Lindenwood University Basketball Talk with Coach Kyle Gerdeman

Gary Stocker (00:01.318)
Welcome back to the first basketball podcast, Basketball Talk with Lindenwood University head men's basketball coach Kyle Gerdeman as we get ready to start the 25-26 season. Coach Gerdeman, you're looking handsome as ever.

Kyle Gerdeman (00:14.624)
Well, I appreciate that. It's a face for radio, face for podcast, no video.

Gary Stocker (00:17.81)
I swear, don't we all have that. Don't we all have that. And you had a summer with the team, with the new team. Talk about how the summer went for us.

Kyle Gerdeman (00:26.766)
Yeah. You know, it was good. You know, we were here June and July, like most. And I thought that we got a lot of things in place, lot of good teaching in. It was a little bit of a different summer for us. Our approach to June was kind of strength and conditioning and getting guys in shape, especially the new guys that come in for the first time.

At the same time, we had some returners coming off some postseason surgeries that were kind of doing some rehabilitation stuff and finding their way back. So a lot of days we didn't really have, we didn't even have 10 guys to play five on five and things like that. But I thought it was good because we didn't, like I said in June, we didn't wanna do a lot of that, wanted to focus on some other stuff. And then in July, we got into a little bit more team oriented stuff, offense, defense principles.

Style of play type of stuff and then got some five on five and then so I thought it was good You know to kind of get everybody here, you know get them in shape get their feet wet on some things we were doing but at the same time, know not overdo it and you know, sometimes I think I probably made the mistake over the years when you have you know, 10 12 13 healthy guys you just you're just chomping at the bit to watch them play and Five on five and the next thing, you know, you've you know, you're coming in for an hour hour and ten minute practice and

Gary Stocker (01:40.422)
Hahaha

Kyle Gerdeman (01:46.136)
You're just playing five on five the whole time and I don't know if you're getting anything done. They're not in shape and they're tired and it's usually sloppy. So I like what we did and it was just a good feel for everybody. think players and coaches to just get a good feel for what we were doing.

Gary Stocker (02:01.116)
So what you're telling me is in June you jumped on the court to play five on five?

Kyle Gerdeman (02:05.024)
I did not. I did not. Those days are over. You talk about coming off. There would definitely be a surgery and a rehab. I think if I tried to get out there and play. Yeah.

Gary Stocker (02:16.406)
I folks I could do it once. So looking ahead to this upcoming season, what's the biggest single lesson you took from last season that you'll be able to apply to the 2025-2026 season?

Kyle Gerdeman (02:30.414)
You know, I think what we learned a little bit last year was, you know, that we're making good progress. You know, and I think that that's, you know, not anything, obviously not necessarily a lesson, but I think it's the biggest thing that stands out to me is that, you know, the way we've been piecing this roster together and the way we've been working to develop our program has kind of taken us in the right direction. You know, we feel the same way about this year's roster that it can...

it can take us another step forward. You know, and I think that, you know, what we saw by making the tournament and winning a game is, you know, I think you kind of see, you know, what that what that grind is like, you know, how important every game is, obviously, like we always talk about. But boy, the last week of last couple of weeks of the season last year, every game was was really important. You know, we finished in a I think a three or four way tie for fifth place. And, know, and like you kind of go back on it like, man, if we get one more win.

Gary Stocker (03:20.614)
Yeah, yeah.

Kyle Gerdeman (03:30.168)
finishing in fourth and we get a first round by. We were that close. So I think you look at the all around package of the experience you got out of being able to make that run, the experience you got out of winning more conference games than we ever had. And then, like I said, going backwards and going, man, if we could have just got one more, it'd have been an even bigger year for us. And so I think that's what you kind of take is it's every night that you play and you've got to be locked in and you've got to be ready.

And sometimes we got some bounces go our way a couple nights, some nights it didn't. And not a whole lot you can do about some of those. But realizing you were that close to it, we had a great year. But boy, if you won more win and you're feeling even better about it.

Gary Stocker (04:11.986)
And of course, in this day and age, there's roster change everywhere, up and down, all levels of NCAA and NAIA conferences. Talk about some of the returning players. You're expecting to step into new roles this year.

