Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton was good at the concept of change long before the coronavirus pandemic forced everyone out of the comfort zone.
More Top Picks Best Handheld Back And Neck Massagers
The former Neuqua Valley star, now an assistant women’s basketball coach for the University of Wisconsin, made her first big adjustment while in middle school.
“Moving from Texas to Naperville was a little bit of a culture shock,” she said. “The weather was a little different. I had to establish a new base of friends.”
The 6-foot-2 forward had no trouble fitting in at Neuqua. As a freshman, she led the Wildcats to the 2001 Class AA state championship game, where they lost to Fenwick, and to a third-place finish the following season.
Wisdom-Hylton, 34, is Neuqua’s career leader in every major statistical category, including points with 1,754. She’s believed to the be first girl in Illinois with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists, 500 blocked shots and 500 steals.
“I truly enjoyed my time at Neuqua,” Wisdom-Hylton said. “I came in as a freshman not knowing what to expect.
“We had great leadership, and I really want to give a shout-out to Mike Williams, the head coach. Great guy. He’s really about having a good, family team atmosphere. He set the culture.”
Wisdom-Hylton went on to star at Purdue. She was drafted in 2009 by the Los Angeles Sparks, where she teamed with former high school rival Candace Parker.
After playing four seasons in the WNBA with the Sparks, Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics and also playing overseas in Austria, France, Greece and Israel, Wisdom-Hylton returned to Purdue as an assistant coach.
If not for Parker, Wisdom-Hylton likely would be considered the best player to come out of the western suburbs. Parker led Naperville Central to state championships in 2002-03 and 2003-04, eliminating Neuqua each time in the sectional final.
“It’s a Catch-22 that she came through as the same time as Candace because Candace got the recognition,” Williams said. “Lindsay was pretty darn close to as good as Candace in a lot of ways.
“If Lindsay was a different type of person — meaning more selfish — she would have scored twice as many points.”
Wisdom-Hylton remains the only Neuqua player to reach the pros, but that’s not what impresses Williams the most. Nearly 20 years later, two things stand out about those two trips to state.
“I remember in a (2002) state game, Elora Ibay was a little 5-4 kid,” Williams said. “Last kid on the bench, great kid, worked her butt off.
“During a timeout, Lindsay came over and said, ‘Hey, Coach, put Elora in for me.’ We were up by a substantial amount, so I said, ‘OK, go tell her.’ She told her and Elora went in. Those are the kind of things that people don’t see.”
Fans also didn’t see Wisdom-Hylton playing patty-cake with a teammate in the tunnel before the state championship game.
“She was just having a great time,” Williams said. “Why not have fun? That’s the kind of person she is.”
Brooke Schramek can attest to Wisdom-Hylton’s personable nature.
Schramek, a Naperville resident who led Benet to a Class 4A fourth-place finish as a junior, is a freshman forward at Wisconsin. She enjoys being coached by Wisdom-Hylton.
“She’s a great person to be around,” Schramek said. “She’s a very approachable person, super easy to talk to, really funny.”
Schramek, who committed to Wisconsin last year before Wisdom-Hylton was hired, have bonded over their respective Naperville upbringings.
“I totally forgot she grew up in Naperville and went to Neuqua,” Schramek said. “She knows all the places I’m talking about, all the restaurants and streets that other people don’t know about.
“It is so cool to talk with somebody who actually understands.”
Wisdom-Hylton gained an understanding of what coaching entails while redshirting her senior year at Purdue due to a torn ACL.
She was happy coaching at Purdue, but left after seven seasons in search of new challenges.
More Top Picks Best Water Filters For Well Water
“I needed to grow, and you can’t always do that until you get out of your comfort zone,” Wisdom-Hylton said. “Originally, I wanted to go somewhere warm and get out of the weather, but I went somewhere colder.
“But I’m very familiar with the Big Ten, so it was a natural, easy move.”
Wisdom-Hylton’s next move will be into real estate. She doesn’t plan to stop coaching any time soon, but she has already acquired several buildings.
Williams said Wisdom-Hylton has always recognized basketball isn’t everything.
“She’s always had a good head on her shoulders,” Williams said. “I once told her, ‘If my daughters grow up to be like you, I’ll be real fortunate.’ And they did.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.