HP082219

36 | August 22, 2019 | The highland park landmark SPORTS
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Going Places
Ignoffo eager to join team culture at Edgewood
Nick Frazier, Sports Editor
For recent Highland
Park High School graduate
Sydney Ignoffo, playing
college baketball wasn’t
something worth secondguessing.
Ignoffo, who joined the
Giants’ 1,000-point club
this past season, has been
playing the game since she
was 7 years old. Her passion
for basketball meant
she was going to keep
playing competitively for
as long as she can.
“[Basketball’s] always
been a part of my life,”
Ignoffo said. “One thing
that I love and it makes me
want to play all the time is
the relationships you build.
Just being on the court, you
have something to focus on
and everything just goes
away, school, high school
drama. It’s just somewhere
to let yourself breathe, it’s
a love you can’t get rid of.
“It was never really an
option, I just knew I had to
play because I love it.”
After a successful career
with Highland Park, Ignoffo
will suit up for Division-III
Edgewood College
in the winter. The combo
guard joins an Eagles program
that won 14 of its 25
games in the 2018-19 season
and competes in the
Northern Athletics Collegiate
Conference.
A 5-foot-5 ballhandler
with a knack for lighting
up the scoreboard, Ignoffo
originally was looking into
bigger schools to continue
her playing career at. Then
she stumbled upon Edgewood,
a small school with
an enrollment of 2,500 located
in Madison, Wisc.
That means Ignoffo can
stay reserved and quiet on
campus if she likes, or she
can go out and meet new
people in the city.
“If you walk around on
campus it’s always lively,
it’s one of my favorite
cities,” Ignoffo said. “I
feel like it’s a best of both
worlds scenario, so I’m excited.”
Besides the school’s location,
Ignoffo is looking
forward to joining Edgewood
on the court. During
her official overnight
visit, Ignoffo was in awe
at how the unity the Eagles
showed during practice.
“The most important
thing to me is just culture
and family,” Ignoffo said.
“They were all so close,
sprinting to help each other
up. Just their culture and
love for each other really
stood out, they reminded
me of my AAU team,
we’re just so close and
that’s the most important
thing to me. Basketball
ends, but relationships will
always stay and be around,
that’s what I was looking
for in a team.”
Playing for Full Package,
her club team based
in Northfield, and for the
Giants, Ignoffo is use to
that tight team culture. She
played four years of varsity
at Highland Park, and after
scoring 25 points to reach
the 1,000-point plateau last
season, Ignoffo was quick
to give credit to her teammates.
That devoiton to team
culture, as well as an emphasis
on the finer details,
has Ignoffo feeling ready
for what lays ahead of her
at Edgewood.
“My coach [Jolie Betchel]
was really strict on the
little things, I feel like that
will help me in college,”
Ignoffo said. “At Highland
Park we played a lot of
tough teams, I feel like that
got me stronger and helped
Sydney Ignoffo pushes the ball up the court in a game for the Giants last season. 22nd Century Media file photos
Ignoffo (center) with her Giants teammates last season.
me develop my game because
I was going against
really good guards. I feel
like that’s helped me get
ready for college.
“I just learned a lot from
them. I learned a lot from
all my coaches and everything,
everything prepared
me for college, I feel pretty
ready.”
Even so, Ignoffo ackowledges
there are still
things she can work on,
like coming off of screens
harder. A deadly 3-point
shooter, Ignoffo also
plans on quickening her
shot release.
“I can shoot fast, so I’m
just trying to speed up my
shot because obviously the
speed is so different in college,”
Ignoffo said. “I’m
getting my body stronger
because again, those
girls are so strong. Since
I’m short, I’m just trying
to make myself quicker,
faster, do things I can personally
control to make my
game better and help the
team.”
The Eagles begin the
2019-20 season at Crown
College on Nov. 8.