and joined Athletes Unlimited.

“I was super excited to have that opportunity when they contacted me,” she said. “To not play from October to the beginning of May [is long], so to be able to get those high-level runs in was huge for me.”

Athletes Unlimited is a women’s professional basketball league in the U.S. that featured 41 players this year. The main goal of the league is to provide more chances for women to play professionally in the U.S., while also giving WNBA players the option to remain stateside year-round, something Siegrist took advantage of.

“It was nice to not have to go so far away,” she said.

The Athletes Unlimited players competed on four teams, and of the 41, 18 finished the 2023 season on a WNBA roster.

“It’s not like there’s a drop in competition, which is great,” Siegrist said. “You’re playing almost a full season condensed in those few weeks.”

» READ MORE: God and basketball teamed up to create Maddy Siegrist’s historic career at Villanova (from 2023)

Siegrist averaged 19.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 33.5 minutes per game in her debut season with Athletes Unlimited.

Now, with the exposure and experience under her belt, she heads into her second WNBA season eager for what’s to come.

“We had great team success last year,” Siegrist said. “So [we will] continue to build on that, and then individually the goal is always to be better than you were before. So whatever that looks like, whether it’s having a couple more rebounds, a few more shots, I’m definitely going to be ready for whatever they need me to do.”

The Wings’ first preseason game is Friday against the Indiana Fever, and their season opener is May 15 against the Chicago Sky at home.

“I feel like it’s great just to continue to ride this wave,” Siegrist said. “And it’s nothing new. There’s been so much talent [in the WNBA] for so long, and now people have access to it … so I hope that continues [into this] WNBA season.”