Inside the Huddle: Bollin Overcomes Setbacks, Doubts in Journey from East Coast to Illinois

Shay Bollin believed in herself. Just how confident was she? She proposed a deal with her dad that if she earned a scholarship offer to play college basketball by the time she turned 16, he would buy her a car.

She made that pact in fifth grade. 

And she made it happen well before her 16th birthday, securing her first college offer before even entering high school.

Her dad followed through on his end of the deal, and she still drives that same car today.

“From a really young age, you could see that she had a gift. I think a lot of people have gifts, but they don't really have the passion. She had the physical gifts and the gift of working really hard to put it all together,” said Laurie Bollin, Shay’s mom and AAU coach. “It took me a little while to navigate the world of college recruiting since she was young, but I had a good feeling that she would be a scholarship-level player.”

It was inevitable that Shay Bollin would eventually pursue basketball, the same sport both of her parents played at the college level. Her first taste of basketball popped up when she started kindergarten after her parents signed her up at the local YMCA, and she never looked back.

Competing in a league full of boys, Bollin played basketball almost every weekend at the Y or with her dad on a little basketball hoop in her driveway. While basketball quickly became her favorite sport, Bollin took part in other activities, including soccer, softball, and gymnastics.

Despite being involved in a plethora of sports, Bollin determined – perhaps unknowingly and subconsciously at first – that basketball was the right choice for her.

“I was pretty much doing a sport every single night of the week,” Shay Bollin said. “Eventually, it got to the point where I would cry when they would try and drag me to the other sports, and I would just beg them to take me to basketball practice. I just fell in love with it from such an early age.”

Bollin continued to play soccer through middle school, competing competitively until she turned 14. She enjoyed the sport, but nothing compared to her love for the game of basketball, Laurie Bollin says.

“She would be on great teams, get awards, and all of that, but it was just a different kind of passion with basketball. It meant that much more to her. She hated losing that much more when it was a basketball game versus a soccer game,” Laurie Bollin said. “She would be upset if any of her teammates chose to go to a different sport when there was a basketball game. She would ask me to try to find her a team of kids who were just as committed as she was. 

“A couple of the teams early on, she didn't feel like the practices were competitive enough, so she would come home and ask me to give her additional drills and workouts to do. She was wise beyond her years with it, really held herself to a standard, and pushed herself on her own.”

As Shay Bollin’s love for the game grew, she also went through a physical growth spurt, reaching the 6-foot mark in seventh grade. One year later, Bollin earned her first college scholarship offer as an eighth-grader.

The opportunity to play in college was something she had always dreamed of, and it was one of the first things she wrote down on her “dream board” growing up. After her mom competed at Ithaca College and her dad played at Colgate, Bollin credits her family and coaches for helping her truly recognize her potential.

Not only carrying on the family legacy of playing basketball at a high level, Shay Bollin’s attention to detail extended to the selection of her jersey number, 22, which is her family’s “lucky number.” She has worn the number for almost her entire life, becoming another generation to don the number after her mom and her mom’s siblings all wore it at the high-school and college levels.

It “means a lot” for Shay to be able to carry on her family’s legacy by wearing the number throughout her basketball journey, especially while now competing among the best teams in the country at the collegiate level.

“I always wanted to play college basketball, but it was in middle school when I started to be like, ‘OK, I could really do this’” Shay Bollin said. “People started telling me, and when college coaches really started calling me, I was kind of just like, ‘Holy crap, this could really happen.’ It just became reality, and I was super excited about it. I was lucky that I came from a super supportive community. As much as everyone made it a big deal, it just felt like my life to me. I never thought about it as anything crazy.”

Entering high school after winning the Boo Williams Nike Invitational championship with her AAU team, the Bay State Jaguars, Bollin received interest from prep schools across the state. Growing up in Raynham, Massachusetts, a town located between Boston and Providence with a population under 15,000, players of her caliber typically attended private prep schools for their basketball careers.

