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Welcome to the Amy Egan podcast where each
week, Lyndon Wood University head women's

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basketball coach Amy Egan talks women's
basketball and much, much more.

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We'll talk about past games, future games,
players, the Ohio Valley Conference, the

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fabulous state of women's basketball in
America, and many, many other interesting

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topics.

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Amy, first season in the books.

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Here's how I have to start this.

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Looking back a year ago right now, March
of 2023,

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You were coaching a ridiculously strong D2
team down at Drury and recruiting a new

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class to join you there.

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And most of those players came with you to
Indenwood.

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What can you say about that transition
from both your perspective and those

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players?

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Yeah, you know, looking back on a year
from now, it's amazing how fast this year

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went first and foremost.

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You know, I just can't believe that we've
been through one whole year of building

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this program.

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And, you know, I think it is a little bit
weird yesterday and today being, you know,

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sitting here and not playing in March
Madness.

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I haven't been in that situation a long,
long time.

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So it's been a little bit weird and a
little bit sad in regards to that.

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But.

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you know, reflecting and having an
opportunity to actually, you know, sit

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back and reflect a little bit and think a
little bit about the past year.

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You know, it's been a whirlwind, you know,
a lot of ups and a lot of downs.

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And I knew it would be like that.

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You know, I've been through this process
before building a program.

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So I knew it would be a lot like that.

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But, you know, I'm really, really proud of
everything that we were able to do this

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year.

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Really, really thankful and proud of our
kids.

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and how they really just took on this
challenge this year and succeeded with it.

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And I do think the kids that we brought
with us from jury that we had signed there

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were a really big part of that.

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And I just love them and I'm just really,
really thankful for everything that they

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did for us this year because whether
you're a freshman in college, a sophomore

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in college, a junior, senior, whatever it
is, and you're talking about building a

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program or sustaining a program, because
I've done both.

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being a college athlete is really hard.

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You have so many things that you're
managing and we asked this young group to

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really do some things that were very, very
hard this year.

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And for freshmen to step into that role
and embrace that role and that challenge

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of really forming the base here and the
culture here and then to succeed in a lot

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of areas.

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I mean, seven wins overall and five in
conference.

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You know, and you look at, yeah, I was
looking at, you know, the two seed this

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year is Little Rock and we split with
them.

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The three seeds UT Martin, and we split
with them.

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You even look at Southern Indiana, who's
the one seed who I think is really, really

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good.

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I mean, at our place, we had them on the
ropes and almost won that game and then

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didn't have a great showing at their
place.

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But I think we did some really great
things as a program.

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And I think those kids that came with us.

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from Drury that really were willing to
take on that challenge were a big part of

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it.

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But also the other kids that we brought in
and then the kids that stayed from last

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year.

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And you talk, we've talked many times
during the podcast this season about how

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young the squad was, maybe one of the
youngest in the country.

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I don't know if you know that or not.

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And yet when I look back at all the games,
I just did kind of a back of the envelope

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estimate.

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It looked like Linda Wood was short, maybe
five baskets, six backs gets on average

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per game.

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Now as a coach, do you, do you think like
that when preparing for the next year?

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I only need to find 10 more points, 15
more points or allow 10 or 15 months.

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How does that work in your mind?

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Yeah, you know, I haven't thought about
that, those type of things yet.

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Just because it is a little bit like when
you're done, you know, you write a little

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bit of an emotional and roller coaster
with stuff.

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So I've kind of been processing some of
that right now, but we'll eventually, you

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know, sit and look at that and what we
need to do better, what we can do better

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offensively, what we can do better
defensively.

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I mean, you know, this first year we
really just kind of went out and said,

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hey, this is what we did in the past.

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Let's see how it transitions to this level
and to the OVC.

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And then after this year, we'll make some
changes offensively and defensively to

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probably fit, I think, you know, our kids
and the OVC a little bit better in the

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style of plays and those kinds of things.

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So there'll be some changes that we will
make.

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I think the base of who we are will always
be there.

