CIRCLEVILLE — You’d be hard-pressed to find a busier student-athlete in Pickaway County than Maggie Wilson and her hard-work has paid off in being named the 2025 winner of the Jeff Sheets Award as the top senior girls basketball player.
A six-sport athlete at Logan Elm this year, Wilson enjoys the atmosphere on the court.
“Something about the energy and the gym and the environment – it’s just really cool to see how the fans react when you’re at a basketball game compared to other sports,” she said. “I think about soccer, and we only have about 20 fans. Even though it’s my favorite sport of all time it doesn’t have the same energy that basketball has.”
One of the taller players on an undersized team, Wilson played in the post and often had the unenviable task of battling players five or six inches taller than her. And, as the only senior on the team, she worked to set the right example for the group of underclassmen she was playing with.
“I think I did a pretty good job. I tried to give 100 percent effort at all times,” Wilson said. “I’m not the biggest scorer by any means, but I know as a long as I’m being a good teammate and making good passes out there, I’m doing a good job and setting good examples.
“My senior season went great. I was a little unsure of myself at first but gained some confidence throughout the season,” she added. “Being the only senior is kind of a difficult task to handle. But I feel like the team learned how to respect each other and I really liked how we interacted as a team.”
When Mike Schultz took over the helm for the Braves last season, he said getting Wilson on the team (she had sat out her sophomore year) was important for the Braves.
“That was one of my things going into our season was that I had to convince her to come back to the game of basketball. I thought I had a chance, and then I remember that Wednesday before the first practice her junior year and I passed her in the hallway, and she said, ‘Coach I’m going to need a schedule,’” Schultz said. “I already knew the value in her, not just as a basketball player but as a person.”
“If you only could have one (senior), Maggie is definitely that all-around athlete and person that every coach needs on the team.”
Coming into her senior season, Schultz said the team had a situation very uncommon to girls basketball teams — they were waiting for her football season to end to get her in the gym.
“We just had to keep waiting because the last thing I was going to do was to have her come to practice and have her hurt herself where she couldn’t kick for football when they were trying to make their state playoff run,” Schultz said.
Along with basketball, football and soccer, Wilson also runs cross country in the fall, competes in track and field and plays on the boys tennis team in the spring. (She also has been a member of the swim team.) Wilson is on pace to finish her high school career with 22 varsity letters. And she excels in sports all while excelling in the classroom.
“I think that sports are kind of an outlet for my stress,” Wilson said. “For a lot of people when they hear about doing three sports in the fall, two sports in the spring – when they hear that they think that’s really busy and it must stress you out, but I go to sports and I can destress and know I’ll have a good time and leave with a smile on my face.
“Then I get back to work, working on homework. It’s more of a good thing than a burden.”
The example she’s set in the classroom and on the court are what sets Wilson apart.
“She exemplifies everything that we want and expect from a student athlete at Logan Elm. She’s extremely selfless in everything that she does,” Schultz said.
“I just know that I have teammates and coaches who depend on me, and I depend on them as well,” Wilson said. “I keep coming back every day because that’s the type of person that I want them to see me as. I’ve loved sports all the way through. I’ve never gotten burnt out or sick of them. I think that’s the beauty of the change of the season is that you get to experience something new every quarter of a year.”
Wilson said she picked up leadership qualities from the upperclassmen she’s played with and tried to share those traits.
“I remember last year that I really looked up to Cadence (Haupt), Enaja (Fischer), Tia (Fowler), Katie (Wilson), Clara (Wilson) – those were our senior girls last year. They kind of took me under their wing and acted like I was a senior, too,” she said, “I tried to be the same sort of an example they were to me for the girls this year.
“I made some connections with the younger girls, and we have some really nice team players who are coming up who are freshmen and sophomores and I’m really glad I was able to make bonds with them.”
“It’s been two years of being appreciative of everything she brings,” Schultz said. “It was a little bit difficult for her to start taking that verbal leadership, but it started in practice and carried over into the games where she wanted us all to join together as one collective body and she was able to do that.
“The things that last year’s senior class began, Maggie was able to continue those. Everything that we do from this point on when she graduates to where we may be in four or five years – her as a senior and last year’s five, they started it.”
Once high school is done, Wilson is headed to Northern Kentucky University with an interest in studying psychology. Even at the collegiate level, she can’t contain her sports to just one discipline as she will be competing with the NKU triathlon team, which encompasses running, cycling and swimming.
Adding to her excitement for the new challenge is that she’ll be joined on the triathlon team by someone she’s known since preschool and competed against in cross country and basketball — Circleville’s Maddux Bigam.
“I’ve grown up knowing her. Now I think it’s super great because we’re going to be roommates,” Wilson said. “So, we’re kind of going from rivals to friends.”
— The award is named in honor of hall of fame girls basketball coach Jeff Sheets, who amassed a 313-103 record in 18 seasons leading Teays Valley. The Vikings won nine Mid-State League titles, five Central District crowns and finished as a regional runner-up twice during his leadership of the program. Sheets went on to serve as superintendent of Teays Valley and Westfall school districts.
Jeff Sheets Award winners
1982 — Melissa Azbell, Westfall
1983 — Teresa Musselman, Westfall
1984 — Teena Keith, Teays Valley
1985 — Holly Hastings, Teays Valley
1986 — Laura James, Teays Valley
1987 — Amy Wright, Teays Valley
1988 — Paula Everts, Teays Valley
1989 — Lesley Wilson, Logan Elm
1990 — Amy Colborn, Teays Valley
1991 — Ursula Stonerock, Circleville
1992 — Trina Muzingo, Teays Valley
1993 — Gail Adams, Logan Elm
1994 — Julie Good, Logan Elm
1995 — Mindy Fusetti,Teays Valley
1996 — Bridget Oberer, Teays Valley
1997 — Anna Musselman, Teays Valley
1998 — Laurie Barr, Teays Valley
1999 — Kristin Griebel, Circleville
2000 — Tara Wright, Westfall
2001 — Ashley Palmer, Circleville
2002 — Kelsey Schleich, Westfall
2003 — Samantha Hood, Teays Valley
2004 — Kristen Tisdale, Logan Elm
2005 — Amanda Angles, Westfall
2006 — Keri Callihan, Teays Valley
2007 — Andrea Anderson, Logan Elm
2008 — Casse Mogan, Circleville
2009 — Kellie Willis, Circleville
2010 — Alyvia Clark, Logan Elm
2011 — Emily Robinson, Logan Elm
2012 — Caitlin Cain, Teays Valley
2013 — Taylor Saxton, Logan Elm
2014 — Rebekah Branham, Circleville
2015 — Mallory Grabans, Teays Valley
2016 — Shayna Harmon, Teays Valley
2017 — Jordin Blakeman, Circleville
2018 — Jill Congrove, Logan Elm
2019 — Reagan Willingham, Teays Valley
2020 — Abby Hatter, Logan Elm
2021 — Kenzie McConnell, Circleville
2022 — Jenna Horsley, Teays Valley
2023 — Maren McCallister, New Hope
2024 — Kennedy Younkin, Teays Valley
2025 — Maggie Wilson, Logan Elm