Ryan Pedon was in college when the Illinois State men’s basketball team last won the Missouri Valley Conference.
The ISU head coach has gone from playing in Division III [Wooster] to coaching in the Big Ten [two years as an assistant coach at Illinois and five years at Ohio State] to leading a mid-major program that's hoping this is finally the year.
The Redbirds are picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference — something they haven't done in nearly three decades.
Ahead of ISU's season opener Thursday night at Ohio University, Pedon sees reason for optimism.
“It’s really exciting and certainly doesn’t guarantee us anything. We all know that, but there’s a level of excitement that hasn’t probably been had here in a while,” Pedon said, following a team practice at CEFCU Arena on Tuesday morning.
The last time the Redbirds won the Valley was 1998, though there have been many near misses since ISU last cut down the nets at the MVC Tournament.
Now, after a multi-year rebuild since replacing Dan Muller in 2022, Pedon said the program faces a big challenge following incremental improvements in his first three seasons in Normal.
“Going from a relevant program to becoming a championship-caliber program, to me that’s the hardest step in competitive sport, no matter what sport or arena you are talking about,” he said.
Pedon, who was on the bench for five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances while coaching at Ohio State and two tournament appearances while coaching at Butler, said he understands the pressure of being the hunted.
He embraces it.
“When you are getting the hype, the off season chatter that we’ve gotten, some of that rightfully so because we’ve got returning guys, but that’s something we’ve earned. We are not apologizing for that,” Pedon said. “You’ve got a target on you that we haven’t had in the three previous years and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned.”
Pedon said the team has a strong nucleus that includes four freshman and the return of two graduate students who were unable to play last year — projected starter Boden Skunberg and 7-foot-1 University of Illinois transfer Brandon Lieb.
What’s fueled must of the hype was the Redbirds’ strong finish last season, winning the College Basketball Invitational, and the subsequent return of All-MVC honorees Johnny Kinzinger and Chase Walker.
Pedon said he underestimated the "pivot point" that postseason title would become in setting expectations among the ISU fan base, and demonstrating to the team what it was capable of achieving.
“That really gave a spark. I don’t know had we not won that tournament, how it would have all panned out,” he said.
NIL
At a time when successful mid-major athletes often chase the brighter lights and more lucrative NIL [Name, Image, Likeness] contracts that come from the so-called power conferences or larger markets, Kinziger and Walker chose to stay at ISU.
Pedon said he wasn’t surprised.
“What that told me and what it told Redbird fans is they’d be leaving what’s going on here and they feel really strong about what we are doing and who we are doing it with,” said Pedon, adding NIL and the increased leverage it has afforded players in demand has taught him not to expect anything.
“I can’t go into it with preconceived notions,” he said.
Pedon said he appreciates all the support from fans, donors and alumni, but said the program is not where it needs to be to provide athletes the kind of NIL opportunities that consistently compete with the top teams in the Valley.
“This school, this institution, this university and as much as they love college basketball and love the Redbirds, we should be positioning ourselves to be an upper-tier team in our league in terms of NIL, so we are working toward that,” Pedon said.
Schools are not required to publish how much NIL money they offer student-athletes. Revealing that data would tip off competitors.
“I think that college coaches everywhere would tell you, to be able to compete for championships in this era and attract the level of player and talent that you need, you gotta back that up with money,” Pedon said.
Pedon said this is his favorite time of year as a coach, where he can focus on practices and the games and not deal with all of the other influences that a coach must focus on during the off-season in this new era of college athletics.
Many major college programs have hired general managers to oversee NIL contracts, fundraising and roster construction. For mid-major programs, that largely remains the head coach’s job.
“You are a coach, but you are a fundraiser, you’ve got to be a broker, you’ve got to be a communicator and connector between the recruits, the parents, their circle, and then agents of course. Those are your favorite conversations because most of the players have agents nowadays,” Pedon said. “I’m at my best when I can put my earmuffs and blinders on.”
Pedon laments what he sees as a more transactional feel to major college athletics that he doesn’t want to consume mid-major programs, too. He doesn’t think NIL contracts and increased student-athlete mobility due to relaxed transfer rules have changed the relationship between player and coach — and he wants to make sure that it doesn’t change.
“That’s the part I struggle with a little bit,” Pedon said. “I’m going to coach to my convictions as long as I possibly can in this business. If I felt like that wasn’t possible anymore, then I think it would probably be very difficult for me very quickly.”
He appreciates that NIL money can be life-changing for some student-athletes, but wants to continue to develop young men.
“We have great young men and I want them to appreciate these collegiate years and this time in their life because they are very transformative years,” he said.
