Lucas: Dreams to reality for Isaac Lindsey

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. – Isaac Lindsey motioned to the empty seating area in the Kohl Center.

“My grandparents,” he said, “have season tickets right behind the bench – 4th row.”

Lindsey pointed across the court.

“My parents have got season tickets right over there …”

He pointed in another direction.

“My uncle has season tickets right over there …”

What was the point of this? “This is where I’ve been ever since I was a little kid,” Lindsey said.

How little? “I did The Little Badgers at halftime. I was one of those little dribblers.”

Taking part in choreographed ball-handling routines as a grader school foreshadowed the Little Badger to Badger narrative. “It’s pretty cool to finally be on this stage and be a part of this thing,” he was saying now. When did he start thinking about this thing? “As soon as I could pick up a basketball.”

With his eyes rescanning the venue, he remembered watching games here as a small fry.

Pausing, he then delivered the punchline, “That was my dream – to get on that court.”

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Seated at courtside after Monday’s practice, Lindsey was still smiling, still trying to collect his thoughts, still savoring the surprise revelation and the moment. He had just learned he was going on scholarship via a scoreboard video. Breaking the news was Ailbe, the team’s tour guide in France.

“That was definitely not what I thought was going to happen,” Lindsey of the video’s opening (players jet skiing off the Monaco coast). “And when Ailbe came on the screen, I thought he was just checking in with us. He’s a pretty cool guy. I don’t think any of us will forget Ailbe the rest of our lives.”

Nor will he forget his teammate’s reaction to Ailbe announcing his tender. Lindsey was quickly swarmed in a group hug. “There was a lot of emotion right there – in just showing their excitement for me,” he said. “It’s cool to see how close we are as a team and how much it meant to them too.”

 

Before next week’s episode of “The B1G Trip” airs on @BigTenNetwork, Coach Gard gave the Badgers a sneak preview

…he also had a major announcement pic.twitter.com/o6eoORV61g

— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) October 24, 2022

But what did it mean to him? “This has been…