The Amy Eagan Podcast

Gary (00:02)
Welcome to the Amy Egan podcast where each week, Lyndon Wood, University head women's basketball coach Amy Egan talks women's basketball and much, much more. We'll talk during season about past games and future games.

We'll have players on from time to time. We'll have high school and other coaches from time to time. We'll talk about the Ohio Valley Conference and all that's going on in the NCAA. We'll talk about academics, careers, and many, many other interesting topics associated with the college experience, both for athletes and for students. Amy, welcome. And I got to tell you, I stopped in on one of your camps, I guess it was last week sometime. You had a lot of girls there. What was going on?

amy (00:42)
Yeah, yeah, we, you know, we're done with camp season right now. And, you know, it's kind of a relief that you're done, but it's also a really unique and special time in our program. And, you know, I'm really happy, extremely happy with how camps went this year. You know, we, you look at our elite camp, we sold that out and had some great talent there that we were able to evaluate, especially some young kids. And I had a couple of kids that we, we offered from that. And then.

You know, after elite camp, we had our youth camp and we actually doubled in size in youth camp, went from 20 to about 40 kids this year. So I think that just shows the, you know, the amazing work that our kids and my staff do during that time with the youth. And I think we're growing in the community, as I said, with stuff. And so we want to continue to increase that. I have no doubt we will. I think those kids had a lot of fun and actually learned a lot of things as well with it. And then, you know, our final camp was team camp and

We doubled that as well. We went from about 26 teams to 52 teams and that was varsity and JV combined. I think we still have a little bit of room for growth. We're almost sold out in regards to using our own facilities, known campus. But I think this year we had invited college coaches within the area to come evaluate and see some kids and I think that helped.

You know, I just have such a great staff, Jordan and Taylor, and you know, Lindsay was in charge of the referees and you know, she probably, you know, I think she hired probably one of the best referees I've heard of and actually got a compliment from an alumni that he, he repped their game and did a phenomenal job. I think his name was Gary Stocker. But I think, no, you did a great job. But.

Gary (02:28)
You know, no, if you're kissing up, Amy, you just can't kiss up like that.

amy (02:35)
Yeah, I, my staff just, they worked so, so hard at putting together smooth running camps that the kids and the coaches are going to get a lot out of. And, they just did such a great job. And I'm very appreciative of all the hard work because that's not easy. That's a lot of time. That's a lot of commitment, to getting those up and running and running smoothly and getting the word out, you know, getting teams committed and getting kids committed. And, they're just such.

so great at all that and invest so much in that and that just helps our program so very appreciative of that.

Gary (03:07)
So kind of the theme for today's podcast really is in conjunction with those camps. And it's usually term evaluate kids. And it's kind of like that, but really a theme as you and I have discussed is really giving parents and their children kind of your perspective on what their opportunities might be to play college sports, in particular, college basketball. And so just kind of the questions I have are associated with that coach. And there's what five basic levels, community college,

amy (03:13)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Gary (03:37)
NAIA and then the three division, NCA division levels. And just, you know, from your perspective from a couple of those, what's the, just for our parents perspective, for a kid's perspective, what's the physical, what are the physical, academic, and even skill requirements for some, if not all those levels?

amy (03:54)
Yeah, well, you know, I first want to say, and I'm a really, really big component of this. And you probably know just from when we had Darryl on here, like any level of basketball is good basketball. I mean, you can find good basketball at any level. And, you know, to me, it's, you know, not only about D1, I think, and I hope every parent and every kid understands that the most important thing is the fit, right? And

that the kid is getting out of the experience, what they want to get out of this experience. You know, I tell a lot of recruits and a lot of families that, you know, if I'm them, I'm, and I'm looking at and exploring the option of playing college basketball, I'm going to sit down and I'm going to really do some self -evaluation of what I really want. Like, is it to play as a freshman? Is it, you know, the academic side of things? Is it distance from home? You know, what's really, really going to make me happy? And I think

You know, from my personal experience, I had such a great guidance with that from my parents that I did find the perfect fit and it wasn't division one, it was division two. Could I have played division one? I absolutely believe that I had such a great division two career, but I wouldn't take anything back from my experience and what I was able to achieve and the teams I played on, the coaching staff I had, and the school I went to. So I think, you know, that's the first thing is that I'm a big component of every level and I believe

Every level is different in ways and has advantages and disadvantages in ways. So I think that's the biggest thing. You know, when you look at skill level and you look at, you know, what, what people are looking at with that, I think it's dependent on number one, the coach and what they look for. And then number two, also the style of play. I think, you know, there's a lot of kids that I'm like, yeah, they, you know, they're a division one kid for sure, but they don't fit our style.