Kyle Gerdeman (04:29.825)
Yeah, think that, you know, obviously I think we know in getting, you know, getting Jadis Jones back and Nia Futrell back, you know, what they bring, you know, to the table for us. But I think that when you talk about the other guys, you know, I think Clayton Jackson is a guy that really can step into a bigger role for us at the point guard spot. You know, he played a lot for us as a freshman. Got tons of good experience, learned a lot. And, you know, personally, he's just a, he's just a tireless worker.

He's always in the gym, he's always in the weight room, he's always doing things off the court to try to make himself better. His leadership has always been there, but I think it's really improved from his freshman year to his sophomore year. So I think you can see him take a bigger step in just the overall control of our program on the court, for example. And then think Jalen McDaniel was having a really good year for us, and then he missed the last half of the year with a knee injury.

And he's back and he's healthy and he looks good. And I think for a guy like him, this is it for him. He's a senior and he kind of had a good and bad experience last year, like I said, because he was playing really well and then he got hurt. So I think, and he's always been a guy, J-Max always been a guy that just has, he's got infectious energy. mean, his energy level is off the charts. He's one of our best communicators. He's always ready to practice.

He's always in practice. And so I think when you look at those two guys, I think they can definitely have bigger roles this year than they did last year and bring a lot for us.

Gary Stocker (06:03.314)
And of course, we look at the new players. And so you brought in some freshmen and some transfers. Talk about a couple of those maybe who have impressed you early on this year.

Kyle Gerdeman (06:10.318)
Yeah, well, not necessarily a new guy, kind of along the lines of the returners. Jeremiah Talton comes off a mission a year due to injury. so he's almost like a new player because he's back. But he's doing good. We're glad to have him back out there. He even had, he got in a little car accident in the summer, not to his fault. He got hit on the highway. And so that kind of set him back a little bit.

Gary Stocker (06:17.01)
All right.

Gary Stocker (06:22.876)
Yeah, yeah, I forgot about him.

Kyle Gerdeman (06:38.338)
But he's back out here again and he's healthy. And so all the injury stuff, we pray are behind him. And he's just kind of excited and you kind of see energy in him and he's shooting the ball well and doing some things. So I think it starts with him kind of like I said, being kind of a newcomer again all over. But then I look at a lot of the guys that we brought in and, Dantres Williams is a kid from Sykes to Missouri that transferred from Abilene Christian. I mean, he's just got a tremendous, tremendous upside.

He's just a great athlete, great defender, can get to the basket, does a lot of positive things for us. And I think you're really gonna see him get better. What you see the first time around, I think you're gonna see even a better player in December and January, cuz he's gonna just keep getting better and better. So we're excited about him. Makai Cooper transferred from Miami of Ohio, played a big role on a really good Mac.

conference team last year. think they finished second in their conference tournament. He was their starting point guard. So he gives us some experience there at a good level at the point which we needed as well. You know, I think, you know, I like, you know, we got a big seven footer, Kevin Anthony, that transferred from Wabash Valley Community College. he is, you know, he's kind of like Ali was last year. You know, I think kind of like Don Trez. I think you're going to watch him, you know, week to week, month to month, just get better and better and better.

because that's kind of what we've seen out of him in practice. I think he and Don Tres could really, they could really help us take this roster and his team to another level depending on their development because both of them have tremendous, tremendous upside. So those handful of guys we're really excited about.

Gary Stocker (08:23.122)
And of course, the first game is Southern Illinois, it comes to Charleston, sorry Charleston, comes to St. Charles on October 29th. And then what are the big question marks? What are the areas of development you're focusing on in anticipation of just that first game?

Kyle Gerdeman (08:35.47)
Yeah, you know, think seeing you know, I think when you play that first exhibition game, I think it's always, you know, you get pretty comfortable in practice and you get pretty comfortable in your inner squad scrimmages and even, know, we'll play a we'll play a close scrimmage against Ball State on the 18th of October. And so that'll give us a little bit of a feel of a real game, you know. But I think that what you try to look for is when when you really put the uniform on for the first time.

There's fans in the stands and the other team is ready to play as well. What do you lose in those moments? Do they stay consistent in their effort? Do they get a little more frustrated than normal because people are watching? If things don't go their way, how do they handle adversity? I think those are the things for me that always jump out to me early in the year is how do your teams handle those?

those tough situations in the university that comes with playing a real game. There's just a little bit of a different feel to it and you've to get the experience of it to really get it nailed down, I think.

