Girls basketball: Hoffman praised for her versatility while leading Grayslake Central to conference, sectional titles

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Grayslake Central senior girls basketball standout Madison Hoffmann started a new project: learning how to solve the now 50-plus-year-old Rubik’s Cube — the plastic cube puzzle covered in multicolored squares where a subject attempts to twist and turn it so all the squares on each face are the same color.

These days, it takes Hoffmann about 30-40 seconds to solve the cube, a time that may have scratch odds of being the best if she went up against 100 random people on the streets of Grayslake.

As it turns out, Hoffmann isn’t too shabby at basketball either. The 6-1 (she’s really 6-foot, quiet, don’t tell anybody) forward-guard saved her best work for her last year at Central. Her play and leadership helped the Rams reach a Class 3A supersectional for the second year in a row and third time since 2020.

Hoffmann, headed to Division I University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to further her academic and basketball careers, is the easy choice as the captain of the 2025 Lake County Daily Herald All-Area girls basketball team.

“It’s her complete, all-around game,” said Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis, whose 24-4 team lost to Hoffman and Central twice this season. “She can shoot the 3, play the post, play the point, block shots and dish out the assist. She does it all.”

Hoffmann, a four-year, three-sport varsity athlete at Central (tennis, basketball and soccer), averaged 12.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.7 steals on a Rams team that went 28-6 and won the Northern Lake County Conference title for a third year in a row (14-0 in league play for a second year in a row and 41-1 during that span), earning Hoffmann repeat NLCC player of the year honors (she’s a 4-time all-NLCC pick). The last 3 teams Hoffmann was a part of at Central went 74-25 — 55-13 the last 2 seasons.

“Madison is that rare athlete who can be both an elite scorer and also an elite facilitator,” Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn said. “She is so unselfish and relishes a good assist as much as making a great shot. It shows in her career stats as very few players wind up in the Top 3 in scoring, rebounding and blocks while also being the all-time leader in assists and second all-time in steals. She has worked hard to improve her game each year and it shows.”

Hoffmann, a state qualifier in girls tennis as a junior and a center-mid/center-back on the Rams’ soccer team, ends her Central run third all-time in scoring in school history at 1,732 points trailing only Kayla Ming (1,963) and Jenny Wessel (1,765). Her 837 rebounds rank only behind Kate Bullman (984) and Morgan Dahlstrom (982). Her 403 career assists rank first all-time, and she also has school marks for most assists in a game and a season. Her 335 steals are second only behind Bullman’s 363. And she’s third all-time in blocks.

“To watch her grow from a talented young player into the great all-around player and leader has been amazing,” Ikenn said. “Whether we need her to score inside or outside, guard a post or a wing, she rises to the occasion and does whatever the team needs her to do.”

Dennis said two things stand out in her mind in terms of Hoffmann creating chaos for opponents. “Her passing ability allows her to accurately hit her teammates for an open look from anywhere on the floor,” she explained. “Second, she has the size of a post, but the mobility of a guard, which makes it difficult to match up against her.”

Round Lake coach Molly Hennig provided basically the same synopsis on Hoffmann. “Madison is a versatile player with multiple skills that makes her difficult to defend,” she said. “She can score in both half-court sets and transition, while also displaying strong court vision and the ability to distribute the ball to Grayslake Central’s other playmakers.”

Central junior point guard Mosey Drevline marveled at both Hoffmann’s ability to score in pressure situations and more importantly to lead when the heat was turned up.

“She always stays calm in those situations,” Drevline said. “If we were down, we never had to worry. We knew we could look to her, especially in stressful situations. She knew how to keep us calm. She’s a great leader.”

Hoffmann’s sister, Peyton, a sophomore guard-forward on the team, certainly agrees.

“She was a big leader whether we were winning or losing,” Peyton Hoffmann said. “She can always get the team gathered and back together so we’re not scared or unsure. I definitely look up to her knowing she is always there for me.”

Hoffmann, a high-honor roll student who has business and law on her mind as possible fields of study at the next level, remembers way back when she was a ninth-grader on the varsity at Central.

“I played with 9 seniors that year,” said Hoffmann, who if she earns all-NLCC honors in soccer this spring will end her high school career with a combined 11 all-NLCC awards in her three sports (missed this tennis season due to injury). “Then we had to rebuild, and since sophomore year we’ve been building.”

And while being able to play college basketball is a dream come true, Hoffmann said, not wearing a Rams uniform next November will take some getting used to.

“It’s such a tight-knit family,” she said. “I have been around the same group of girls for three or four years now. I’ve known coach Ikenn practically my whole life. To be able to wear Central across the front of your jersey means a lot. The whole community gets involved in it. I am going to miss it.”

Hoffmann hopes she’s remembered as Central more for how she interacted with her teammates than the tornadic numbers she posted on a nightly basis.

“I would say I want to be remembered as someone who always put the team first, to make my teammates better, which is more important,” she said. “That’s what is special to me.”

Senior guard Annie Wolff, who has played with Hoffmann since fourth grade, paid her friend the highest compliment.

“She’s the most unselfish player I have ever encountered,” she said. “The fact is she is a dominant scorer, but she still led us in assists. It’s a testament to how unselfish she is. It was never about Madison, it was about everybody on the team. She knows she’s important, but never played like it. We’re so happy to have had her as our teammate because we definitely didn’t want to play against her. She was our leader, our player and our girl.”