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But there will be some changes offensively
and defensively that we will make during

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this transition.

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You know, we lost seven games in
conference by six or less points.

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So.

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You know, hit that pretty much on the
head.

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And that is a little bit, I don't want to
say disappointing, but you know, you just,

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you're just mad about that.

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But at the same time, it's also really
encouraging, you know, having this group

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and the core of this group returning next
year.

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So I think it's a little bit of both, but
you know, the challenge now is with this

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group, having that experience, making sure
that we,

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put them in positions to win those games,
offensively and defensively, and really

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take that next step with them.

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So you made the full Ohio Valley
Conference journey now to all facilities.

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You've seen all the teams play twice.

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You play each team twice, right?

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And you'll be seen.

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No, we did not play Tennessee Tech or
Moorhead twice this year.

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So yeah.

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Yes.

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that you've been through the whole year,
give us your impression of the OVC, where

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it is today and where it might go in the
next couple of years.

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Yeah, I mean, I think it was a lot of fun
to play in the OVC.

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You know, we had a lot to figure out this
year because we hadn't faced, you know, we

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had new styles of play and new exes, new
O's and finding new ways and, you know,

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all that kind of stuff where, you know, I
was in the GLVC for over 10 years.

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So for me, I knew those coaches that had
been there for a long time, you know,

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almost like the back of my hand, I could
just say, hey, this is what they're going

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to do, you know, type of stuff.

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So it was a challenge with that.

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You know, I think the OVC is a great brand
of basketball.

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I thought, you know, it was different than
GLVC where I think you see a lot of the

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same styles in the GLVC.

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You saw a lot of different styles in the
OVC.

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You know, Southern Indiana's two post
players, you know, pounding it inside.

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Then you have, you know, Tennessee State
who's pressing and...

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flying around and so there's a lot of
different, I feel like styles will play in

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the OVC and that's challenging on an
everyday night.

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But it's also makes it fun because that's
where as a coach you really have to grow

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and find ways to put your kids in a
position to be able to handle both sides

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of the ball and those against those teams.

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So it was a great year.

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I think, I mean, there's a lot of, you
have a lot of really good talent in the

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OVC.

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I mean, some of the freshmen in the OVC
even, you know, that we faced this year,

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wow.

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And I think that's even bright for where
the OVC is headed in regards to some

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competition in that.

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So I'm excited about it and, you know,
we'll reprocess all that and head into

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year two with, I feel like, a more
comfortable feel as a staff and a better

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idea of what we're going to see day in and
day out.

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And we've talked, Coach, about the new,
the fabulous new practice gym facility

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that should be ready by about now, I
think.

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But I don't know that we've talked in
details.

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I know this season is coming to an end,
you're processing a lot of stuff.

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But how do you plan on leveraging that
new, really nice -looking gym for, to help

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your players build new skills and new
moves and new shots, all that individual

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kind of stuff that comes into play?

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Yeah, I mean it is, it's going to be
really helpful, you know, in regards to

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all of that, you know.

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I think, you know, we're finishing the
wall or starting the wall around it.

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It's like three -fourths enclosed and
we're going to build the rest of the wall

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here in March and then we'll pretty much
be ready to go from there.

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And, you know, one of the things and I
think we've been really

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you know, upfront and honest with on the
podcast about as we struggle with this

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year was being able for our kids to get in
there and get extra shots up because of

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how busy our gym was from early morning to
late night with other teams and fitting

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everybody's practice schedule in there.

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So I'm really excited that, you know,
we're going to have this postseason in

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this summer, the availability of being in
being able to do some individual skill

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work with our kids and.

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really help grow their game and help take
their game to that next level.

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And I enjoy that.

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I think that's kind of the fun part about
it with athletics is you watch them

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throughout the year and you're like, man,
if we can get them to do this and this and

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this, and well, now it's time to implement
those things with them and really help

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them grow, which helps your program
overall.

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So it's going to help with that so much.

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When we get to season this next year,
they'll be able to get in there.

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during the day and get extra shots up
between classes and that where they didn't

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really have the ability to do that this
past year.

