MONROE — After 1,991 points as a Cheesemaker — the most all-time — Sydney Hilliard is now officially a Wisconsin Badger.

“It’s kind of surreal and crazy to think about,” said Hilliard, a 2019 grad who helped lead Monroe to three state appearances during her career. 

Hilliard moved into the UW dorms June 15, began practice June 17 and started practicing with her teammates the next day.

“It’s been super busy, but also super exciting. To finally be in a dorm room and practicing, it’s great to finally be a college basketball player,” Hilliard said.

Despite waking up before 6 a.m., attending a full day of classes and practice, Hilliard joined Badgers head coach Jonathan Tsipis and assistant coach Kayla Karius for the annual Badger Booster Days dinner June 17, not leaving the Ludlow Mansion dining room until after 8 p.m.

“She had a conditioning workout at 7 o’clock this morning, had classes from 8:30-noon, had her first basketball workout on the Kohl Center floor and then still voluntarily got in the car with me to come to Monroe,” said Tsipis, laughing.

Hilliard joins former Monroe teammate Sydney Mathiason with the Badgers. Mathiason was a walk-on as a freshman for the 2018-19 season. Other Badger newcomers include Beaver Dam’s Tara Stauffacher, Sara Stapleton out of Blaine, Minnesota, and Julie Pospisilova, a Czech Republic native who played one year in Chicago.

“To have two kids from the state of Wisconsin able to stay home that had success both in school and at the AAU level, then add a post player (Stapleton) from Minneapolis,” is big said Tsipis. “It’s really important for those kids to see the type of opportunity they can have in Madison.”

Pospisilova, a guard from Prague, competes on the Czech National Team. She is a perimeter player that can also dish the ball.

“A kind of uncharacteristic, outside of the box fourth piece — a player from the Czech Republic that played a year in Chicago and then went back overseas,” Tsipis said. “One thing with this group is that they are really, really close. The three domestic players wanted to wait to do their official visit when Julie could come join them — and I think that just spoke to how much they value team and their classmates. They all got a chance to meet her in person and have those ties before they ever stepped foot on campus as freshmen. I think that helps build team chemistry.”

Hilliard and Stauffacher battled throughout their time in high school, with Stauffacher going undefeated — including in the WIAA Division 2 state championship in March. The week before they were officially teammates on campus, the two faced off in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game, with Hilliard finally getting a “W.”

“We’ve always been like ‘enemies’ on the court, so this had a different feel to it. It was weird to see her wearing the same colors as I was, because I’m so used to seeing her wearing Beaver Dam stuff,” Hilliard said.

Hilliard broke all kinds of school records in her four-year prep career — from scoring and rebounding to shooting percentages and assists, she is at or near the top in almost every category. She was an all-conference player all four years and was an all-state honoree.

“She’s definitely going to be able to help us,” said Tsipis, who began following and recruiting Hilliard after her freshmen season. “I think each of those three years they went to state it was a little different of a journey.”

Karius joined the Badgers program shortly after Hilliard committed in 2018.

“I was definitely watching her (career) from afar before that. I knew she was a very good player and very highly recruited. Being from the state of Wisconsin myself, just seeing her commit to Wisconsin, I was so proud of her and so excited for her,” said Karius, originally of Sheboygan. “Syd is the type of basketball player that Wisconsin needs to keep in the state.”

Tsipis led the Badgers deep into the Big Ten tournament, something that has added a spark to the program.

“The way they finished last year has given us hope for this year. We lost a few seniors, but I think the other incoming freshen and me can improve from last year,” Hilliard said.

Tsipis said that with the success of some of the other women’s programs — the hockey team won a national championship and the volleyball and softball squads made deep runs into the national tournaments — there is a buzz around the women’s athletic programs on campus.

“You see the success that these other programs in Wisconsin have, and we’re big believers in building off that as well. The Badger family collectively is so tight-knit and wants to help each other improve,” Tsipis said. “(Our run) gave our kids belief in the process. It gave us momentum in the spring for our workouts and for our recruiting into the summer. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’re happy with our strides.”