Two days.
That's how long it took from the time Lexi Wallen officially decided to join the basketball team for her to score her first points.
Wallen's four-year volleyball career came to a close on Friday, November 30, 2018 in an NCAA Tournament loss. She was a hooper in high school—a three-time all-state one at that—but had barely touched a basketball in the four years since. "Maybe if I was at home and my brother was shooting in the driveway."
Meanwhile, the women's basketball team was in the midst of a personnel crisis. Injuries had depleted the active roster to eight, six of whom were guards.
Illinois State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson was aware of Wallen's storied high school basketball career. She was aware that Wallen and volleyball associate head coach Eric Plunkett had been planning a game of one-on-one as soon as Wallen's senior season of volleyball was complete. So when Illinois State head women's basketball coach Kristen Gillespie visited Johnson's office to wish her luck in the NCAA Tournament, Johnson mentioned that they had a player who might be able to help out the basketball team.
"This is how bad it's gotten, you know, we're now taking hand-me-down players," Gillespie joked.
Johnson had kidded with Wallen several times before about joining the basketball team after finishing volleyball. Wallen never thought too much of it. "Yeah, that sounds cool, but there's no way that [Gillespie] would possibly want me," Wallen said. "I haven't played in four years."
Fast forward to Monday, December 3. The volleyball team had returned after its tournament defeat. The shorthanded basketball team was preparing for a road trip to Northern Kentucky later in the week. And Wallen received a text from Johnson: "Hey, I'm serious. Think about the basketball thing."
"I was like 'Oh my gosh, no, like there's no way,'" Wallen said. "I just kept saying no."
After talking to her parents, Wallen decided to have a conversation with Gillespie after all. They met on Tuesday, did a skill workout on Wednesday, and by Thursday, Wallen was on the bus with the basketball team heading to Kentucky.
Of course, being added to the roster didn't mean that Wallen was ready for game action. "She knew no plays; she had no idea," Gillespie said. "I told her 'Don't worry, all hell would have to break loose for you to play.'"
Break loose hell did, in the form of the only other two healthy post players each picking up two early fouls. Enter the senior rookie with six minutes remaining in the second quarter, and on Friday, December 7, Lexi Wallen scored her first points on a Division I basketball court.
It's become apparent that Wallen has a knack for the whole points thing—she's added over 500 of them in the 14 months since, including 35 last week in a wildly clutch performance you'd have to see to believe. She's currently the second-leading scorer in the highest-rated mid-major conference in the country. Not bad for someone whose basketball skills atrophied for four years.
The rapid adjustment is one few are capable of, but one Johnson was confident Wallen could manage. "I was excited because I knew what an exceptional athlete she is," Johnson said. "I knew that she had the work ethic to handle and cope with the transition that a lot of people wouldn't be able to do."
Wallen's transition to five-on-five basketball has postponed the one-on-one match with Plunkett, but it's still on the docket. "Lexi swears she's gonna beat him," Johnson said. "Now I believe her."
Despite her long layoff from hoops, Wallen believes her time on the volleyball team helped mentally prepare her for the effort it takes to play basketball at the Division I level. "Coach Johnson set such a high standard for us," she said. "I had to work really, really hard for any playing time that I got throughout volleyball, and I think that's something that I just kind of took with me to basketball."
So did volleyball physically prepare her for basketball as well?
You be the judge:
