The Amy Eagan Podcast

Gary (00:02.538)
Welcome to the Amy Egan podcast, where each Saturday, Lyndon Wood University head women's basketball coach, Amy Egan talks women's basketball and much, much more. We'll talk about past games, future games, players, the Ohio Valley Conference, the NCAA, academics, careers, and many other interesting topics.

This week we're going to talk about the win and Monday's education to get a game. And Amy, just a fascinating event all around. I'll ask coach about how many high school basketball games she's going to watch the next coming weeks as the holiday tournaments kick off and a trip for Lindenwood to a big 10 game next week in Minnesota. That will be fascinating. And so Amy is always welcome. I know you're in Evansville, Indiana today. You have a big game this afternoon sometime. I think it is. And.

amy (00:48.242)
Yeah, absolutely. We tip off today at 2 o'clock versus Evansville. And we already been up and been at shoot around and back. So right now, they're kind of probably resting a little bit, looking at some videos, some scout, and getting ready for a pregame meal here right around 11.

Gary (01:06.59)
Excellent. Well, we've just got to start with the education, education day game last Monday. I had anticipated this because I talked with Taylor. She was on our podcast last week and I'd seen and heard the stories about what they had done at, what you had done at Drury. And you know, tell you what, coach, I think we need to have an education day game every single game.

amy (01:25.598)
I mean, I would love that because I think, you know, anytime you can get kids around your program and I've said it over and over and I think it gives them dreams and stuff, role models, you know, people they can look up to, all those kind of things. But, you know, in regards to coaching in that every game, I don't know, that's pretty hard. I'm pretty sure our kids didn't hear anything that we were saying on the sideline.

Gary (01:45.198)
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.

amy (01:53.053)
So it's hard to coach in that, but I think it's a ton of fun for our kids to play in that.

Gary (01:57.95)
And I saw your players working their way through the students and the crowd after the game. That had to be a pretty neat experience for them.

amy (02:04.774)
Yeah, I think they love it. I think all those students that every school's given kind of a player to kind of read their bio and look at what they've done. And they make posters for them. And we have kids that ask for autographs. And so I think it's a pretty special day for our kids too, just because it kind of puts them in the light a little bit with it, and allows them to go up and talk to some of them.

You know high five them and all those kind of things so I think it's a special day all around

Gary (02:36.118)
So will there be an Education Day game in 2024?

amy (02:39.57)
Yeah, we plan on having one every year for sure and growing it every year in some way and making it obviously the best that we can make it for the community.

Gary (02:50.154)
So I suppose during this podcast, if there are school teachers in the St. Louis and St. Charles region listening to this, reach out to Amy Egan at Lindenwood and give an invitation to next year's education day game. It's a fascinating event in a lot of ways. And I'm sure staff will accommodate you.

amy (03:03.199)
Yeah.

Yeah, and the thing we do, we send out emails to all the schools afterwards and obviously thank them for bringing the teachers, for bringing the kids and investing in them and so forth. And then we're going to make time in January and February to go visit them at school and whether that's just do a Q&A with them or read to them or whatever the teacher kind of wants us to do activity-wise, we're going to build that relationship with them. I think again, that's so important. And so...

uh... they gave us we're gonna get back to them as well

Gary (03:37.838)
Excellent, excellent. So we're kind of in the part of the college basketball season that's winding down where more times than during the conference season, the final score shows, I don't know, 30, 40 or more point differential. How do coaches respond to their teams after both blowout wins like you had earlier this week and blowout losses?

amy (04:00.346)
Yeah, you know, I think it just depends on the coach, you know, and kind of how they handle things and their thoughts and their philosophies and maybe, you know, where they're at within their program, you know, whether they were supposed to win or not win or, you know, whatever their thoughts are with that. But, you know, I think if you're really about the process and really about continuing to get better and playing your best basketball in February and March, which I would think most coaches were or are about that.