And I think that's the biggest thing that parents and athletes need to remember is that, again, it's about fit. It's about finding the right fit for you in regards to style, to skill set, and anything that you want out of your college career.

Gary (06:02)
And let's talk a little bit about, because parents, in my experience, and I did this with my children when they were younger, they're looking at sports as one of the ways to kind of help with the cost of college. And can you just kind of describe for the NCA three, the three levels of NCA one, two, and three, what are the different ways scholarships, grants, and discounts are awarded?

amy (06:26)
Yeah, you know, I think the very first thing that I would say is that even within every level, every school could be different, you know, with what they offer, don't offer with it. You know, I know even when I was at Division Two, you know, there's some schools that are fully funded in scholarships. There's some schools that aren't. Same thing for NAIA. I'm sure I haven't been at the JUCO level, but I'm sure it's similar at the JUCO level as well. And, you know, D3 doesn't

offer athletic scholarships, but they offer academic scholarships. So it's a lot different within every level. But the thing I would tell you and say is that it's really, really important, I believe, for every kid, number one, to look at their academics and to focus on their academics. You know, at the Division I level, does that play a factor in regards to the scholarships we offer? No.

but does it play a factor in regards to what a lot of college coaches are looking for at the Vision 1 level? Yes. We all want kids that are invested in their academics, they care about their academics, that want to do great things with their careers, and that we don't have to babysit when they get to college, right? So I think, but I think at a lot of the other levels, academics is really important because so many of the scholarships are stacked.

you know, academic with athletic on top and so forth with it. So I would say the first thing is that I would encourage everyone to, you know, invest in the academic side of things in high school and to really, you know, pay attention to that as they go. You know, I think, you know, you look at then some of the FAFSA type stuff that I know is having a lot of trouble right now with a lot of schools and it's a big discussion topic for everything, but you know, the FAFSA can help in a lot of ways in regards to

If you get some free grants or free Pell money with the cost of school, it also offers, gives parents the ability to offer or accept some possible scholarships and some possible loans with it. So I think that's another way to help cover some of that with it. But again, I think the kid, you know, the most important thing is to really invest in the academic side of things first, because that can really help cut down on some of that cost.

Gary (08:42)
Interesting. Now we've all read stories, you and I, and I'm sure everybody listening to this podcast about parents who are, how I'll put this nicely, more aggressive than maybe they should be in providing their children towards some level of athletics and whatever sport that they choose. What kind of guidance would you give parents on how...

amy (08:53)
.

Gary (09:04)
how persistent, I guess, they should be in moving their children toward some level of athletic skill that would get them a better chance for that college scholarship.

amy (09:06)
Yeah.

Yeah, well, I definitely don't want to tell parents how to parent, you know, and those kind of things. But I think just like we talk about, you know, coaching kids, every kid's different with how you coach them. And some kids respond well to being coached hard. Some kids maybe don't. So I think there's kind of that balance of figuring out what, you know, your your your your kid needs and what it looks like. You know, I do.

hope and believe that, you know, it's important that the kids want to do what they're doing and that they're passionate about what they're doing and that they're not forced to do things. I think that ends up showing at the end that it's not something that's going to benefit them. But, you know, I think parents, you know, I think a lot of them, it is a hard line because you want your kid to do so well. But I think just encouraging them and being positive with them.

can always help them continue to achieve great, great things. And I think just giving them opportunities a lot of times, you know, and I think so many parents do a great job of that with AU and, you know, high school, even high school ball in the summer and those kinds of things, just giving them the opportunities and then letting them kind of decide where they want that opportunity to take them. I think encouraging them and being supportive of the decisions.

some of the decisions, I know you have to help guide them in those kinds of things, but the decisions they make. I say a lot of times, one of the reasons I was so great, and again, this is just me, is because my parents just, they didn't really know a lot about basketball. They just let me go and fail and get back on my feet and encouraged me and let me kind of go in the path that I needed to go in and the path I wanted to go in with it. So I'm just really appreciative of that.

as I kind of went through my career. But again, it's different with every parent, I think.

Gary (11:07)
Yeah. So youth sports in the last 20 years, maybe the last 30 years has exploded. There's no question. AAU and traveling teams and select teams, whatever you call them. And I know I went through that with my son in particular. What kind of guidance would you give parents on the coach that might coach the team, whatever the sport might be?

amy (11:26)
Yeah.

