Addy Blackwell had to sit and reflect for a minute. For the past five years, the University of Southern Indiana has been her home.
It’s where the Bloomington, Indiana, native realized what career path she wanted to follow. It’s where she learned to battle adversity as a member of the Women’s Basketball team after multiple injuries to her leg forced her to be sidelined for an entire season with screws and a rod placed in her knee and ankle during surgery.
It’s where she became a Division I champion.
Blackwell, who plays guard, and the Screaming Eagles won both the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and postseason tournament this March, becoming the first USI team to win a Division I conference title. USI won the regular season OVC title by finishing with a 17-1 record in conference play. The Screaming Eagles dominated the OVC tournament, defeating Eastern Illinois, 69-54, in the semifinals and UT-Martin, 81-53, in the championship game.
“I just love this program, and I’m so happy I decided to come here,” Blackwell said. “Just the group, the people, the culture—it makes it so much better. It’s not just about wins and losses, either. You’re preparing for the next chapter in your life, and you're surrounding yourself with good, positive people. It’s been a lot of fun.”
When Blackwell was deciding between colleges and what she wanted to major in, she knew she wanted to pursue a degree in the business field. Both her parents earned business degrees at USI, and they spoke positively of their experience. It’s why she chose to enroll as a business administration major as a freshman.
But soon, she turned to a different major in the Romain College of Business—accounting and professional services. After talking with several professors, she decided to go that route because a degree in accounting provides several different options post-graduation. She earned her undergrad degree in the Fall of 2022 and is incredibly grateful for her experience as a student in the Romain College of Business.
“The connections you make with your professors, the relationships you have with your classmates, it's like a small community, really,” Blackwell said. “It makes in- person classes a lot more fun.”
Blackwell is now pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree. She's also considering taking the CPA exam to become a certified public accountant but is still weighing her options on post-basketball life.
While life as a student-athlete isn’t always easy, she believes it helped teach her essential life skills such as time management and how to best balance academics and sports, – especially during basketball season.
“In the real world, you have to juggle family and work so just preparing for that with my schedule has been great,” Blackwell said. “It’s laying the foundation for what’s to come.”
But for now, there’s at least one more game—hopefully more—wearing a USI jersey playing the game she loves. USI will host the University of Illinois Chicago in the first round of the WNIT national tournament this Thursday, at home, in the Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to NCAA program four-year reclassification rules.
Blackwell, who started all 30 games this season while averaging 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds, is the most recent member of her family to play collegiate sports at USI, as her father, David, was a baseball player and her mother, Nichole, played softball.
“We’re really grateful, honestly,” Blackwell said about the opportunity to continue this run. “This transition has been difficult through our whole athletic department but our strength and resilience to come together, push through and finish games has just been phenomenal. We’re enjoying the moment with each other.”
With the OVC Tournament taking place in downtown Evansville at the Ford Center, plenty of USI fans showed up to support the Screaming Eagles throughout the semifinals and championship game. While it was special for Blackwell to see all the crowd decked out in red, white and blue, for her, it wasn’t a surprise –the team had witnessed that support all year long—a testament to the work they’ve put in.
“It’s pretty cool, especially for women’s sports, to be on that platform and that level,” Blackwell said. “To see the community involvement and friends and family support us, it’s a special atmosphere and makes you feel grateful and blessed just to have that opportunity.”
To say this season has been special for the Screaming Eagles is an understatement. In addition to the conference titles, USI has lost just one game since Christmas and received their first ever ranking in the CollegeInsider.com Women’s Mid-Major Top 25, placing at No. 22. This season has also helped solidify Blackwell’s legacy in the USI Women’s record books as she entered the top 10 for most made 3-pointers at 119.
With everything that’s happened over the past month, Blackwell said what this team has been able to accomplish really hasn’t sunk in yet. But there’s no denying the legacy this team has left.
“I don’t think we’ll understand the significance of this season until later down the road when we look back,” Blackwell said. “We’re just trying to enjoy the moment, but it’s special being able to finish out my career as a champion.”