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Lisle High School is getting a new girls’ basketball assistant coach for the 2025-2026 season. Nicole Rivera transferred from Glenbard East High School, where she worked closely with the head varsity boys’ basketball coach, Eric Kelly.
Head coach Nick Balaban, who has been coaching for 13 years, explained that the position became available after longtime girls’ basketball coach Sam Crenshaw stepped down.
“Coach Crenshaw is no longer coaching with us,” Balaban said. “He’s been here for nine years and decided it was time to move on. We appreciate all the hard work he put in for us, but that prompted an opening, and that’s why we went out to get a new hire.”
Rivera comes to Lisle with an impressive athletic and coaching background. She had spent the past few years as a youth coach for the Woodridge Park District and working closely with Kelly at Glenbard East.
“She has primarily been a youth coach at the Woodridge Park District, and in doing so, she was working with the boys travel team with Glenbard East High School,” said Balaban. “…She also worked the last couple of years putting their fifth and sixth graders into the feeder program.”
As a former athlete, Rivera was a four-year varsity player in both basketball and softball at Romeoville High School. She continued her athletic career at the college level, earning All-Conference honors in softball.
Balaban states he’s confident that Rivera will fit right in with the program and serve as a strong role model for the players.
“She’s not that far removed from her playing days, as she still plays in leagues across the area. I think she’ll be a great example for our young ladies, someone who’s gone through those same experiences. She’s got a good basketball background. She loves the game,” Balaban said.
Lisle’s girls’ basketball program looks forward to Rivera joining the staff to help lead the team into a new season of success alongside Coach Balaban and Coach LaScala.