Gary Stocker (09:47.974)
And you still want me to be there to provide guidance to the referees each week,

Kyle Gerdeman (09:51.614)
We need you at every game taking care of the officials.

Gary Stocker (09:56.274)
And then finally, Coach, just every year it looks like the pre-conference schedule, non-conference schedule is almost tougher and tougher every year. So talk about your preparation for some of those tough games you've got coming up before the OVC season starts in late December.

Kyle Gerdeman (10:13.644)
Yeah, well, I think that, you know, with the guaranteed games, we've always we've always kind of talked about every game really approaching them the same way. And, you know, so like for us, we've got you kind of look at three type of games. We've got some guaranteed games. We've got some non-division one opponents we play and then we've got what we would call like equal opponent games, division one teams, know, UMKC, Northern Illinois. We go to a tournament at Alabama, at Alabama A and play Alabama A and Charleston Southern, you know, teams that we feel like we're, you know.

Kind of on the same level with competitive. So we want to approach them all the same way because we want to build our consistent habits of how we step into every game from a scouting standpoint, from a preparation standpoint. But then all the way into our mentality of every game, just really trying to concentrate on playing every possession and taking the scoreboard out of it. Because that's what we really try to concentrate on all the time, is just playing the next possession.

Gary Stocker (11:05.99)
interesting.

Kyle Gerdeman (11:11.564)
And that sounds really easy to do and it's not. And so you're gonna see things in all of those games, which I really like. And I really think it helps us get ready for conference because there's a really good chance at some point we're gonna be playing Indiana at Indiana and they're gonna go on a big run on us. And we're gonna look up and the scoreboard might be a little lopsided early in the game or late in the game. And you have to have your same approach. You have to have your same accountability to offense. You have to have your same accountability to defense.

You have to have your individual responsibilities. Those things should never waver, right? And so that's what we put a ton of pressure on our players about is not what the score is, not how you're playing individually, but what are we doing possession by possession to make our team better. And I think sometimes you see the same thing in the nine division one games. We may be playing College of Pharmacy from St. Louis here and you might look up and we have a huge lead. Well, that doesn't mean that we're gonna throw our defense out the window and.

and offensively we're just gonna come down and do whatever we want to do. You have to the same approach to it, game in, game out, possession by possession. And that's what we seem to get the most out of that, of anything, I think, with our non-conference games, is it really helps us develop that mentality that we need for the conference.

Gary Stocker (12:12.517)
Yeah.

Gary Stocker (12:26.576)
Okay, well I will do the conclusion after I talk with Anthony so we'll go ahead and get him on and I will get that going. Okay, and so I'll drop you know but we'll do this again in two weeks on Wednesday. That would be Wednesday the 27th.

Kyle Gerdeman (12:29.486)
Okay. Yep.

Kyle Gerdeman (12:37.826)
Okay, that'll work. Thank you.

Gary Stocker (12:49.756)
You know, yet another young, handsome guy gets in front of the camera. Anthony, what's going on here, You know, aside from seeing you in the occasional hallway passing, I don't think we've ever talked much, have we?

Kyle Gerdeman (12:52.238)
Hey, Gary, how you doing?

Kyle Gerdeman (13:01.868)
Now we have it, we have it. You know, I tell you what, you make some good cinnamon rolls though, know that.

Gary Stocker (13:06.098)
So that's what I forgot about. I've got to get back. I forgot about that. roll season is upon us. And that's I forgot about that. I'll get that done sometime in November, I'm sure. That's... Because Gurderman, man, that's all he's about is cinema rolls.

Kyle Gerdeman (13:11.198)
That's right.

Kyle Gerdeman (13:19.27)
no question. No question. I mean, we fight over them in the office,

Gary Stocker (13:22.514)
Well, thanks for that reminder. I'll make sure that we have a nice pan full of cinnamon rolls coming. course, Kyle and I do this regularly during the season. We'll bring on others. We're recording right now. I'll just edit out our little banter before we do that. So really, I'm just going to ask you questions about your role. I'm going to ask you what your perception of the Ohio Valley Conference is. And then just describe what you're seeing with the typical today's FCS D1 basketball player. What do they look like? What are they?

Kyle Gerdeman (13:37.655)
Okay.

