Date: 12/08/1990
Height: 180cm
Number: Guard
Tess Madgen is primed to enter Tokyo as part of an Opals team hungry for a strong performance in the Japanese capital.
Inspired by her older brother and eventual fellow professional basketballer Ben, Madgen began her basketball career with South Australian club Eastern Mavericks, where from Mount Barker, Madgen earned selection in multiple junior Australian national championships.
The 6’0″ guard was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in 2008 to play with the Institute’s WNBL squad in the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons.
After two strong seasons in Canberra, Madgen made the move south to join the Bendigo Spirit. Whilst in Victoria, Madgen earned team MVP honours in both her two seasons with the Spirit, after displaying a consistent three-point stroke and leadership for her side.
Madgen has enjoyed two stints overseas for WNBA side Phoenix Mercury and Polish side Pszczółka AZS UMCS Lublin. Madgen’s sole year with the Mercury was bookended by four seasons with WNBL side Melbourne Boomers, where the prospective Olympic debutant settled after spells with the AIS and Bendigo.
Once returned from Poland in 2017, Madgen marked a return to Australian domestic basketball with the Townsville Fire. A strong initial season in northeast Queensland earned Madgen selection in the Opals 2018 FIBA World Cup squad, with the 30-year-old a critical piece in an Australian outfit earning second place in the competition.
A subsequent season in Townsville preceded a homecoming to Melbourne, when Madgen returned to the Boomers after a four-year absence in 2020. In the WNBL 2020 season, Madgen averaged 13.6 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game and 6.2 assists per game, while shooting 41.1 per cent from three-point territory to land All-WNBL Second Team honours.
Madgen first represented Australia in 2008 as part of a gold-winning junior team in the Oceania World Qualification series. Madgen then made her Opals debut three years later, when she was named to a senior Australian side for the Oceania Olympic qualification series against New Zealand.
Tess makes her Olympic debut in Tokyo.
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.