Junior forward Syd Schultz's journey to become an impact player on the Portland State Women's basketball team almost took an off-ramp before she even got to high school.
 
A very active youngster, she was involved in her school's soccer, softball, basketball, track & field teams, and even played on a boys' baseball team for a while. In addition, she played on travel teams.
 
"No matter what season it was, I was always at some type of practice and sometimes had more than one a night," she recalled.
 
At the age of 10 or 11 (she doesn't exactly remember), Schultz one day collapsed, unconscious. If it didn't happen again, the doctors said, it'd be nothing to worry about. So, she resumed her all-consuming sports schedule.
 
The summer leading up to the eighth grade, she had to decide between AAU basketball and travel softball. She liked both sports, but there was something about softball that really bothered her.
 
"I remember being scared to strike out in softball. By choosing basketball, I didn't have to worry about that….also, I'm pretty sure I picked basketball as my main sport because my brother (Nate) was always playing it and I wanted to be like him," Schultz said.
 
Then, it happened again. She passed out again in the eighth grade.
 
Her parents (John and Michele Schultz) rushed her to the doctor again. It wasn't good news. The diagnosis was Long QT Syndrome, "the wiring in my heart is messed up which can cause fainting and other bad things."
 
Her medical team cut her off sports, which was extremely difficult for this very sport-minded early teen who hadn't known a season without sports since the age of five. She was also told she'd never play Division I sports because playing at that level was too rigorous for her heart.
 
"I remember it was soccer season at the time all this went down and I was so upset that I couldn't play or practice."
 
It took a month of medication "which really knocked me out" before she started getting her energy back. And, when that finally started to happen for her – even though she was still under orders not to engage in competitive sports – she snuck a few moments of play here or there. "I would spend all my time in my garage, learning different things…like spinning a basketball on my finger, juggling and a rainbow kick with a soccer ball."
 
With the medication working "and a lot of begging", she was finally released to play sports.  But, any team for which she played had to have an emergency plan in case something happened. The team would also have to have an Automated Extended Defibrillator (AED) nearby, and her coaches needed to know CPR. 
 
Her parents and doctors were still reluctant, but Schultz was persistent. "My parents asked me if I really wanted to play all these sports. I told them yes, without a second thought. Luckily, I haven't had any crazy episodes since I was in the eighth grade and, with my medication working properly, my doctors told me it was okay to play."
 
Schultz was "all everything" in basketball and in track and field at tiny 382-student Mayville High School in an outdoor recreation gateway community north of Madison, Wis. She became the school's career leader in points scored and rebounds (more than 1,000 each), leading the entire state in rebounds as a senior. In 2019, she earned a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Star selection, was a finalist for the Wissports Senior Post-Player Award, a Daily Citizen first-team selection and was unanimous first-team All-Flyway Conference in 2018 and 2019.
 
In addition, she earned second-team all-conference honors in the shot put as a junior, as well as honorable mention in the discus in 2018. As a senior, she was first-team all-conference in the shot put and second-team all-conference in the discus.
 
All those things brought her to the attention of college coaches. She had begun dreaming of playing Division I basketball in the eighth grade, which was when some of her AAU basketball teammates began hearing from university coaches.
 
Still, she was uncommitted when then-assistant PSU coach Chelsey Gregg saw her play at a summer AAU tournament in Indiana.
 
"Leading the state of Wisconsin in rebounding across all school classifications in a big deal!" said Gregg, who became Viking head coach last spring. "What first caught my eye was her feel for the game…good passer, good feel around the basket, solid jumper, great teammate on the floor and on the bench."
 
Gregg wants to play "mismatch basketball" and felt Schultz could help with that because "she has a high basketball IQ and has the ability to stretch the floor at the 4/5 spot". 
 
But, she wasn't sure Schultz would want to play that far away from home.
 
"I guess you really never know where these young women are open to going until you ask. We've had local talent say they want to get out of the city and have a different experience. Similarly, we've had recruits, like Syd, who are looking for a completely different experience," Gregg said.
 
Actually, Schultz decided late that she'd be interested in traveling all the way to the West Coast. 
 
She had some interest from smaller Midwest schools in both basketball and track and field. "I even had some larger schools contact me about their rowing teams even though I've never done that in my life…but, again, I knew I wanted to play basketball."
 
When Schultz got home after the AAU tournament, she heard from Gregg. "She asked me how I was doing. As time went on, she invited me to come visit and then invited me and my dad to visit. I loved it from the start. Coaches are amazing, the gym is cool and they had a great program for my major (as an academic junior, she's carrying a 3.4 cumulative GPA in Human Resources with a minor in Psychology, and she was Academic All-Big Sky last season). She'd eventually like to coach basketball.
 
Before a knee injury sidelined her in the 2020-21 season, she played 15.4 minutes a game in 19 appearances and Gregg has big hopes for her final two years.
 
"We're looking for her to be more aggressive on the offensive end and to take on a leadership role as one of two captains this year. She's been in the program and understands the way we do things. She has a toughness about her, a smooth 15-foot jumper and is excellent at talking on the defensive end. We've talked about getting back to her roots of rebounding and pursuing the basketball. Syd has a great feel for helping out younger players and for picking her spots to connect with her teammates on and off the floor," said Gregg.
 
Schultz is fully engaged and looking forward to her final two years as a Viking.
 
Having that heart condition makes her read her body more, she said. "It also makes me very thankful for the opportunity to play basketball. I'm really not supposed to be here at all, so just being able to practice and play in games is a blessing. Having a team that took me with this condition also is a blessing. The coaches and athletic training staff at PSU work so well with my doctors at home, and I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be around me.
 
Coming from such a small town, Portland has been an eye opener. "It was a little crazy at first.  I remember feeling so lost everywhere I went, but after a few weeks I began to figure it out.  I like living downtown.  Everything is so close and there is so much to do.  The town I grew up in has three stop lights and two fast food restaurants. Coming to Portland was like a whole new world."
 
Still, Schultz admitted to being a bit homesick. Playing so far away from home was definitely hard, she said. And, her family was nervous about the distance.
 
"Being homesick is definitely a real thing, but I also have a second family at PSU with my teammates and coaches. I wouldn't trade being here for anything. It's funny because when I am back home in Wisconsin, I also feel homesick for all my people out on the West Coast," she said.
 
Her family and doctors were also nervous. "With my heart condition, my parents and doctors were a little scared for me to be so far away. Luckily, I have the best parents who also wanted me to achieve my dreams and the coaching and athletic training staff at PSU welcomed me with open arms no matter what I had going on physically," she said. 
 
Although Gregg had to lobby to be able to bring someone from a small Midwest program all that distance to Portland, she's still delighted with the decision.
 
"Syd is hilarious and brings a lot of laughs to our team. She embodies all our Viking Values here at Portland State…Only downside is she's Bucks fan…insert smiley face…," she said.