Gary Stocker (13:52.166)
What are their skills? What are their experiences? That kind of stuff. Just that overall view. And then I might do follow ups. We're talking four, five minutes, six minutes, something like that. And then when you're done, you're to hear me wrap up the podcast. So just going to sit there for a second while I wrap up the podcast and then I will get it edited and out the door. Anything, Anthony in particular, you want to talk about?

Kyle Gerdeman (13:54.766)
different.

Kyle Gerdeman (14:03.79)
Okay.

Kyle Gerdeman (14:11.022)
no, think all those are good topics.

Gary Stocker (14:20.206)
And your role I think about, your role is, your title is assistant head coach, associate coach.

Kyle Gerdeman (14:23.182)
Associate head coach.

Gary Stocker (14:32.006)
So joining us now is Associate Head Coach Anthony.

Kyle Gerdeman (14:36.515)
Hehehehehe

Gary Stocker (14:43.644)
It had the name.

Last name again, Anthony, I forgot it. I knew that. You know, used to teach folks I had early onset sonility, and now I have right on time sonility.

Kyle Gerdeman (14:48.354)
Bean, Bean, B-E-A-N-E.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Gary Stocker (15:01.394)
You can feel closely, you can see brain cells falling out of my ear.

Kyle Gerdeman (15:04.078)
No, you're fine. Trust me. You ain't the first person to forget my name.

Gary Stocker (15:10.034)
But it's inexcusable in some ways. My apologies.

So joining us is Lyndenwood University men's basketball associate head coach, Anthony Bean. Coach, thanks for making time to join us, sir.

Kyle Gerdeman (15:22.882)
Thank you. Glad to be here.

Gary Stocker (15:24.56)
And if you went for Coach Gurniman's podcast, talk about your role inside the Lindum University men's basketball program.

Kyle Gerdeman (15:31.533)
Well, you know, tell you, you know, as a

as assistant coach, social head coach, you know, it's pretty much all the same. You know, the number one thing is to making sure you help help cowl and get everyone on the same page, whether it's our coaching staff, whether it's our team, you know, because again, you know, you want everything going in the right direction and everybody going in the right direction. And I will say that's my biggest role. Uh, and then in addition to that, of course, in practice and I work a lot with the guards, you know, pretty much in charge of all of the defense. And, uh, and in addition, I could say

just recruiting and helping build the roster and sometimes scheduling a little bit. With Coach Campbell, he's in charge of our scheduling, but every now and then I tip in a little bit and help him. Because I know a lot of coaches around the country have been in the business for quite a while. So you wear different hats, man. So it ain't no certain thing. You just got to roll your sleeves up and get after it.

Gary Stocker (16:24.87)
That's a, amen to that. And then during the course of the game, what kind of support and guidance should you Coach Gerdeman during the course of most games?

Kyle Gerdeman (16:35.042)
Well, you know, that's the thing about what working with Cal that's been so much fun. I mean, he accepts everybody's opinion. He wants opinions and as a coaching staff, I thought our whole staff did a great job last year of really, you know, giving out opinions and I thought Cal did a great job of accepting them. but, know, during the game, I mean, we all have certain responsibilities and, you know, before games, you know, we each each coach has a certain team that they scout that they're responsible for to get the team ready to ready to

play both offensively and defensively. My role again is I do have certain scouts but as

you know, the so called defensive coordinator. You know, I have to make sure that I'm involved in every scout to make sure that from a defensive standpoint, we are, we're still on the same page and we're doing all the right things and, and, you know, and so on. And, then the course of the game, like I say, I think, you know, I think we have a great staff. I mean, we all do a great job of just giving out opinions and, and, you know, keeping the team together. And I think that's one of the reasons why we, had success last year towards the end of the year.

Gary Stocker (17:41.042)
So let's talk about that. was in Evansville for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and I watched the games that Lindenwood played and I stayed through the final game and watched SIU Edwardsville win that. And it could have just as easily been Lindenwood, the separation from, and I know basketball, I don't have your level of expertise, but I can see talent, I can see skill. And that could have just as easily have been Lindenwood University, couldn't

Kyle Gerdeman (18:06.38)
Yes, it could have been. It could have been, that's exciting thing about our league, the OVC. mean, every year, there's a lot of really good teams and anybody can have a great chance of winning it. And I think that's what makes this league so exciting. And back in, and I'm gonna tell you my age a little bit now, I'm kinda, don't wanna say this, but I would say 25 years ago, my first division one job was at Southeast Missouri State.