Given Bollin’s skill, no one would have batted an eye if she maintained the status quo and followed the trend by going to a prep school. But that’s not who Shay is.

Instead, she opted to attend her local high school, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, the same institution her dad attended. Continuing the family tradition, Bollin did not mind rejecting interest from those prep schools, and she has no regrets about her decision.

“I had an awesome coach who supported me, believed in me, and always put me in positions to be successful, and I was playing with teammates who were all my best friends, which was really, really fun,” Shay Bollin said. “They never really treated me like a freshman; they just treated me like anyone else on the team.

“I've always had very high expectations for myself. I always expect the best for myself regardless, and I always expect myself to be up to that highest standard. Through my entire basketball journey and life journey, I've really been tested by God that I have to be patient, and I think it's taught me a lot about myself and my life.”

With the school’s girl’s basketball program bringing in sell-out crowds every night, the Bollin family spent countless hours weighing the pros and cons of Shay attending their local high school or going the prep-school route. Whether it was the lack of local prep options or the financial commitment that prep schools would have demanded, Laurie Bollin was ecstatic that Shay ultimately chose to stay home for her high-school career.

“We really tried to weigh everything,” Laurie Bollin said. “She was a kid who could stay home. They sold out every single night. We knew that they had a really good chance to win state championships. It was the best decision for Shay. It would have been a big financial commitment, a huge time commitment, and she got to play with her best friends who were really, really, really good. It was just fun every single night being able to play in front of that kind of crowd. Some colleges don't get that packed. It was a great environment.”

Shay Bollin reaped the rewards of that decision almost instantly, helping lead the Trojans to a No. 1 seed in the state playoffs after going unbeaten in conference play and losing only once in the regular season. Though Bridgewater-Raynham fell in the third round of the state tournament, Bollin won the league's Player of the Year award as a freshman.

Bollin’s memorable freshman season continued into the summer, when she received the opportunity to attend the USA Basketball U18 3x3 Invitational at the team’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Competing against some of the best high-school players in the country, some of whom were three years older than Bollin’s 15-year-old self, she played well and helped her squad become one of only a handful of teams to advance in the event.

“We did awesome, especially because I was only just going into my sophomore year and I was playing against these really good players,” Shay Bollin said. “Playing against all those high-school stars who are now college stars was an awesome experience.”

Picking up right where she left off at Bridgewater-Raynham, Bollin earned all-conference accolades for the second straight season while also collecting Boston Globe Super Team and Boston Herald Dream Team honors as a sophomore in 2020.

Hoping to continue that momentum into her junior year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and canceled almost the entirety of the season. Instead of competing in the team’s limited conference-only schedule, which featured blowout win after blowout win, Bollin opted to do the unthinkable: She would undergo surgery.

Given Shay Bollin’s rapid growth in height, she experienced occasional bouts of knee discomfort, including patellar subluxations, an issue that impacts athletes in high-impact sports including basketball. Essentially, her kneecap would pop and slightly dislocate from its socket, and although Bollin admits she has a high pain tolerance, the subluxations hurt and caused damage to her knees. 

She knew she would need surgery at some point to correct the problem, though she hoped she would be able to make it through college before getting the procedure done.

The pandemic offered a blessing in disguise for Bollin, and after much consideration, she decided to forgo her junior year of high-school basketball and get the surgery, medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction, on her right knee. After being unable to attend a USA Basketball team trial due to a subluxation, Bollin wanted – and needed – to just get it done.

“It was kind of just a genetic thing. I grew really fast, so I had a really hard time because my muscles weren't catching up to my joints,” said Shay Bollin, who stood at 6-foot-3 as a sophomore in high school. “It was just this one thing that I needed to get fixed. It was just the way my body was built.”

After getting the surgery done in November 2020, Bollin was cleared to return to the court in March of 2021, just in time for her AAU season. She was thrilled to be back playing the sport she loved, and she finally felt like herself again.

