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88 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f after it, the intensity. "Even when she was home with us during the (summer) break, I took her to the gym and you'd think the coach was right there with us, the way she was getting after it. She felt the initiative to get af- ter it and be as intense as if the coach were there. She's just really ready to have a good year and I think she's ready to lead the team to and through a great season." It helps that Wilson's more appreciative of what she has at Purdue now, because she could have had it all — the education, the housing, the food, the basketball — taken away. Versyp could have kicked her off the team, a scenario that leaves Wilson un- likely to risk her second opportunity. She's working to take advantage. Although the 5-foot-7 guard averaged a respectable 10 points and 4.7 assists a game last season, and a team-best 61 steals, it could have been more. Her outside shot was off the mark early in the season — she made just two of her first 18 three-pointers — and never fully recovered, yet she never once made her way to Car- dinal Court to get in extra shots. That might be a little hard for Andreona Keys to believe. Over the last several months, the freshman has been the focus of a few calls from Wilson, asking her to head over to the gym for a voluntary workout. "There's a lot of times where she's like 'Ah, I don't want to do this,'" Wilson said, "but I'm like 'No, come on, we're going to get in the gym.' Because that's how I was. I wanted someone to push me beyond ex- haustion. If you fall harder now, it'll be easy to suc- ceed later, and I want her to be the best that she can be." Although Keys has no first-hand knowledge of it, still being a high school senior then, she senses this might be a change in Wilson's approach. "I've heard stories," Keys said, laughing. "But I've definitely gotten the impression now that April is a hard worker, always wants to get in the gym, always wants to get better. If she can drag people along with her, people who are willing to do this with her, then that's great for our program." Wilson has to get in more these days, as Purdue needs her in the top condition possible. Why? It doesn't have other experienced point guard options, meaning that Wilson is likely to play a ton of minutes this season, probably more than her 31 per game last year. "She's pushed herself to limits this offseason that she might not have done in previous seasons," senior Whitney Bays said. "She's really done a 180 change in her attitude and her maturity, and understanding you are on this level and there are responsibilities with it." It takes extra energy, too, to be a leader, because Wilson has not only herself to look after, but others too. She's pushing and prodding her teammates, im- ploring them to be better, and perhaps criticizing when it's necessary. "In practice, I'm talking nonstop," said Wilson, named a tri-captain this season, after a vote by her teammates. "It's crazy how much I'm talking com- pared to the years before. I don't think there's a mo- ment where it's silent that I'm not talking. I'm trying to talk as much as the previous point guards here, if not more, and always encouraging people. "There's going to be days when Coach V is on our back and it's my job as a point guard to bring our team up. And whenever we're slacking, pick the freshmen up and push people to be the best that they can, because I know my previous years I was never giving my all and I don't want that from my under- classmen. I want them to be the best that they can be every single day and never take a day off because obviously it can be taken from you at any moment." Lessons learned. Lessons appreciated. "In life, like 90 percent is how you react to some- thing," Wilson said. "So you can either have it help you or hurt you, and I'm trying to make it help me. I have two years left and I'm trying to make the most of my two years; I'm a junior and it's time for me grow up and lead this team to more than what we've had." j