And we actually won the OVC and went to the NCAA tournament. And the reason I bring that up is because, again, I remember how exciting that league was then. And it's even more exciting now because there is, back then there was a dominant team in Murray State.

Gary Stocker (18:49.911)
yeah, forgot about that.

Kyle Gerdeman (18:50.37)
you know, and so on. now it's like anybody can do it. And that's what makes this league so exciting. There's a lot of really good coaches and and and it's a league that bring in a lot of really good talent.

Gary Stocker (19:01.874)
Cool, cool. And I want to talk a little bit about the typical FCS, not the Power Four conferences, the typical FCS Division One basketball player. What are they like today? What are they looking for in terms of that college game experience as opposed to maybe those Power Four conferences?

Kyle Gerdeman (19:21.506)
Well, for us, do, recruiting has changed so much with the transfer portal and all of that. Everyone in college basketball right now is always trying to get older.

You know, and that's what changed a little bit. So now when we do go out and we evaluate players, you know, high school kids right now, you want to make sure physically that they're ready to compete right away. That's really important. I look at the freshman we have on our team, you know, both Jadis who came in as a freshman, a true freshman and Clayton Jackson who came in as a true freshman. One of the things we wanted to make sure right away is that they were physically ready to step in and compete because now when you step

in the college basketball, you know, you're playing against guys who are really old.

It's not like, you back then when the transfer portal was not in effect where you would step out there, you normally play against, you know, other freshmen from other teams. Now you're playing against seniors and juniors and, know, and so on. So it's really important for high school kids to me to understand how important that their physicality and being able to put on muscle and all that stuff, you know, when they're juniors and seniors in high school, because that's one way, yeah, that's one way to get recruited.

Gary Stocker (20:33.668)
interesting.

Kyle Gerdeman (20:38.614)
But you know, far as when it comes to evaluating, know, at each position, you know, you're looking for certain things, you know, we love our point guards to have a great feel and can shoot the ball. You know, we want our, you know, we also want every guy to be able to play hard when it comes to certain guys inside. I mean, we, you know, our centers, we, you know, guys that's got good hands and that can run the floor and really good rebounders and can finish around the basket are always, you know, very valuable.

But with the transfer portal, again, I say, a lot of things change. so you have to make sure that when it comes to building a roster that you're putting the right pieces together.

Gary Stocker (21:08.464)
and I'm going be late.

Gary Stocker (21:14.394)
And I guess in coach when you go and Scott a high school game, the first thing you're looking for is that physical component, that size.

Kyle Gerdeman (21:22.806)
Well, when we go and scout a high school game, I mean, we're going to see a kid that we've heard about, and he's also putting up really good numbers. So you're definitely going there to really evaluate him. The whole part about the physicality is that, again, it is a huge plus because, again, it's like, hey, this is a kid that could come in and have a chance to compete right away.

And you know, and I back again about the two freshmen that we brought in last year who were true freshmen. I mean, both of those guys we knew when we first seen them that again, physicality wise, that they were going to be able to come in and compete on both ends of the floor offensively and defensively. And, you know, skill level is always important. I mean, that's the number one thing is being able to pass you dribble and all the necessities that it takes to be a good player. But we also understand as coaches, mean, you

once you get here on campus, if you have a tremendous work ethic, that you gonna continue to get better. And that's what we like also, but you can't figure that out until once kids get here. You only can go by here and say what the coach say and all that. So from an evaluation standpoint, yes, physicality and skill level, would say those are, and of course your demeanor on the floor. How do you treat your coaches? How do you treat your teammates? How do you respond against adversity? So all those things are important.

Gary Stocker (22:47.314)
So my best, my best, my special guest today. Good thing I can edit this, Anthony. So, Linwood University men's basketball associate head coach, Anthony Bean has joined us today. Coach, thanks for making time to join us. I wish you a very successful season. I will be in the stands for most all the games to provide guidance to the referees, which is my unofficial job here at Linwood University. So coach, thanks for making time.

Kyle Gerdeman (22:51.254)
Yeah.

Kyle Gerdeman (23:12.59)
All right, thank you again.

Gary Stocker (23:13.842)
And for those listening to the podcast, this has been the first episode for the 2025-2026 season on the basketball talk with at Linwood University head men's basketball coach Kyle Gerdeman. Make sure to share the podcast link with friends, family and neighbors. And we'll be back again soon with another podcast.