Yeah, there's so many good coaches and great coaches out there in the AU world. You know, I think it's again, it's about fit and making sure that what you want out of your experience with that organization you're going to get, you know, maybe that's how many kids are on the roster. Maybe that's what the commitment is for skill work. Maybe that's what the commitment is for practice every week. I think there's still some.

you know, organizations that are different within that. And again, I think finding the right fit for what you want is important and doing your research on that, you know, because I think some teams, you know, travel more than other teams. Some teams don't. So I think, you know, there's a financial part to that as well as what fits your family with it. But man, there's a lot, a lot of great organizations out there out and there's a lot of great coaches out there. And I think it is just about finding the right fit for you.

Gary (12:24)
So let's assume I'm a parent and I have a seventh grade or eighth grade or maybe a freshman who I think has the potential to play at some level of college. Should I approach the coach or should I let the coach find my child?

amy (12:39)
Wow. You know, I don't think it ever hurts to reach out. You know, I kind of tell kids a little bit of that in the recruiting trail. On the recruiting trail, you know, if there's certain schools that you're like, man, I really, this is really like my dream school, you know, reach out to them. I don't think it hurts. I mean, we still don't get to see every kid in America, right? They'll, it doesn't mean that like,

Gary (13:03)
Ha ha.

amy (13:07)
they're open to recruiting you and that, but if you don't ask, you don't know type stuff with it. So I don't think it hurts. The worst case scenario is that you can get a no, and then you know that it's not going to be a great fit for you. You know, I think every coach is different with how much they respond or don't respond to those kinds of things too. So, you know, some, some coaches don't respond, but may look at, look at the recruiting trail and try to catch a game of years on the recruiting trail just kind of depends. But I think again, I think it's just,

kind of depending, dependent on what you feel like you need or what you feel like you want to do. There's some kids are such high level that they don't have to do any of that, right? And there's some kids that maybe don't play on a travel team that travels as much as much that maybe wants to do that, just to see if they can get more attention with stuff. You know, it's such a hard, it's such a hard recruiting world in regards to all of that kind of stuff, because again,

it's about fit to and what each school's looking for in that class, right? Like I may be looking for a point guard one year and then the next year I may not be looking for a point guard. I mean, you know, last year we were looking for 12 new kids. This year we were only looking for four or five, you know, next year it's only going to be two or three. And so because we started so young, our classes will get a little bit smaller right now. And then, you know, once those, that freshman class graduates, we're going to be looking for a huge class again. So.

Gary (14:15)
you

amy (14:32)
It's hard to balance a lot of that. We try to, but again, it's different every year. And just because the school says no, it doesn't mean that it couldn't be a yes in the future with a portal or anything like that. Just depends again on what they need and what they're looking for.

Gary (14:47)
Yeah. Let's kind of move on to the Amy Egan approach. What's, what is your recruiting philosophy and approach to bringing basketball talent to Lindenwood University?

amy (14:58)
Yeah, so, you know, we're always trying to get the best people, the best students, the best players we can, you know, and I think that's really important to us. And then our job and our focus and what we try to do is to take them all to that next level, right, to make them, challenge them and make them the best people, students and players they can be by the time they graduate.

And so I think initially a lot of it starts, you know, when we're out evaluating or evaluating to see talent wise, position wise, you know, whether it's work ethic wise, motor wise, if they fit what we need in that class. So we kind of start there with it. And then if we find kids that we like, we're like, this kid could play for us or we like their talent. Then we deep dive a little bit more into it with AU coaches or high school coaches.

find out what type of person they are and how did they work and what their grades are, what their parents are like, as many questions as we can ask. And then we get on the phone with them and we have conversations with them. And I think, I tell my staff this too, if we get kids and parents and families on campus, I think you can tell a lot of the feel of if they are a good fit or aren't a good fit.

how they answer things and how they respond to things and those kinds of things. So I think that helps too with it. But I think there is a lot of research. I still always say this too though, like the hardest thing is as much research as we do. I mean, we still make mistakes. You know, we do. We make mistakes because you really truly do not know what you're getting until they get on campus. And no matter how much research you do, how they, how they do handle your coaching, how they do handle their

their work ethic, you know, and how they do handle the classroom. So it's, it's, you know, as much research as we try to do, we still do make some mistakes with it. We just try to do the best that we can to get the right, the right people and the right kids and the right talent.

Gary (16:58)
So let's try a scenario question next. I'm a parent and I have a child you're recruiting. What are the best questions I should ask you about my child going to your college to make sure I'm doing my job as a parent to find the best fit for them?

amy (17:16)
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think, you know, every coach is different with how much they talk about their program and so forth. You know, I tell every parent and student, like their goal is to get as much information about a student and a basketball program as they can to make a good decision for themselves. Right. I think I talk a lot about who we are and I try to talk about everything that.