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So I think it's going to make a lot of
difference.

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We struggled with making baskets this year
and not that they couldn't go to Evans

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across the way where there was three
courts, but it's not the same as having a

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practice facility with a wood floor and
some baskets that are kind of identical to

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what you play on and those kinds of things
with it.

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So.

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I think it's going to be a great asset to
us.

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In our program, I also think it's going to
be a great asset to recruiting.

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I don't know a kid that doesn't want to
get better throughout their college career

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and have the ability to be in the gym.

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I mean, there's a lot of kids that live in
the gym.

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They're trying to perfect their craft and
they have to be able to have a place to do

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that.

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And so I think it's going to be really,
really big in the recruiting process for

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us as well.

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I think it's pretty cool that it's...

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It's really close to our locker room.

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It's really close to the main gym.

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So, you know, the accessibility of it is
just perfect.

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And it's going to be something that's
going to be well used.

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Good, good.

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You talked about recruiting.

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Let me give you a scenario here, coach.

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Say I have a daughter who wants to play D1
basketball.

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This is a fictional scenario, by the way.

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I have a daughter who wants to play D1
basketball and she has the obvious skills

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to be a significant contributor to any
team.

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Why would that talented female woman
basketball player want to talk to you?

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Why should Lyndon Wood be part of her
thought process?

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Yeah, well, you know, being here a year
now, you know, and I said actually this to

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Jordan the other day.

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I mean, I just love this place, you know,
and I think, you know, when you talk about

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recruiting and you talk about recruiting
kids, you know, it's not just about

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basketball, you know, it's about the
people that you're going to interact with

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every day on campus.

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It's about the professors.

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It's about the overall feel of the
university.

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And I think it's just a great, great place
for athletes to be because they have so

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much support from faculty and staff across
campus.

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You are surrounded, you know, there's a
lot of athletes on campus and I tell kids

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in this recruiting process, you know, I
think one of the neat things is that, you

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know, every day when you're sitting in
class, a lot of times you have other

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athletes next to you and when you have...

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like -minded people that have to eat at a
certain time, have to sleep at a certain

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time, have to study at a certain time.

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I do think that's pretty neat.

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And they support each other.

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And if you look at our fan base at games
and you look at our student section at

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games, it's probably some of the biggest
in the Midwest because they just support

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each other on a different level, being a
little bit smaller campus, but with a lot

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of athletes.

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So I'm going to go far beyond just our
program.

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when we're talking about coming and
playing for us because I think it is the

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overall experience that makes it for every
kid.

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You look at our program, I think, I kind
of smile because I think we're on the

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rise.

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We're doing something special here.

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Not that it's not hard, it's hard.

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And there's probably a lot more harder
days building a program than there are

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easy days with it.

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But I think there's a lot of benefits that
kids can

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using their in their real life out of
gaining those situations and you know, I

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think we have really really great people
on our program both kids staff and very

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knowledgeable staff So I think there's a
lot of reasons when you when you look at

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even our program that Kids should and
would want to play in it You know, I think

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the overall experience is the most
important thing and every kid I think

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I tell every kid this when I recruit them,
the most important thing is you find the

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right fit for you and you've got to figure
out what you want out of your four years.

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Because our freshmen even said the other
day, I can't believe a year's over with

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already, right?

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So you got to figure out what you want and
what you want that to look like when it's

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all said and done.

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And I think if you do those things and you
do your research, you'll find the right

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fit.

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And that is the most important thing.

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We may not be the perfect fit for everyone
or the right fit for some kids.

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But I do think we have a ton of stuff to
offer Linda Wood overall and in our

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program.

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So moving on to a slightly different
topic, Lindedwood University has our

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annual black and gold fundraising event in
about a month or so.

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And I understand from a conversation
earlier this morning, it's almost sold out

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already a month in advance.

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Amy, what does that tell you when you see
them putting those kinds of events

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together in what appears to be a very
successful event coming up?

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What does that tell you about the
university's commitment to its student

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athletes?

