Valley Hoops Insider Podcast

Brian Barone begins his second year as the head coach at Southern Illinois Edwardsville in the midst of a pandemic. His impressive recruiting class suggests his 'find a way' mantra is working. 

Link Year Prep coach Adam Donyes describes his Branson, Missouri basketball power. The coach is passionate about helping his players further their college basketball dreams and deeply moved to help them develop as men. 

Former Loyola Chicago beat writer Nick Schultz helps us look at the Ramblers and how they stack up for next season. LUC seems to have the right ingredients for a highly successful season. 

During Part Two of our podcast with Todd Hefferman and Todd Golden we discuss possible NCAA rule changes, the personalities of the coaches they cover and how these two programs are improving and capturing the attention of their respective fan bases. 

Two MVC programs on the rise have talented cores and scored well during the recruiting season. Todd Golden (Trib Star) and Todd Hefferman (The Southern) are the beat writers for Indiana State and Southern Illinois. We discuss the current roster, in-coming recruits and some potential NCAA rule changes. 

Two top of the pack Missouri Valley Conference basketball programs are preparing for the upcoming season. Beat writers (Dave Reynolds & Nick Petaros) talk about the coaches, possible NCAA rule changes and the state of the Valley. 

The Missouri Valley Conference's regular season champion and postseason tournament winners seem prepared to defend their titles. Bradley won Arch Madness and Northern Iowa the regular season crown. In the first of our two-part podcast, beat writers Nick Petaros and Dave Reynolds take us deep inside the roster makeup of these two championship caliber teams. 

After discussing the two basketball rosters, beat writers Jim Benson and Wyatt Wheeler talk about the teams' coaches, and how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting college basketball programs. We also discuss the 'instant transfer' rules that may be passed some time soon. 

Beat writers Jim Benson and Wyatt Wheeler joined the podcast to talk about the overhauled rosters at Illinois State and Missouri State. Benson follows the Redbirds and Wheeler reports on the Bears. This is Part One of our interview. In Part Two we discuss the impact of coronavirus on offseason activities and how NCAA rule changes could affect the Missouri Valley Conference. 

We look at the incoming recruits and hold-over players from Evansville and Valparaiso through the eyes of those programs' beat writers. Chad Lindskog covers the Purple Aces and Paul Oren writes about the Crusaders. They are knowledgable and engaging. You will gain great insight into these two Missouri Valley Conference programs. 

The most enthusiastic man I know, Mark Adams joined the podcast during our nation's difficult Covid-19 challenges. We talk about his time as an NAIA head coach, a broadcaster in the Missouri Valley Conference and now he is lending his expertise to the American Athletic Conference. Mark's new book "The Coach and The Geek" is now available and is a great book on leadership and basketball, but not ju...

Former Valpo coach Homer Drew relives the special March Moments of 1998 when his Crusaders danced to the Sweet Sixteen. Sparked by 'the shot' from his son Bryce Drew, Valparaiso won their first ever NCAA Tournament game. Then they won an overtime contest to advance to St. Louis where even in defeat, something magical happened. 

Northern Iowa's trip to the 2010 Sweet Sixteen included a victory over the nation's top ranked team. Broadcaster Gary Rima relived those exciting moments with us. (Note - this was prior to the end of his local daily radio show). 

Former Creighton Bluejay Brody Deren talks to Harry Schroeder about the Missouri Valley Conference successes of the his former team. The Bluejays played postseason basketball in 15 of their final 16 seasons while a part of the Valley. 

Our exclusive interview with Loyola star guard Clayton Custer takes us back to Loyola's 2018 Final Four appearance. Loyola converted three-straight last second shots to reach the Elite Eight and won a school record 32 games. Custer was the Missouri Valley Conference's 'Player of the Year' and he remembers it all. 

Hall-of-fame broadcaster Dave Snell tells us all about Bradley's 2006 Sweet Sixteen team. Marcellus Sommerville and Patrick O'Bryant were the stars, but there were many important pieces to that team, including the hard-working head coach Jim Les. 

Bears broadcaster Art Hains takes us back to 1999 when (then) Southwest Missouri State made it to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen. Hains reminds us about the Charlie Spoonhour-era of Bears' basketball and that historic 1999 run led by Steve Alford, Danny Moore and Kevin Ault. 

Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Mike Reis relives some Southern Illinois March Moments. SIU participated in six straight NCAA Tournaments and twice reached the tournament's Sweet Sixteen. 

Wichita State was the dominant Missouri Valley Conference team of the 2010s. Announcer Mike Kennedy was our guest as we remember 'March Moments of the past 22 years. 

Hall-of-fame broadcaster Mike Kennedy joined Valley Hoops Insider Podcast host Harry Schroeder to look back at historical 'March Moments' in Wichita State basketball history. This is Part One of a two-part interview with Kennedy. Two Sweet Sixteen runs and one trip to the Final Four set the Shockers apart from all other Missouri Valley Conference teams. Eventually the Shockers moved to the America...

Belmont head basketball coach Casey Alexander talks about winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title, heading to March Madness and the joy and pride he has in his team and players. During his first season at Belmont, Alexander has shared a league title, won the tournament title and now has coached four straight 20-win teams. 

Vance from March to the Arch Podcast joined us prior to the Missouri Valley Conference championship game. They have a great podcast and you'll enjoy this interview! 

Valparaiso plays in their first ever Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game. Play-by-Play broadcaster Todd Ickow breaks down the title game on a Voices of the Valley edition of the Valley Hoops Insider Podcast!

Sports Director Brendan Wiese (The Big 550) joined to the podcast to tell us about Arch Madness and the wire-to-wire coverage by the St. Louis based radio station. Wiese's dark-horse to win the tournament is Bradley. 

Drake plays in the Arch Madness first round game. Thursday, the Bulldogs take on Illinois State. Darian DeVries played in the Missouri Valley Conference, was an assistant in the league and is coaching in his second season in Des Moines. He is unabashedly a 'Valley Guy' and believes his team can have some St. Louis success.