Author: Mike Bailey
Unofficially, Sankoty Lakes Resort and Retreat in Spring Bay just welcomed its tallest visitor.
It’s a safe bet, as at 7 feet, 1 inch on the tape measure, Meyers Leonard is the tallest visitor at quite a few places.
Leonard, a National Basketball Association (NBA) player with the Miami Heat, wife Elle, a Peoria native, and Koko their dog/master met up with family and friends this past week at Sankoty as part of a 10-day promotional tour of the nation in an RV, complete with driver, provided by the Coors Molson Beverage Co.
You could say they were impressed, including Koko. “This is really high level,” Meyers said of Sankoty, “and I’ve been all over.”
Though Leonard got to live out a dream few players do recently by playing in the NBA Finals, the trip has proved a more-than-welcome break after 97 days – Elle unhesitatingly pinpointed the count – in the NBA’s COVID-resistant isolation “bubble” in Orlando, Fla. That’s where all the playoff teams practiced, played and lived until they were eliminated from contention.
For Leonard, that meant until the very end. He enjoyed the company of “a very tight-knit group of guys,” it was cool to step off an elevator and run into superstar LeBron James almost daily, and “it was probably the safest place on Earth,” said Meyers. But he also couldn’t leave.
While Elle eventually entered the “bubble” herself, this trip from Miami to L.A. with a few detours along the way has been an opportunity for the married couple of five years to relax, get reacquainted and renew their freedom.
“It was like ‘The Truman Show,’” Elle said of the 1998 movie starring Jim Carrey. “We’re happy to be home.” That would be Peoria, where Elle grew up and where her parents, David and Julie Bielfeldt, still live. It’s also a place that has been pretty good to Meyers Leonard, Welcome to Sankoty starting in 2010 when his Robinson High School team won the Class 2A state basketball title here, before he and Elle would meet at the University of Illinois.
And central Illinois now brags Sankoty, to boot.
“Do you believe we’re in Illinois?” Elle asked on a tour of the 220-acre site this week. “It’s really redefining tourism in Illinois. There’s nothing else like it.”
Meanwhile, the trout in the man-made stream meandering by Sankoty’s 20 “glamping” tents – one of the very few places you can find trout in the state – proved no match for the 7-footer, or for his wife. It’s a comfortable setting for a Leonard who describes himself as “a big-time homebody,” and who characterizes his relationship with Coors as “a match made in heaven.”
“Their marketing campaign is ‘made to chill.’ … It’s how I live my life off the court.”
And it’s the message he’s helping to spread as he, Elle, and Koko have continued their journey
across the country, with scheduled stops at the Coors brewery in Golden, Colo. and Moab, Utah before reaching their offseason home in the Los Angeles area.
There, Meyers will continue his training for his ninth season in the NBA, and Elle will pick back up with running her Level Foods snack and energy bar business. You can follow the Leonards on their respective Twitter accounts here and here.
In the meantime, if you’re curious who’s the best shooter in the family, you might want to check out this clip.
And rest assured, in between the bounces of their lives, “when we’re in Peoria, we have to stay here,” Elle said of Sankoty.
“No question, we’re staying here,” added Meyers. “It’s just so darn peaceful. It’s a super cool, unique place. Why wouldn’t we stay here? It’s special.”