Ex-Iowa Point out guard Lyndsey Fennelly becomes mental health advocate

GILBERT — Lyndsey Fennelly walks to the entrance of the stage of the Gilbert Substantial Faculty auditorium at 1 p.m. on a December day and seems to be into the crowd.

About 600 instructors, students and staff members are in attendance as the previous Iowa Condition women’s basketball star gets ready to start her exclusive presentation.

“I will cry,” Fennelly suggests to them. “I will laugh. All I’m inquiring is that you pay attention far better than my young ones do, which will not need a whole lot.”

Fennelly would like to make confident anyone in the room is listening. The matter, psychological well being, is important to her. That’s why she’s invested so much time touring close to the condition conversing to educational facilities, teams and organizations. For everyone that is inclined or needs to listen to Fennelly’s story, she’s keen to share it. 

“I’m with any luck , someone people today can lean into if that makes this more relatable than possibly what they see in the media or on social media,” Fennelly mentioned.

Fennelly, one of the biggest place guards in Iowa Point out historical past, who spends time coaching substantial faculty youngsters, is sharing her encounters with psychological wellness. Fennelly desires others to listen to her story, of working with nervousness and landing in the healthcare facility 2 times, so they learn from it.

And much more importantly, she wants other people to do what she’s doing — not be worried to talk about the topic. 

“It is really so critical that she’s taken this stage into her existence to not only train basketball but also be an advocate for mental health,” said Georges Niang, a former Iowa Condition star himself and friend of Fennelly’s, “and speak about her journey and how that can with any luck , fix items.”

‘Then my entire world arrived crashing down’

To the outside the house world, Fennelly had it all.

Fennelly, who arrived at Iowa Point out as Lyndsey Medders, became a star for the Cyclones women’s basketball group by scoring 1,449 occupation points and tallying a then faculty-record 719 assists from 2003-2007. Fennelly was picked by the Indiana Fever in the 2007 WNBA Draft.

Off the court docket, points appeared just as good. Fennelly married Billy Fennelly, an assistant mentor for the women’s basketball group and head mentor Monthly bill Fennelly’s son. She gave basketball lessons to youthful gamers all through the…