The Amy Eagan Podcast

Gary (00:03)
Welcome to the Amy Egan podcast, where each week during the season and every other week in the off season, Lindenwood University head women's basketball coach Amy Egan talks about women's basketball and much, much more. And as we head through the March madness season and out of the regular basketball season, we'll be doing the podcast every other week. And in these coming months, Coach Egan will be inviting high school coaches, members of the Lindenwood community and the community at large to join her for more discussions about women's sports, careers.

athletics and anything else that we would think has value to listeners in our audience. So, Coach Egan, welcome back. It's always a pleasure to have you on the podcast.

amy (00:41)
So excited to be here as always.

Gary (00:44)
And you're probably not winding down because there's still a lot of basketball going on. And I, you know, I've I've got my my March Madness picks in the other room. So my wife is going to tease me mercilessly in the next couple of weeks as I miss miss my picks. Are you going to be watching some basketball?

amy (00:46)
Yeah.

I don't even know if I'm going to have time to watch basketball because of all this transfer portal stuff. No, I love, love, love March Madness. And I honestly, I haven't filled out brackets yet because we've been so busy, but I'd like to fill out a bracket, but I do have my two winners picked. I'm picking Yukon for the men and I'm picking South Carolina for the women. So I do know that. So.

Gary (01:22)
Oh, that's such a stretch, man. You're going out on a limb, coach.

amy (01:25)
I know, like I'm really not picking any, you know, I know upsets to win it, but, you know, I feel like those two have a really good shot. So, so we'll see. I need to pick the games in between now.

Gary (01:40)
Well, first season wrap. Tell us, Coach, what went well and what you and your staff will work to improve on for year two at the New England University.

amy (01:52)
I think there's so many things both sides that you just mentioned. I think so many things went well and I think there's so many things that we learned and have opportunities to change and grow and put our kids and our program in a better position. So that really, really excites me because we have found a lot of both. I think when you talk about the things that went really, really well, I mean, could sit here and, you know,

say, hey, you know, we won seven games, but that's definitely not what we expect. That's not where we want to be. You know, that's not even average. But we did so many things great within that process of winning their seven games. And I think the biggest thing is, you know, I just loved I love this team that we had. I love the kids that we had. I love the base of the program that we set, the culture that we set.

Um, and I think that's so, so important in your first year is to have the right people and the right kids and really laid that groundwork to build on for further going forward and so forth. And I think we really, really did that. Um, you know, I, we started postseason this week and I looked at, you know, our, our kids just are, they're just working like they're, they're excited for that next step. And, uh, they want to continue to build this into something really, really special. And we just have a very special group. And so.

Really excited about that. I think that's the number one thing that, you know, my takeaway from the whole thing is we're not where we want to be. Uh, but I think we, we are headed in a, in a very, very good direction and exciting direction. Um, you know, when you talk about like changing things, I think there's a lot you talk about some of, uh, the X's and O's type stuff. I mean, we kind of came in with a general idea of, Hey, you know, this is what's been successful for us in the past.

Let's try to stay as true to that as we can. And we did make some adjustments from that throughout the year. But now, you know, I think going through the OVC, we found some stuff that we want to change. You know, we were switching one through five. We feel like we probably shouldn't switch one through five, maybe one through four, you know. So I think there's some things that we can really, really change that can help put our kids in a more successful position. The other, the flip side of that is now I also feel like.

You know, like we knew a lot of these kids when you recruit them, you know, I'm like, you, you get to know them, you watch a lot of them. So you feel like, you know, their game, but you're never truly sure how it's going to transition to the college level. Right. And so like, you know, we look at, you know, Ellie or, you know, I think Ellie is a great example. Like we knew she was going to be able to shoot it, but there's so many things now that we know that we need to add to her game and work on her game.

that can continue to take her to the next level. I think we found that out with a lot of our kids. Hey, this is where they're really good at catching the ball and scoring. This is where they're not. And so I think one year helps you with that so that next year, we're not trying to figure all that out during the year with our kids. We kind of already have the base of our kids that we know what they're good at and can put them in better positions offensively and defensively and so forth. So.

Again, a lot, a lot of things, both sides of the basketball and a lot of good things and a lot of things that we want to get better at. And I'm really, really excited for that.