You know, I think it's about trying to figure out what you did well during that game and what you need to get better At and so much of basketball is about matchups, you know and any given day in any given night you match up with everybody differently So figuring out ways when you know when things don't go well What you can do better the next day or what you could just grow in your program, you know And I think I've said it a million times we have so many things that we haven't been able to do with our kids or be able to talk about with our kids that

We need to continue to grow their knowledge of the game, their X's knows, their IQ of the game that will help them so that when they're put in a situation they haven't been in before or it's a tough matchup, you know, they know how to handle that. So I think, you know, from my perspective for us, you know, especially being a first year and really laying the groundwork, you know, it's a process every day for us and I always tell our kids.

You know, I say, hey, if we lose today, what's tomorrow look like? And then we go back to work. If we win today, what's tomorrow look like? We go back to work. And I think that's one of the things I tell kids is you're going to get the same for me every single day. So I think that helps them feel, you know, they're not going to get penalized for losing. They're not going to get, you know, I mean, we get obviously rewarded because we celebrate, but they don't get rewarded for winning because there's more games to be played. And so.

So I think that definitely helps when you can have some of that consistency within your program.

Gary (05:58.954)
Now, holiday basketball tournaments, I'm talking high school holiday tournaments. I assume they start the Tuesday after Christmas. Is that a big recruiting time for you? And if so, how many games will you and your staff watch in the next few weeks as the high school tournaments open up here in Missouri and Illinois?

amy (06:14.798)
Yeah, I mean it is. It's a really big time for us to be on the road recruiting. And a lot of that's because we have a lot, I don't want to say extra time, but you know, we practice in the morning with our girls and then we're able to get out kind of throughout the day and in the evenings and most evenings with them. We have fewer games, you know, where we're working on scouts and that kind of stuff. So it's probably the hardest thing about it, in all honesty, Gary, is just managing how many, how many Christmas tournaments there are and where to go.

and who to send where you know those kind of things with it but there's definitely a ton of opportunities to be out and you know we're gonna try to be out as much as we can I think you know when you look at since games have started

amy (07:07.464)
were there. I just think that's really, really important. Not that we're always recruiting, you know, kids from every tournament or every team, but I think it's important to show the support and that we're there and we are evaluating and we are looking at kids. So we try to be out as much as possible. January and February is a little bit harder just because of the number of games that we have, but when we have those opportunities we definitely get out and Christmas tournaments are fun. You know, it's fun to go watch a game and not have to stress.

about coaching and you can actually relax a little bit, have some popcorn and chat it up with your other coaching friends that are there.

Gary (07:43.778)
So you mentioned that you're in Evansville today. Is everyone healthy and ready to go?

amy (07:49.868)
I would say overall we're pretty healthy with stuff. We have some bumps and bruises here and there, and we've had some kids in and out a little bit, but I would say overall from top to bottom, we're healthy and ready to go. So, you know, I think we have an outstanding athletic training staff. You know, Sandy specifically is our trainer and does such a great job with our girls and works really, really hard for them. And then, you know, Julius, our strength and conditioning coach, also plays a part in that.

They do a great job with recovery. They do a great job with prehab all those kind of things that Have put us in a position to be healthy, you know that just doesn't happen overnight with stuff. So Very thankful for where we're at with that Let's knock on some wood and continue to pray that we stay in those positions Because as we all know and you know some teams in our league have even seen this and across the country You can have one injury and can change everything within your program. So

Just really thankful for where we're at with that.

Gary (08:50.178)
So the University of Evansville appears to have struggled early this season. What do you expect from them today?

amy (08:55.812)
They're good. I mean, you know, if you look at their games in that Almost every game that they've lost they've been within ten a lot of those games they've been up in the fourth quarter and the other team has just kind of came back and passed them but They're they're in every game. They play really hard. They got some really great post play a lot of high low type stuff Post players that can finish around the rim

They're big. So I think you're going to see a really big battle for us down in the post, especially if we allow them to catch down there, and some things that we're going to have to do to limit some of those touches. But they are definitely capable and definitely a well-coached team.

