EIUPanthers Podcast

Basketball Season is just around the corner and the next two weeks of EIUPanthers Podcast will be dedicated to Panthers round ball as we bring you the recent Ohio Valley Conference Media Day sessions for both teams. With an exhibition game on Nov. 3, we will start with the EIU women’s team this week.  Participating in OVC Media Day for EIU women’s basketball this year was head coach Matt Bollant and senior forward Abby Wahl.  The Panthers were selected to finish 7th in the OVC race with Wahl and teammate Lariah Washington tabbed as preseason All-OVC selections.   Season tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale by calling the EIU ticket office at 217-581-2106.

Episode 61 of EIUPanthers Podcast  wraps up our EIU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021 series with former Panthers soccer player Devon Bissell.  Bissell was a three-year member of the Panthers team who helped EIU advance to back-to-back NCAA College Cup appearances during her final two seasons in Charleston.  She was a multiple time All-OVC selection and the OVC Player of the Year during one season.  Bissell remains the OVC career leader in assists and today talks about her experience as a college athlete on the pitch and the opportunities that has provided her in her career in sports.

Episode 60 of EIUPanthers Podcast continues our Class of 2021 Hall of Fame series with Todd Moroney.  Moroney was a multiple-time All-Conference selection in both track and cross country running for the Panthers during the mid-1990’s.  Moroney talks about winning conference titles as a member of both the Mid-Continent Conference and Ohio Valley Conference in the steeplechase in addition to being just one of two EIU cross country runners to make to the NCAA National Championship meet during the Panthers NCAA Division I era.  

Episode 59 of EIUPanthers Podcast continues our EIU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021 series with the third of our five inductees, former EIU volleyball head coach Betty Ralston.   Ralston coached the Panthers for 16 seasons posting seven 20+ win campaigns and coaching numerous All-Conference players including two players of the year.  We talk with Ralston about her start in the coaching business, the early days of coaching in NCAA Division I, the conference changes EIU went through during her time and the current state of the game during today’s podcast.

Episode 58 of EIUPanthers Podcast continues our series with members of Eastern Illinois Class of 2021 Athletic Hall of Fame.   Our guest today is former Ohio Valley Conference pitcher of the year Amber May.  During three seasons in the circle for EIU, May became one of the most dominant pitchers in school history ranking in the single season and career top five for several pitching categories.  We talk to May about her career and her busy life after softball at EIU.

Episode 57 of EIUPanthers Podcast as this week we begin our series with the Eastern Illinois Hall of Fame Class for 2021.  Reynae Hutchinson was a standout performer in two sports during her time at Eastern Illinois.  She was a multiple time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection as a member of both the Panthers volleyball and softball teams.   She would finish her career in both sports ranked in the career top ten in several categories.   Today she talks about her experiences playing both sports and catches us up on life post-EIU.

Episode 56 of EIUPanthers Podcast,as we continue our series with new Eastern Illinois head coaches and visit with Tyler Donges who was recently hired as the head coach for the Panthers men’s and women’s swim program.   Donges was a diver at the club level and brings with him some extensive experience coaching at the club and high school level.  Most recently he served as the head coach at Anderson University in Indiana.

This week on episode 55 of EIUPanthers Podcast we visit with former Eastern Illinois men’s soccer player Neil Swindells.  Swindells played soccer for the Panthers in the early 1980’s alongside some of the great goal scorers in program history.  Swindells helped set up many of those goals as he ranks second on the EIU career assists list.  Since his playing days on the pitch, Swindells has gone on to a successful career as an airline pilot flying for United Airlines.  Today he talks about some of his favorite airports to fly in and out of while also talking about some of his memories of playing soccer at EIU.

Episode 54 of EIUPanthers Podcast as this week we introduce fans to one of the Panthers newest head coaches, Keith Roberts, the new EIU Director of Track and Field.  Roberts comes to Eastern Illinois following a successful stint as an assistant coach at ACC member Pittsburgh.  Roberts talks about his experiences at Pitt and his other coaching stops on today’s episode in addition to talking about his background as a football and track athlete at Kent State and how that helped shape his approach to coaching.

Welcome to episode 53 of EIUPanthers Podcast.  With the ever changing landscape in college athletics, our guest this week is well versed on the topic as we visit with Angie Jabir.   Jabir, then Angie Russell, played basketball at Eastern Illinois before a career as a college basketball coach and now as the senior associate athletic director & senior woman administrator at Siena College.  During our episode today we talk to Jabir about her experiences as a student-athlete and how those helped mold her into the administrator she has become today.  We also touch on some of the hot button topics in college athletics on this week’s episode.