Linda Sayavongchanh did not intend to work away from Clayton.
After seven years of recruiting talent for the Blue Jays in Omaha and raising those athletes into quality college basketball players, the next move had to be appropriate. And for many reasons, Indiana Women’s Basketball checked those boxes for her.
Hoosiers added Sayavongchanh to its staff in early June as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator. She was at the top of the IU list when Ashley Williams’ departure created the opening.
“The next place to go had to be special (like Clayton),” Sayabonchan said. “That’s why I’m attracted to IU. People, they work hard, hire the right kids, and they just do things the right way. And that’s very important to me.”
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Her way to IU
Sayavongchanh played college basketball at Drake in the early and mid 2000s. Meanwhile, she decided to continue coaching. Despite majoring in her education, she realized in her student education experience that she did not want to spend her career in her classroom. So she became a fifth year bulldog student assistant at school.
Later, she served as a graduate assistant in the 2nd Division of Minnesota Duluth. She said this decision helped her a lot.
“I’m basically a full-time assistant, so I’m glad I went to the D-II route. At that time, Minnesota-Duluth had only one full-time assistant, so I was GA. I was doing everything, but “Sayabonchan said,” I did everything at that level, from recruitment to academic meetings with players, their coaching side, and player training, so look back. I think it was a pretty good move I made to step into the door. “
After spending two years in Duluth, she returned to her alma mater for three years. Later, Sayavongchanh coached in North Dakota in 2012-13. After that season, she went to St. Louis. This is a move that has directly led to adoption at IU.
Bonding by Villicanes
Sayavongchanh had no prior relationship with IU, but worked for one season with Associate Head Coach Glenn Box in St. Louis in 2014-15. They had a good relationship that season and stayed in touch even after Box left for Bloomington.
She started watching Hoosiers to see how her team of friends were behaving. He (and eventually all the IU staff) did the same for her another season at SLU before going to Clayton in 2016, and they chased the Blue Jays from afar.
“Working with good people naturally gives us some respect for their work,” says Box. “I never lost my connection with her. I’ve been in contact with her for years, and all of our staff really followed Clayton while I was here. , Followed her. “”
She is already familiar with Big Ten, grew up in Iowa and later worked in Nebraska. She is a self-proclaimed basketball addict and has seen a lot of big ten female hoops. She subscribed to BTN Plus while still in Clayton.
In St. Louis, there was no special moment to draw Box and Sayabonchan to each other. None of the specifics they formed a connection around. It was simply built by working together for long periods of time during the season and admiring each other’s work ethics and approaches, as well as the trajectory of the entire season.
The St. Louis team was young and endured early struggles, but those Billikens continued to win more games than they had in more than a decade. Box and Sayavongchanh have forged a bond through their success.
“We are both very competitive and want to win. We have the same idea. I think that’s our connection,” said Sayavongchanh. “We worked hard, recruited really talented and talented kids and wanted to win, and I think we worked well in that regard. So we’re part 1 Connected over the years and continued to connect. “
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Through her lasting contact with Box after they both left St. Louis, Indiana’s full staff noticed Sayabonchan. She met IU Associate Head Coach Rhet Wierzba on her recruitment course and occasionally saw Teri Moren Head Coach. She also knew Johnny’s Constantine, a former IU assistant who spent four seasons in Bloomington before playing the same role in Alabama in 2020.
On the way of hiring
The actual players recruited by IU and Creighton often differ with the regions employed by the school, but Sayavongchanh felt that her recruiting approach was consistent with IU’s activities.
In Indiana, other high-level programs are often overlooked or completely overlooked, whether domestic high school talent is underestimated or hired abroad. Hoosiers has freshmen from Israel (Yarden Garzon) and Finland (Henna Sandvik), and Serbian sophomore Mona Zaric and Canadian junior Kiandra Browne are already on the roster.
Sayavongchanh said it had never been adopted internationally and that would be her adjustment. But she and Box are looking for the same player qualities that IU chased for Clayton, she said.
“She was looking for similar types of kids in Clayton. Hard-working kids who aren’t all about social media topics, and kids who aren’t necessarily in the spotlight,” Box said. .. “She really understands the types of players needed to win at a high level, and at Clayton, along with the kids she had, she’s clearly looking at her talent. Hidden jewel. “
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The modern recruitment environment presents new and evolving challenges that did not exist even 10 years ago. COVID-19 has influenced the careers of current high school athletes in ways that pre-pandemic new hires never dealt with.
And with the rise of names, images, and portraits in NCAA athletics, it has become a completely different world of adoption. Sayavongchanh knows that, but also states that the situation is constantly changing when it comes to hiring.
She knows that adaptation is essential to keep up. Therefore, you have no choice but to accept these challenges.
But at the same time, Sayavongchanh said NIL wouldn’t affect her recruitment as much as some people think.
“If NIL is more important to student athletes than playing basketball, it’s not the type of kid we want here,” said Sayavongchanh. “If you’re more interested in NIL and that’s what you care about, it’s not playing basketball to some extent at that point. The type of kids here, they want basketball, they want to get better , And they value hard work. NIL’s are the least important to them. “
Build a connection
Sayavongchanh feels that her greatest strength as a coach lies in relationships.
That was her first job when she arrived in Bloomington. Contact new students, veteran players, and players recruited by the IU in 2022. She started those conversations and she just wanted to get to know everyone. She set aside the player to chat during training, engaged in textbooks, and laid the foundation for a strong relationship.
It’s not necessarily related to basketball. Before she arrived in Indiana, Sayavongchanh sent a text message to Grace Burger about her Justin Bieber fandom.
“I like his music, but I’m not a crazy fan. I heard she’s on another level,” said Sayavongchanh. “If Justin Bieber is playing past Cookhole, he’s Jim’s Grace Burger.”
When it comes to games, Sayavongchanh can be insensitive to her players. She describes herself as competitive and intense, and she does not hesitate to tell athletes her truth.
She is driven to victory and she believes IU has some very successful works since this season. Sayavongchanh thought Hoosiers had the potential for the Big Ten Championship last season, but was unlucky due to injury and other circumstances. Health is the key to Hoosiers taking the next step as a program, she said.
In this way, Clayton has been successful in this past season. The key players on the team avoided injury. The Blue Jays upset Iowa in Iowa City, advancing to Sweet 16 for the first time in history, and later defeating Iowa to reach the first elite eight.
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Sayavongchanh wouldn’t have come to Indiana if she hadn’t thought the team could win soon. And the Hoosiers wouldn’t have hired her if they didn’t think she could help it.
“She is the winner. We value the winner here. That’s the real big reason she’s here,” Box said. “When that her job started, we did our homework thoroughly. I thought she was as good as any other Power Five Assistant. So we chased her. She was me. I thought it was really good for us. “
Follow Herald-Times Sports Reporter Seth Tow on Twitter @ SethTow or send an email to stow@heraldt.com.
