Chase Walker asked to meet with his coach at Illinois State, Ryan Pedon, in March. The Redbirds were about to start play in the CBI tournament, a reward for their first winning season since 2018–19. Walker requested that Pedon’s wife, Stephanie, be present, and Walker’s parents joined via Zoom.
Pedon knew what this was about. Walker, a first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference big man as a sophomore, was weighing transfer options. Power- conference schools had been trying to lure him away for months with offers of larger NIL compensation and greater exposure than he could get at a mid-major.
“As coaches, we’re all aware what is going on underneath the surface throughout the second half of the season—at least,” says Pedon. “There are players who already know what they’re going to make next year at their next school.”
In a reversal of the nomadic norm in college basketball’s free-transfer era, Walker called the meeting to tell everyone he was staying put. The gathering ended in tears of joy from Stephanie Pedon and Walker’s parents.
“People asked why I would stay,” Walker says. “I flipped it to, Why would I leave? We’re building something here. I don’t need all that money right now. Give me a basketball gym and a place to stay with a PlayStation, and it’s all good.”
That was just the beginning of Illinois State’s trend-busting spring, when a whopping seven of Walker’s teammates chose to stay with him. That included his two roommates, guard Johnny Kinziger and wing Ty Pence. The trio, who came in together in 2023, had all received transfer offers from higher-profile schools.
“We just sat down and were real with each other,” Kinziger says. “We’re all really happy where we are, and we want to be part of something special together.”
The 6' 9" Walker weighed nearly 400 pounds at one point in high school, his talent buried beneath excess weight. The top programs weren’t interested in him, and neither were most of those a rung below. While dropping pounds and remaking his body, Walker’s college choice came down to Toledo, Liberty and Illinois State. Pedon plotted a redshirt year to allow Walker more time to get in college basketball shape.
Injuries changed those plans 15 games into Walker’s freshman season in 2023–24. Playing at around 300 pounds, Walker flashed his potential, then kept slimming down to his playing weight of 270 for his sophomore season. He leveled up, averaging 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in just 24.3 minutes per game, then upped his scoring to 20 points per game in the Redbirds’ run to the CBI title.
“He is ridiculously strong,” Pedon says. “He’s a football helmet away from the NFL.”
Hence the high-major tampering. Power programs that had no interest in Walker two years earlier were now waving money in his face.
In the Valley, a proud conference that saw teams win games in nine of the last 13 NCAA tournaments, this has become a bitter rite of spring. High-major programs come poaching the league’s top players and coaches—sometimes as package deals. This year, Iowa hired Drake’s first-year coach Ben McCollum and got his star point guard, Bennett Stirtz, as well. Last year, Drake lost coach Darian DeVries and his standout son, Tucker, to West Virginia (and both now at Indiana). Indiana State's 2024 team, an NIT finalist that won 32 games, lost coach Josh Schertz, guard Isaiah Swope and big man Robbie Avila to Saint Louis; guard Julian Larry and forward Jayson Kent to Texas; and guard Ryan Conwell to Xavier.
“We’re as vulnerable as any league in the country,” Pedon says.
The Valley named 16 players to its three all-conference teams this year, and five of the eight with remaining eligibility entered the transfer portal. The three who didn’t: Trey Campbell of Northern Iowa and two Redbirds, Walker and Kinziger.
Like Walker, Kinziger was overlooked in recruiting by the Midwest's high-major schools. He chose Illinois State over Green Bay, moved into the starting lineup late in his freshman season and led the team in minutes played last year while averaging 14.6 points per game. Kinziger weighed transfer options with his family this spring, but he finalized his decision to stay put while playing a round of golf with Redbirds assistant coach Andrew Dakich. They drove from the course to Pedon’s house to give him the news.
“Johnny was the last one,” Walker says. “When I heard he was staying, I was smiling ear-to-ear for a week and a half.”
After surviving Portal Poaching Season, fully stocked Illinois State is setting its sights on a MVC title run and its first NCAA tournament bid since 1998. “They understand that there is value in legacy and their longevity at a place,” Pedon says. “Something that’s not talked about enough in this is what’s best for the kids in the long run. Where are they going to go to homecoming when they’re 40? What letter jacket are they going to wear? If you’re always moving around, where do you belong?”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Illinois State Men’s Basketball Bucked the Transfer Portal Trend.
