Special-needs siblings never far from mind of ‘The Chosen One’

Brian Ellis calls Adisa Isaac “The Chosen One.” His nickname for Isaac’s mother, Lisa Wiltshire-Isaac, is “Superwoman.”

But this isn’t a story about people with super powers — unless resilience counts. It’s more like a fairy tale — Brooklyn-style — based on determination and will.

How else to explain the meteoric rise of the premier football prospect in the state, a late bloomer who didn’t pick up football until his freshman year of high school, who will officially sign with Penn State on Wednesday as the early-signing period begins, all while dealing with the added responsibility of helping his single mother raise three siblings with special needs?

“I think he’s a gift from God to his [family],” Ellis, the 6-foot-5 Isaac’s football coach at Canarsie High School, told The Post as Isaac shot around with his siblings in the Brooklyn school’s gymnasium. “He’s the one who’s here to change their lives.”

The oldest brother, 28-year-old Kyle Wiltshire, was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, cutting off oxygen to his brain and stunting his development. The two others, 18-year-old Y’ashua Isaac and 14-year-old Tadj, are autistic. All three are non-verbal. When they see their 17-year-old brother, their eyes light up, and they engulf him in big hugs. They attend all of his games with their mother, often the loudest fans in the stands, pointing at him after every big play.

A major factor in Isaac, a four-star recruit and the nation’s fourth-ranked weak-side defensive end according to 247Sports.com, choosing Penn State over Texas A&M, Miami and Syracuse wasn’t about playing time promises or its Big Ten brand. It was how the coaching staff treated the Queens native’s family.

“I don’t know anybody who could know his story who could root against this kid,” said Brian Dohn, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.com. “He’s the easiest kid to root for in the 2019 class.”

Wiltshire-Isaac, a special-education teacher at P.S. 138 in Queens, has raised her four children on her own, their father not in the picture. She’s done her best to give Isaac a normal childhood, to allow him to be a teenager instead of a pseudo-parent for his brothers and sister. When Y’ashua and Tadj aren’t in school at the Roy Campanella Occupational Training Center and Kyle isn’t in his day program for those with special needs, they’re with her. They need constant attention.

“I always told him to do his best, give me good grades, no behavioral issues,” she said. “I never wanted him to take the responsibility of taking care of his siblings, to think he has to do my job. I do my job.”

When asked when she gets to relax, Wiltshire-Isaac smiled and said: “When they go to sleep.”

The humble and soft-spoken Isaac doesn’t see his upbringing as tough or difficult. He laughs off “The Chosen One” nickname Ellis has given him. His relationship with his siblings is not unlike anyone else’s, he says, other than they can’t talk. He sees himself as their bigger brother, though he isn’t the oldest, and has to lead by example.

“I try to stay as positive as possible,” he said. “We laugh sometimes. They’re mean sometimes. They’re annoying sometimes. It’s like regular siblings. They may be special needs, but we don’t treat them differently.”

Of course, that’s not entirely true. His childhood was, and is, different. He rarely goes out, often coming home early to help his mother take care of his two brothers and sister. He cooks and cleans, does laundry and will help put them to bed. Lamy Constant, his close friend and Canarsie teammate, has never heard him complain about it. Wiltshire-Isaac said the only time she can remember him getting in trouble was at a camp in middle school, when another boy hit him and he responded in self-defense. Ellis will leave his 6-year-old son with him. He’s a B-plus student on pace to graduate in December.

“He’s a special boy,” his mother said.

“To be able to separate yourself in all aspects of life at that age with everything you have going on at home, he’s one of a kind,” Constant said. “It just shows how tough he is. He knows he has to succeed. He’s just focused all the time. He knows he has to make something happen.”

Isaac was an active kid, swimming before kindergarten, trying his hand at tap dancing, choir and taekwondo. He was advanced, talking and walking by nine months, learning how to write by the age of 3. Wiltshire-Isaac began teaching him how to drive when he was 8.

His first love was basketball, because he was always tall for his age, and figured that would be his sport of choice. In middle school, football interested him, but his mother was too busy with the hectic life at home, so Isaac waited until high school.

He played on the junior varsity at Canarsie as a freshman. Initially, because of his height, he was a wide receiver, but that didn’t last long. Eventually, he moved over to defensive end, and produced 53 tackles and five sacks as a sophomore. The numbers improved gradually as a junior — 57 tackles and eight sacks — but his raw ability was clear, leading to scholarship offers from Syracuse and Rutgers. Following that season, Ellis came aboard, and felt Isaac was being severely under-recruited. A former player at UMass with plenty of college contacts, Ellis sent out Isaac’s film to anyone interested.

The response, almost in unison, was the same.

“The kid’s a freak,” the coaches told Ellis.

Penn State started the parade of offers last February. Michigan, Texas A&M and Alabama followed. Isaac received up to 20 new offers in the span of a few weeks. Every day, it seemed, he was called downstairs to the athletic director’s office to meet with a different coach. One day James Franklin of Penn State was there, the next it was Miami’s Mark Richt or Dino Babers of Syracuse.

“I’m like, ‘Wow, is this really true? Is this happening to me?’ ” Isaac recalled thinking. “They were coming so fast.”

It only motivated Isaac further. He attended exposure camps, added more offers and became a nationwide name as the state’s top-ranked prospect. The hype didn’t go to his head. He enjoyed a sensational senior season, leading Canarsie to the PSAL quarterfinals while finishing first in the city in tackles with 77, 34 for loss and 25 sacks. Teams routinely double- and triple-teamed him. It rarely made a difference.

“He’s got a huge upside,” said Dohn, the recruiting analyst. “He’s really raw and he has to not only get stronger, but really work on his technique, especially with his hands, but his explosion and just his ability to run and be athletic is off the charts.”

Isaac, indeed, is only 220 pounds, partly due to his limited time lifting weights as he juggles football and basketball. But his broad shoulders and large frame indicate plenty of room to develop. Dohn thinks by next fall, Isaac could be up to 240 pounds. He projects to be an impact player as he develops further.

“He reminds me of Shareef Miller,” the analyst said, referring to the Penn State defensive end who had seven sacks as a junior and had a similar body type coming out of high school.

Isaac doesn’t like to look too far ahead. His focus is what’s gotten him this far. But on occasion, he will think about the future. When he does, it’s about creating a better life for his family, possibly reaching the NFL one day, repaying his mom for all she’s done for him.

“I feel like God put me here to take care of her, my brothers and my sister,” he said. “I felt like it was just meant to be. It motivates me all the way.”