Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, a former standout and assistant coach at Purdue University, has joined the Wisconsin women’s basketball staff, head coach Jonathan Tsipis announced on Wednesday.
“Our whole program is excited to welcome Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton to our Wisconsin Women’s Basketball family,” Tsipis said. “Her experience as an All-Big Ten performer at Purdue and her playing experience in the WNBA and overseas will be invaluable to our student-athletes.
“As a coach at Purdue, she has positively impacted student-athletes to grow beyond their potential. Her experience in the postseason will help our whole staff as we continue to move our program forward. Her Midwest ties and the respect she has as a coach and player will help us immensely. Having to coach against her as a player and coach, we are ecstatic she will be on the Badger bench for years to come!”
Wisdom-Hylton spent seven seasons on the Purdue sidelines after earning two honorable mention All-America honors for the Boilermakers as a player. She also spent four seasons in the WNBA after being drafted in the first round in 2009.
“I’m excited to join a rising program like Wisconsin, and continue to use my experience of playing and recruiting within the Big Ten Conference,” said Wisdom-Hylton. “My background of playing in the WNBA and overseas will help me to develop our players and prepare them for the next level. I’ll be able to practice and play against the team in addition to using my expertise to train and coach them.”
“I’m excited to continue my coaching career in the Big Ten and to be a part of what Coach Tsipis has started here at Wisconsin.”
Wisdom-Hylton worked primarily with the Boilermaker post players, many of whom set several marks in the Purdue record book, including Ae’Rianna Harris, who broke Wisdom-Hylton’s career blocks record. Harris won back-to-back Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year awards and was a finalist for the 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
Wisdom-Hylton graduated from Purdue with a degree in organizational leadership supervision with a minor in African-American studies 2009 and was the 13th overall pick in the first round of the WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She played two seasons with the Sparks, one with the Chicago Sky and her final season with the Mystics. Wisdom-Hylton also played professionally on the international level, competing for teams in Austria, France, Greece and Israel.
As a senior at Purdue, Wisdom-Hylton led the Boilermakers in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage. She holds school records for career rebounds (968) and ranks second all-time in blocked shots (281). For her career, Wisdom-Hylton averaged 11.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 2.1 blocks and 2.0 assists while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor. She is the only player in Big Ten history to accumulate at least 1,500 points, 900 rebounds, 300 steals and 200 blocks in a career.
During her career, the Boilers advanced to the NCAA tournament all four seasons, including two Elite Eight appearances. Purdue was 118-55 in her five years as she redshirted her true senior season.
The 6-foot-2 forward was two-time honorable mention All-American, two-time NCAA Regional All-Tournament, two-time Big Ten All-Tournament, a member of the 2005 Big Ten All-Freshman team, and three-time All-Big Ten, including a first-team selection as a junior and a senior. She was also the 2007 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and three-time member of the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.
Wisdom-Hylton won two gold medals with USA Basketball, the first at the 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship and then again in 2007 at the U21 World Championship in Moscow.
The Naperville, Illinois, native was a standout at Neuqua Valley High School. Wisdom-Hylton averaged 15.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.2 blocks and 4.9 steals as a senior, totaling 1,752 career points and 1,200 career rebounds. She is believed to be the first female in Illinois high school history to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists, 500 blocked shots and 500 steals.