You know, whether it's the academic side of things, our expectations off the floor in the community, our expectations on the floor, you know, work ethic, our expectations, the teammates that they are expectations. Like I try to talk about as much as I can because as I tell them, I want them to know what they're getting themselves into. Right. with it. So, I think there's, you know, I, I try to tell them like to take notes on what I say, and then that gives you opportunities to ask other coaches that maybe don't talk as much about.

their program that you can again gain more information from them to help make a great decision for yourself. So I think that's got to be the goal. But I think you got to ask anything and everything that you need to know that you know is going to be important to you, whether that is the financial side of things, whether that is the academic side of things, whether that is what on the court looks like. I would also say this to parents and

anybody that's helping kids within this process. I do believe that one of the most important things is for the recruits to spend time with my players without us around as a coaching staff because you know, I can say whatever I want to say and I can I can tell you from my perspective what it's like to be in our program, but they're actually the ones experiencing it right.

They're actually the people you're gonna spend 99 % of your time with. So you wanna make sure that your goals and what you want out of your college experience and what the coach is saying is actually happening with the students. And I tell them, I want you to ask our kids those things because I'm sure what I tell you is what they're experiencing, you know? But I don't know if that's the case at every school in every situation. So we...

Gary (18:59)
Yeah.

amy (19:23)
Typically do not there's some maybe some situations just because of timeframes and that but we typically do not Let kids accept offers until they spend time with our players without us around so That's I think some maybe some really good advice for parents and student athletes to think about and I can go for any sport

Gary (19:44)
So final question, let's stick with that scenario. So you have recruited my child, my child has recruited you, and we both end up with my child playing on your program. And if a student gets to college and experiences a lack of playing time, and I know the portal's a big deal these days, but my student gets not as much playing time as he or she wants, what guidance would you give them and their parents if that's their perception?

amy (20:13)
Yeah, I think, you know, I think it depends a little bit on the student athlete. Maybe, you know, I'd hope we'd already have three or four conversations leading up to that, that they would know, you know, maybe why they're not playing as much. I do think it's really hard as freshmen to step into college and play immediately, just because it's such a different level.

And some kids, you know, do that transition easy. Some kids it takes a little bit longer. So again, if this kid's a kid that takes a little bit longer, it's maybe having that conversation of, you know, I do believe you can play here. But this is just taking you a little bit longer to get to you to where we need to be, you know, and sometimes it doesn't work out, you know, and you have those honest conversations that I think it's probably better if you go somewhere else. But, you know, we try to have three or four conversations probably leading up to that.

to give them some insight to why they're not and what that looks like so that they can make those decisions for themselves. And again, we make mistakes. It's not that we don't. And sometimes, you know, kids make mistakes with choosing schools. So there are some situations I think that, you know, going into the portal is beneficial for kids. But, you know, I would also to, you know, I want to make sure and say this, you know, Gary, at the end of this podcast, I'm probably should have said it at the beginning.

You know, just because what I say on here is not the end all to everything, right? Coaches, a million coaches do things a million different ways. And, you know, I'm just kind of giving some insight from how we do things, you know, and I tell kids that, you know, when we, when we get players on campus, recruits on campus and parents on campus, and then the kids get back on campus after they've signed with us, I remind them there's a million ways to win, right?

Gary (21:43)
I'm going to go to bed.

amy (22:01)
There's a million ways to lose, right? So just because you did it a certain way before and maybe had success or didn't doesn't mean it's right or wrong. Okay. it just how we do things, we've had great success with that. And we believe that's, the way we want to do them and what works for us, but it doesn't mean that it works for everyone. So I think that's really, really important as we talk about this with.

And if parents listen to this or student athletes listen to this or other coaches listen to this, that they understand that there's a million ways to do things with it. But this is how we do things and some success that we've had with it has been shown.

Gary (22:39)
Well, Amy, we've come to the end of this podcast episode. And of course, it's been with Lindenwood University Head Women's Basketball Coach, Amy Egan. I encourage those of you listening in, especially this episode with Amy's guidance for future college students that are currently in high school or maybe even in middle school, to share Amy's perspective on what that college recruiting and playing experience is like. If you have any questions or comments for Coach Egan for future podcasts, email them to me. How about at G, Stalker.

Amy, always a pleasure. We'll talk again soon.

amy (23:17)
Thanks, Gary.