Redbirds hoping early returns to lead to success next season
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — The Illinois State men's basketball may be excited for summer school this year.
June is when members of the team will return to campus to begin getting ready for next season. And when the guys come back to campus and start summer workouts, they are going to see a lot of familiar faces.
'You have to have a great offseason, put together a roster full of guys that are here for the right reasons, that want to be Redbirds and want to play for one another,' said ISU coach Ryan Pedon.
This week, Johnny Kinziger, Jack Daugherty, Ty Pence, and Landon Wolf all announced they will return to play for Illinois State. And grad student Brandon Lieb, a 7-foot center who suffered a hand injury and was sidelined all season, said he would play another season in Normal.
'There's some momentum in there that exists, that we have worked very hard for and that we haven't had after year one or year two,' said Pedon, who just finished his third season coaching ISU. 'Hoping we can build on that.'
ISU won the College Basketball Invitational last week for the program's first ever postseason tournament title. And now it appears most of the squad is returning, including first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference player Chase Walker, who had a breakout sophomore season this winter.
Now the journey to next season is underway.
'Ultimately that journey begins in the middle of June,' Pedon said. 'When we come back for summer school.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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