Gary (05:20)
And we've talked a couple of times about the University of Southern Indiana and you've mentioned how pleased and impressed you are with what they've done there. And yet, like Lindenwood, they've got two more years left on the waiting period before they can be eligible for the big dance to use that term. What are your thoughts on that for your waiting period? You knew it coming in, but what are your thoughts?

amy (05:38)
Yeah, I mean, you know, I understand why the NCAA does it and has done it. And I think a lot of that is because there is a really big jump when you look at budgets from D2 to D1 and the number of scholarships from D2 to D1. And then you're not just talking about women's basketball, you're talking about a whole athletic department that's making that jump usually, you know? So like that's a lot of money, you know? And so I think...

the NCAA reasoning, a lot of it is to help with that transition of step by step. This year you add another scholarship, you add more to your budget. The next year you add another scholarship. One of the things I really feel at Lindenwood is that we're already there. And can things, can we continue to get better? Can we continue to add to our budget, those kind of things? Yes, but they've already given us.

Gary (06:19)
Interesting.

amy (06:33)
the scholarships and the budgets that we need to be successful in the OVC. So that was a big part of me taking over and knowing that, hey, we still can't play in the NCAA tournament. We're going to have to build it anyways a little bit, but we can still play in the WNIT and some of the other postseason tournaments. So, you know, to me, you know, winning a conference championship and cutting down a net, of course we want to get to that point of the NCAA tournament. Yes, but.

If we can play in the WNIT and still cut down nets, I'll take that right now for sure.

Gary (07:04)
And I'm guessing, Amy, it was about this time last year that the Lindenwood opportunity might have started to appear on your radar. And now you've had a year to get settled in. And I know from the conversations you and I've had that the summer was tough because you had to put in so much. How are you going to do things differently this summer to get your players ready for year two?

amy (07:23)
Yeah.

Well, I don't know if you noticed, but I was smiling when you said that. I have just really, really enjoyed this year at Leonardwood and not just on the floor with our kids, but off the floor with the people on campus, with the administration, with people like you, Gary. I mean, it's just been a really, really good year. And people ask me all the time, how do I feel? I'm like, I just love it. And they're like, well, you won seven games. I'm like,

I know it's going to get better, but I just love it. You know, uh, so, um, I think, you know, that's, that's always, I think, really, really exciting is that, um, I'm in a really, really good place with it, but I do think there's a lot last, last summer was we were still piecing together. Even some of our core of our roster, you know, I had no clue how any, I was still piecing together my staff. I had no clue how anything worked at Lindenwood in regards to scheduling the gym or.

How do we get them gear or, you know, all those kinds of things. Now we know all that. I would say the biggest, probably the biggest thing though, is that last summer, you know, we spent last summer with our kids really working on our overall schemes, like our defensive scheme, some of our offensive scheme to kind of lay the groundwork for that because we knew it was going to take a long, long time. Well, this summer we won't do as much of that. We'll do a lot more, which we've already kind of started in the postseason.

a lot more like IQ stuff, individual skill work with them, helping build a lot of their games and helping also build a lot of our IQ. And so whether it's coming off screens or reading screens, just all those little things that you just don't have extra time during the year to do that I think we missed out on last summer with this group because we were all so new, we're still piecing everything together. So I think that...

our kids will really, really benefit from that. And I think they're really, really going to enjoy that.

Gary (09:28)
So you mentioned being at Leonard Wood now for a year, so year two, you know where the coffee pot is and all the other stuff associated with the coffee pot. And you know, and it's not been... Okay, I did not know that. In every organization, there's people who get things done, people not quite so much. And Amy, you've built successful programs everywhere you've been. How will you use year two and the relationships you've developed both inside and outside the university?

amy (09:34)
I own that coffee pot just so you know.

Gary (09:56)
to move that program, to move your program forward.

amy (09:59)
Well, I think as a coach, you're always working to do those things if you want to be successful. And that's definitely something that we are, we're really working really hard on. You know, I think, you know, you look at like, I mean, I'll give you an example, kind of our even team camp last year, you know, you know, a lot of that was, Hey, you know, you've been to our camps before, you know, would you be interested in coming up here to camp? And we were able to steal some kids that.

or some teams that we had consistently a jury and those kinds of things because they enjoyed the way we ran camps and so forth. I expect now, you know, last summer we asked some coaches to take chances on us in the St. Louis area. Hey, come to our camp, see what it's about, you know. I think we got a lot of really good feedback from it and some things that we could grow from as well with that. But I think our team camp right now, we probably have already exceeded with sign up the amount of teams that we had last year.