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Oh, absolutely.

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I mean, you know, I think when you look at
even if I look at even my my time, you

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know, taking on the job at Linda Wood to
now the amount of interest and from the

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community from boosters from, you know,
recruits and parents, the excitement that

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surrounds.

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Uh, what Linda Wynn is doing and their
commitment to, to being great in athletics

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is definitely there.

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And I think it's getting everybody else
excited, you know?

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Um, and I think that's, that's very
special and, um, it's continuing to grow.

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You can tell, uh, you know, you talk
about, like you said, the black and gold

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and I'm excited for that event.

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I think it's going to be a really cool
event.

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Um, and, uh, you're going to, you know,
you're just going to see a lot of those

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things continue to grow.

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So.

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I'll be in attendance there.

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I know a lot of the coaches will.

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I know being almost sold out, I know we'll
probably oversell it because it's such an

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exciting time for Lindenwood and for
what's happening in our athletic

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department.

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Cool, cool.

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Now, let's add a little levity, because we
like to do that at least once or twice

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each week.

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And you'll recall that we played some
pickleball back in January.

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It was at an event.

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the way, I remember we did play, well, we
played like doubles, but I, I mean, my, me

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and my partner won.

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I think so.

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You know, I think podcasting has a rule,
there can be no trash talking during the

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course.

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So I, you know, what are the odds that,
you know, maybe sometime in these warm

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weather months, you and I can actually get
on a pickleball court, maybe the ones

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there in Linwood, you know, less than a
hundred feet from where your office is.

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You know, I'm playing an occasional
pickleball game or two.

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know, I feel like after going through a
year, you know, I could probably take an

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afternoon or evening and be able to do
that now.

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You know, there's really no excuse for
being right there.

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I know we were really, really busy with
stuff this past year and seemed like

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something always came up, but I don't
think we'll be able to do that this year.

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We know this is a recorded event and I
have the technology skills to capture that

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last clip and send it to you over and over
and over again.

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So you're on the record for that.

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And let's wrap it up with this.

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First Division One season is over, coach.

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Congratulations.

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I was at almost every game.

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Fab, fun to watch.

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Not every game was fun to watch, but most
of them were fun to watch.

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And it appears, it's not appears, it's
obvious that women's college basketball is

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exploding in popularity.

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We can attribute the reasons why another
day.

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Tell us what you think based on all that's
going around.

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Tell us what you think Lindenwood women's
basketball is this time next year when you

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and I having this podcast a year from now.

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Yeah, you know, it's so hard with
building.

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You know, and I told, you know, my staff
this too, the other day, I really feel

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like when you're looking at building, you
know, your program, the first year is,

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there's really not a lot of expectations
from other people, right?

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And I often find that your second year is
probably your hardest year, second, third

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year, because, you know, people expect,

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that things are going to be better next
year in that.

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And it's always hard because you never
know what can happen.

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You saw this year, even when Gracie Kelsey
got hurt, I think that hurt us a lot.

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So you talk about injuries and those kinds
of things.

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There's so many things that can impact
your year with stuff.

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But one of the things I really do expect.

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and that we are going to work really,
really hard towards.

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And I know our players are going to work
hard towards this to be in March Madness

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next year in regards to playing in the
postseason conference tournament and those

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kinds of things.

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So that's what we expect is to take that
next step.

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Sometimes that doesn't always show in the
number of wins.

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I think we're going to be really, really
fortunate to have.

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A lot of the kids that laid that
groundwork this year have more experience

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to return next year.

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So I do expect us to put ourselves in a
position next year to do those things.

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Cool.

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And for our listeners, and there are
hundreds who listen to this podcast, we'll

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be going on every two week schedule now.

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And what I'll do is I will post the
schedule of those events on the actual

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landing page for the podcast.

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Coach Egan, it's always a pleasure to have
a conversation with you.

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We've come to the end of this podcast
episode with Lindenwood University Head

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Women's Basketball Coach Amy Egan.

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Amy, best of always, and we'll talk again
soon.

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Thanks, Gary.