But, her return was short-lived. One week after participating in an All-American Wootten camp alongside some of the best players in the country, Bollin suffered another injury in the fall of 2021 that ultimately and unfortunately required another surgery, this time on her left knee.

“That was a heartbreaker,” Laurie Bollin said.

Undergoing another MPFL reconstruction surgery, Shay Bollin missed the entirety of her senior high-school season, the second straight year she was unable to compete for her hometown school. She stayed as involved as she could despite the injury, attending practices and workouts despite not being 100% healthy.

Bollin focused on her nutrition, her relationships with teammates and coaches, and her mentality every single day. Forced to overcome doubt from others, Bollin attacked her recovery head-on, and she has become a better person and player due to her time on the sidelines.

“I had never hurt my left knee before. Ever. I played the entire spring, summer, and fall. I was finally back fully playing just like I knew how I could, and I hurt the other knee,” Shay Bollin said. “It was really hard, but I never lost that love. When you go through an injury, it makes you love the game even more because you just don't have it so you're aching to get back and play.”

Though she was unable to compete for Bridgewater-Raynham during her junior and senior seasons, Bollin’s team never lost a conference game over the course of her four years in high school. In fact, the Trojans have not lost an in-conference contest since 2016.

Despite her two injuries, Bollin says her recruitment was completely unaffected by her surgeries, and she never missed a single AAU game during her time at the high-school level. Bollin saw her dreams of playing Division-I basketball become reality after fighting through adversity, committing to Duke.

One of three freshmen on the team, Bollin scored nine points in just her second appearance at the collegiate level, and she went on to make eight appearances off the bench during the 2022-23 campaign.

Bollin entered the transfer portal after her first season with the Blue Devils, and she knew exactly what she was looking for from her next stop in her basketball journey. Hoping to find a family-oriented program and have a good relationship with her head coach, Bollin committed to Illinois on April 23, 2023.

“Illinois was just a really family-oriented and really hard-working program,” Shay Bollin said. “I knew that's what Coach Green was building here. They had girls who want to work hard and want to win so badly, and that's how I am. I think being surrounded by people like that has been great for me.”

Shay’s three younger siblings – Timmy, Preston, and Avery – all aspire to follow their older sister’s lead and one day play basketball at the Division-I level. In a family full of basketball stars, the Bollin family is well on its way to continuing its legacy in the world of college hoops.

“I know I'm a role model to them, but I try to be more of a role model to them in life than a role model to them on the court because that's really what matters,” Shay Bollin said. “Basketball is so important to us, but at the end of the day, they're my family, they're my siblings, and I just want them to know that someone loves them regardless of their performance on the court. That has been so pivotal for me and my siblings' relationships because half the time after a game, I'll just call them, check on them, and not even ask how the game went. 

“I just think it's important to be someone who supports them regardless. Obviously, I cheer on their successes so much, and I'm so proud of them when they play well and when I get to watch their games. I know I look up to them, and I just hope that they know how proud I am of all of them. Just having that relationship with them is really special.”

Bollin has grown a lot – both physically and mentally – since she dribbled a basketball for the first time, but her love for the game remains just as strong in her first season at Illinois. Through the highs and lows, she has remained locked in and motivated in her journey from a small town in Massachusetts to the bright lights of the Big Ten.

Her car may have some scratches and scrapes, and so does she, but just like Bollin, it’s working – and, in Shay’s case, playing – better than ever.

“This sport has and continuously does change my life,” Shay Bollin said. “The main thing that I have gained from this sport is just amazing people, experiences, and things that I will remember forever. That's what's so important about college basketball: It's not necessarily every single practice that you're going to remember, but you're going to remember those experiences that you shared with your teammates and your coaches. That's what I really cling on to when things get hard.

“It has also taught me patience and the power of hard work. No one can take that away from you, and hard work builds confidence. A lot of times in college, you have to build your own confidence. No one is going to just give it to you, and no one can take it away. I think that's something I have struggled with: letting people, hypothetically, take away my confidence. I'm the only one who can build my confidence from within.”