And so I expect everything to kind of continue in the direction we're headed, but to go kind of to that next level with stuff. And I feel like, you know, when you talk about like, like relationships with kids in the area or relationships with high school coaches in the area, you know, we had a kid in the transfer portal today that I talked to and some parents are like,

And she's kind of from the area and she's said, Hey, we have heard a lot of really good things that's happening, not only at Lindenwood, but within your program. So I think words getting out there. Um, and I think a lot of positive things are being said, uh, and that's something we want to continue to grow. We want to continue to get our name out there.

Gary (11:40)
So I guess it was, I stopped by the gin and I had a chance to shoot a couple hoops with Ellie and Maya. They were in one of the sub rooms shooting around. And there was some mutual, yeah, you're Jim Rans. There was some mutual teasing me about being old, but I've got some games. So I teased them and I teased Maya. She was shooting some threes that the difference between me and her was that my shots went in and hers did not. Those are the kind of...

amy (11:47)
haha

are gym rats.

I'm sorry.

It's gonna change her.

Gary (12:09)
spontaneous events that I think help make a college experience memorable. You know, relationships across the board, whether they're all boards like me or others. And what can you do as a coach to get your players the opportunities to have those community member development experiences in the four years they're with you?

amy (12:30)
I think a lot of that is number one, the people you have in your program and the type of people that you have in your program. I think our kids are really good at building those relationships. You know, we talk in with them that when you talk about like a relationship, whether it's with your significant other or a relationship with a professor, like it's a two -way street and you have to play your part in that. And so our kids understand that like they have to give.

you know, if they're going to take and those kinds of things with it. And so I think our kids have really understood that that's part of, you know, within the community, like you have to give if you want back, you know, and I tell them a lot, the more you give, the more you get. Right. And so I think they have really bought into that and invested in that. And not only just in our program and within each other, but also within the community of Linda would, you know, our.

kids, if you talk to, you we have postseason meetings and that our kids generally just really like being at Linda wood and that's not just basketball. You know, that's the campus life. That's the professors. That's the academic side of things. Like, you know, someone will say, I don't really enjoy school, but if I'm going to do school, I like doing it at Linda wood, you know, but, um, but you run into some of that, but they generally just like.

their everyday life at Linda Wood. And I think that says a lot about not only the people in our program, but the people on campus and the people that communicate on a day -to -day basis, our professors, all those people that are involved in this process are, even if you go as deep as our athletic trainer, our strength and conditioning coach, Maya Wallace is our academic advisor, the kids just really like them.

And that just helps in their overall experience that just makes it that much better.

Gary (14:26)
Cool. And then one final question before I wrap up this podcast. And I know you can't talk about specific recruits, but you're sitting in the head coach's chair. And how are you feeling as you're putting together your second recruiting class at London Wood?

amy (14:40)
Yeah, I mean, you know, I feel really, really good because I think we got a lot of kids coming back that are really super good and super talented and have a taste of everything, you know, right now. They're no longer freshmen, so they have no excuses anymore. So I feel really good first and foremost because of that, because those kids are taking another, you know, another chance on us, as I like to say, and coming back for another year, even though this year was really hard.

But, you know, we feel like we got to go get four kids and some missing pieces that we just didn't have this year. You know, we weren't great at rebounding. We weren't very deep in the post. You know, we're losing one of our best defenders. So there's some pieces that we feel like could, that if we can get out of the portal or a JUCO transfer could really, really benefit our overall program that.

We're working on it's too early right now. I think in the process because the portal just opened two days ago to really know where anything sits with any of those transfers. But I feel like we've had some really good conversations already. We've had some really talented kids reach out to us already and we've done the same thing reaching out to some talented kids. So I think we are right now sitting in a really good spot, but it's way, way too early to see where things will will end or fall.

I will always say I'll be picky in regards to it's got to be the right kid, not just a kid for us to continue to do what we're doing and continue to build on what we're building.

Gary (16:08)
Yeah. Good. Well, we've come to an end of this podcast episode with Lyndenwood University Head Women's Basketball Coach Amy Egan. I encourage you to share the podcast link with friends, families and neighbors. And again, we'll be on every other week during the offseason. We'll have Coach Egan along with a number of different kinds of guests. And we'll look forward to you with.

We look forward to having you join us in. For Gary Stocker and Amy Egan, we'll talk to you next time.