The Saluki Royalty Podcast

 Southern Illinois University announced on Friday that it would part ways with head men's basketball coach Bryan Mullins. Athletic Director Tim Leonard sat down with us to discuss the impact Coach Mullins had on the program, but also dive into the decision of making the move. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell...

We catch up with Saluki Hall of Famer Jermaine Dearman on this episode. Dearman brings up what it means to be named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's 2024 Silver Anniversary Team, based on outstanding accomplishments as a senior basketball player 25 years ago. He got to learn from Bruce Weber, Matt Painter, Chris Lowery and Rodney Watson, all men who ended up being successful head coaches....

This week's episode welcomes Woody Thorne, who is a proud SIU graduate and currently works for SIH. On  February 10, 2024 , the SIUC Men's Basketball team and on  February 29, 2024 , the Women’s Basketball team will be on the court wearing special black Under Armour jerseys for the Salukis Blackout Cancer games. These games are a way for Saluki fans across the country and people in the c...

We welcome in a proud Saluki grad from the Class of 1993, Marc Silverman! "Silvy" as he is better known as to all of Saluki Nation has spent the last 21 years with ESPN1000 in Chicago. He hosts a daily show "Waddle and Silvy" with former Chicago Bear Tom Waddle weekdays from 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. We go through his childhood impacts and how it got him interested in sports broadcasting and what ultimately...

For 44 years, Mike Reis was the "Voice of the Salukis" and we sit down with him, ahead of his appreciation night in Banterra Center, to recap some of his favorite memories as the longtime Saluki voice. We share some of the audio archive that he kept during his time as the voice too during this conversation. What were his favorite calls? Favorite games? Road trip stories? All of that and his messag...

Southern Illinois returns to a former MVC Rival this weekend with the Wichita State Shockers and we preview the matchup with our coach Rodney Watson, from Saluki Radio, and the voice of the Wichita State Shockers in his 44th season Mike Kennedy! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Indoor Track and Field season is finally underway in Carbondale! We catch up with two key Salukis who are trying to push Southern back to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference in Kyle Burgoni and Christian Donatelli. We talk about the strengths of the team this year, how each of them got to Carbondale, what are some of the biggest obstacles they had to fight through to get to where they are at...

Saluki Football continues into the FCS postseason after the first ever shutout win for the SIU program in postseason play over the weekend, dominating 35-0 win over Nicholls. Now SIU will head to Idaho this weekend, which will be a reunion for Tight Ends coach Nate Griffin. Griffin played for the Vandals from 2000-03 and has been part of Coach Hill's initial staff at SIU in 2016. We touch up on th...

Saluki Softball has built a strong tradition of winning and two key members of the program Bailey Caylor and Elizabeth Warwick stop by to give us an update on how everything went this fall, expectations for the team moving forward, how the closes loses in the NCAA Tournament fuel their expectations for the upcoming year. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice...

D'Ante Cox has battled through two reconstructive knee surgeries, while also tweaking his other knee earlier this season in his final year of eligibility. There is no debate on who the toughest Saluki Football player is because Cox sets that example every week for his teammates. Cox tells us the story of where Football started for him and the bond he had with his twin brother, Avante, who is one o...

Saluki Volleyball is on a four match winning streak, after a stretch where SIU lost six straight. Two key members of the team join the podcast this week to discuss the turnaround in Tatum Tornatta and Nataly Garcia. Both have much different backgrounds in getting to Carbondale and they both love building Saluki Volleyball to the level Coach Allen is trying to get to. See Privacy Policy at https://...

This year will mark the 25th season associated with Saluki Basketball for Rodney Watson. He has spent 21 seasons as an assistant coach. He was the associate head coach during his last two seasons after spending 19 seasons as an assistant coach under head coaches Rich Herrin, Bruce Weber, Matt Painter, and Chris Lowery. During Watson's tenure at SIU, the Salukis won 11 Missouri Valley Conference ch...

The NCAA transfer portal has been a major topic of discussion across the college landscape over the last couple of years, and there are many stories of players transferring programs simply because of playing time. Noah Fenske is a two time division-1 transfer, having been at both Iowa and Colorado previously. Fenske joins the podcast this week to shed light on why he made the decisions he did and...

Lance Rhodes brought SIU its first MVC Regular Season Championship in baseball since 1990 back in the spring of 2022. Now Coach Rhodes is trying to break down the NCAA Tournament barrier, one the Salukis haven't broken through since 1990. He touches on where he believes the program is at today, what it will take for his program to accomplish those big goals. Plus, how does his roster look heading...

Behind every great atmosphere in college athletics is a passionate student section. Southern Illinois has always been known for the "Dawg Pound" in Carbondale. We spotlight two of the main student leaders of the Dawg Pound in Dylan Chambers and Tyler Lawrence, as both play a big role in making environments special at all Saluki athletics events. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

Kelly Bond-White has had success at all levels, including her 19 year stint at Texas A&M where she helped lead the Aggies to the 2011 National Championship in Women's Basketball. Now Coach Bond-White is entering her second season as the head coach at SIU, which is in the state where she grew up. What went through her mind when she saw SIU was interested in her? Where is she at in terms of buil...

The Chancellor of Southern Illinois University Austin Lane is our guest this week on the podcast. Chancellor Lane tells us how his experiences as a father with a son playing Division 1 football has helped him in understanding the Transfer portal, NIL, and mental health awareness. We also dive into the success of the University in increasing enrollment and how that was accomplished in just a three-...

Coming off a spring where the Salukis won the 2023 MVC Tournament championship in Carbondale, head coach of Saluki Softball Jen Sewell joins us to recap the spring season that ended with some hardware. Plus, we go into the impact of Coach Blaylock's legacy, the impact of scheduling hard, and what she expects from her team heading into the fall. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and C...

We know Saluki fans have been waiting for the 2023-24 schedule to be released and it is finally out! We preview the schedule with Coach Mullins but we also dive into his relationship with football head coach Nick Hill. It was a special weekend for Coach Hill and the Salukis for Football, but Coach Mullins brings up how all sports really come together at SIU. We also recap the summer, what are the...

You saw him score his first touchdown Saturday night at Saluki Stadium and now you get to hear his remarkable story. Kayleb Wagner was born without a left forearm and left hand due to Amniotic Band Syndrome. He broke Derrick Henry's high school record for rushing yards in a single game with 535 yards on 25 caries. How has he stayed so strong mentally and also physically? What got him connected to...

The 2023 season is off to a great start for Saluki Volleyball, so we decided to catch up with the head coach Ed Allen! Coach Allen takes us through the tough start to his coaching tenure at SIU, how those struggles have helped build this program into a championship contender. Plus, Allen takes us through his experience this past summer with the Marine Core! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/...

The Saluki Athletic season is officially underway! We begin talking with two guests from SIU Soccer, Sam Dodd and Mckensey Bunch. Dodd and Bunch touch up on the improvement Saluki Soccer has made since they first got to campus, and what they have enjoyed about getting to know Coach Orr in his first season. Our final conversation is with the leader of Saluki Athletics, Athletic Director Tim Leonard...

Saluki Football head coach Nick Hill takes us through how becoming a father has helped him become a better coach, how he keeps himself fresh during fall camp, who has stood out so far on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and ends his interview taking us through some of the places he would like to hunt or fish. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notic...