While serious on the court, Geneva senior Palmer all about having fun off it

Leah Palmer dances to a different beat.

On the basketball court the senior has waltzed, tap danced and hip-hopped her way around opponents time and time again en route to a 1,000-point career at Geneva High School.

Off the court it's a completely different story. The "goofball" guard - as coach Sarah Meadows affectionately calls her - loves to have fun and is constantly cracking teammates up.

Perhaps the best example came last season when Palmer turned Geneva's bus rides into true team-building moments.

"One of my teammates has a speaker that we bring on the bus," Palmer said. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh. I could connect this microphone to the speaker and how fun would that be to be on the bus and sing?' "

Palmer made videos after Geneva won regionals, sectionals and supersectionals and put them on TikTok. While she lip syncs to Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, teammates swing their cellphones' flashlights while jamming along to Palmer's choreography down the aisle.

"Leah is the most fun girl on the team," said Caroline Madden, who has played with Palmer since third grade. "She's always making jokes and making people laugh. ... But she also knows when she needs to be locked in at practice or in games."

Said Palmer: "You don't get much time in high school. It's only four years that you get to play with your friends. I just want to have the most fun I can during the season."

Geneva had a ton of fun in 2022-23, going 31-4 and advancing to the state tournament. They lost a heartbreaker in the semifinals, 50-48 to Benet. The two game-deciding free throws were sunk with 2.4 seconds remaining.

"Whenever I look back on last season, I think, 'Wow. I wish I could experience that again and again and again,'" Palmer said. "We were a really close team, and that's what took us that far."

Palmer has been on Geneva's varsity squad all four years, including the 15-game COVID-shortened season of 2020. Her sister, Kate, was on that team as a senior and is playing at Illinois Wesleyan.

Last season Palmer averaged 15.2 points and 5.8 rebounds and also joined the 1,000-point club when she sank her first free throw during the third-place game against Hersey. Meadows called timeout so the fans - including her parents, who had posters made for the occasion - could recognize the milestone.

"That was really special to experience that downstate," Palmer said. "All my teammates were really happy for me."

Geneva, which defeated Glenbard North 64-21 on Friday, is off to a 6-3 start this season, with Palmer averaging 20.4 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Palmer has always been a tenacious rebounder despite being slightly undersized at 5-foot-11. Meadows and Madden say this is because Palmer was among the tallest girls when she was younger, so winning those tough inside battles has simply become second nature.

"She is just so strong inside for us," Meadows said. "She rebounds the heck out of the ball and understands that if she crashes the boards she could have a very easy putback."

Last season Palmer said she didn't need to handle the ball much because Geneva had such "quick, talented guards." Coming into this campaign, though, Palmer knew things would be different so she diligently worked on her ball-handling skills during the off-season.

"I knew I needed to be a better facilitator and be able to break the press," Palmer said. "So I worked on that just so I can make my team better."

Palmer plans to play collegiately and might join her sister at Illinois Wesleyan.

As for the somewhat distant future, perhaps she'll carve out a career in social media? After all, Palmer's last two TikTok videos from the 2023 postseason have more than 84,000 and 142,000 views.

"I've had people tell me, 'You could definitely be an influencer,'" Palmer said. "That would be a really cool job, but I'm not sure because I don't know a whole lot about it.

"Right now I'm leaning toward being a physical therapist, but maybe I should put more thought into that."

There's plenty of time to think about that down the road.

For now, it's clear Palmer will enjoy every moment until her final moves - both on the court and on the bus - are made.