Gary (09:38.214)
I saw the Ohio Valley commissioner, Ohio Valley conference commissioner, I think it was the men's game this week. And it made me wonder, how have the Ohio Valley women's basketball teams done in November and December so far?

amy (09:41.746)
Yeah.

amy (09:51.904)
Yeah, I mean, I don't think the records probably show exactly kind of what the conference looks like and what it's going to look like when we get to games within conference. You know, I think a lot of us are playing a lot of power fives, you know, for money games and so forth with it. So I think when you look at that and every school is kind of different with how many they have to play and need to play to get some of that money. But I think that's probably why the records don't show exactly where.

the conference is at but I've been able to catch a lot of the games on ESPN Plus and watch a lot of the teams and a lot of them have some very talented players and you know some of them are still trying to figure it out and you know you even look at Little Rock who every year is great and very well coached. They haven't won a game this year but their net I think is higher than anybody in our conference and that's because they're playing all very good teams and so

I'm sure in their mind and when they get to conference there by playing these hard teams and tough teams They're preparing themselves for conference. So it'll be interesting to see when conference You know opens up where everybody's at and how much everybody grew through the non conference schedule

Gary (11:04.886)
Yeah, that's getting close. I know December 31st is the first conference game for Lindenwood. That's going to be fun to watch that conference season, I think around the country as well. So we won't be doing this podcast on the 23rd. I'm going to take a week off. So, Amy, let's go mushy for a second and tell the listeners about your holiday plans and traditions for yourself and your family.

amy (11:29.08)
Yeah, so, you know, we don't get long. And a lot of that is while we're on break is doing game film from, you know, we'll be doing game film from Minnesota and then also really breaking down Southern Indiana, which is our first conference game and getting their scout done and ready. So it's hard, you know, it's a hard balance for a lot of coaches, I think during that time in the year, because you want to have and spend time.

with your family. I think that's one of the hard things about being any kind of basketball coach is we play through every holiday, right? And so trying to find that balance and trying to find that balance and spend some time with family and friends is very important. And so I try to take as much advantage of that as I can. You know, I'll definitely go see my parents and see them. They're only two hours away right around there and see most of my siblings. I think they'll all be there except for one of them that

Gary (12:03.393)
Yeah.

amy (12:25.496)
isn't able to make it back. And then I'll head down to Springfield for a couple days and see some friends and family down there. And then I'll head back. So again, it's really quick. And it's a great time, I think, specifically for our kids to get away from hearing us every single day, to kind of regroup, refocus, and then hit that most important time of the year. So I hope they take full advantage of it as well.

Gary (12:53.486)
Okay, good. And you're headed up into the cold, cold north next week to Minnesota. That's gonna be tough. I watched the University of Minnesota team hold it on against UConn for the better part of their game a few weeks ago. I don't know how many big city players you have on your team. I really haven't looked at that. And what do you expect that experience to be like for those kids on your team, those players on your team to get in such a big, high level environment like the University of Minnesota?

amy (13:05.908)
Mm-hmm.

amy (13:22.608)
Yeah, you know, I kind of talked to our kids the other day, just that we, you know, we had two games left and it'd be really nice if we can. There's obviously we don't have to, but if we could, you know, win one of them and that, you know, University of Minnesota is the best team we've played so far all year. And so really focusing in on this one and really doing everything we can to put ourselves in a position to win. And I think they're doing that and I think they've done that. But man, they are good.

So well coached. I've known Don their head coach for years And they're just so well coached and she does such a great job and already doing that in her first year with them They play hard They're well coached and they're very skilled and they're big. So, you know, we're gonna go up there and You know, we're gonna enjoy the experience We'll prepare like we do every other game and I expect our kids to play hard and compete

and then wherever that falls, it'll fall. But it'll be fun to see and be in that environment. I'm sure they will have an outstanding crowd to be in that environment and play that type of competition.

Gary (14:32.106)
Well, Amy, please accept my best wishes for you and your family for the holiday season and all the players as well. We've come to the end of this podcast with Lindenwood University head women's basketball coach Amy Egan. And I encourage each of the listeners to share the podcast link with friends and families and neighbors. If you have questions or comments or want to do next year's education day with coach Egan and her team, drop me an email at gstalker. That's G-S-T-O-C-K-E-R at lindenwood.edu. We'll be back on December 30th.

forward to that podcast with Linwood basketball coach Amy Egan.