Bob Bahnsen introduced the 20th Head Coach in Illinois State Men's Basketball, Ryan Pedon, who is entering his 5th season with the Redbirds.
In 2025-26 he helped lead ISU to its longest postseason run in program history, advancing to the semifinal round of the 2026 NIT held at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The team's 23-13 record gave the program 20+ wins in two consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008-09 and 2009-10, while becoming just the fifth coach in program history to record back-to-back 20-win seasons.
Prior to joining the Redbirds, Pedon had spent five seasons at Ohio State after joining the staff in the summer of 2017. In his time with the Buckeyes, OSU has a record of 106-53 with an NCAA tournament berth during each of his seasons in Columbus, with two trips to the NCAA second round.
Pedon played college basketball at the College of Wooster, where he was a three-year letterwinner and helped the Fighting Scots to three NCAA Tournaments and three North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular-season championships. In 2000, he won Wooster's prestigious "Bear Award". He received his bachelor's degree in communications from Wooster in 2000 and a master's degree in sport organization from Miami (Ohio) in 2002. He and his wife Stephanie have a son, Maddox.
The success of the Men's Basketball team has been on an upward trajectory, and they look to build off of that success. The program has 3 primary goals:
Become the standard of excellence in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Become a program on the national stage.
Accomplish achievements that have never been attained before.
The Redbirds have set a team GPA record with a 3.71 average.
Coach Pedon is excited about this year's teams, and updated the club on the roster, schedule, and program outlook.
The Redbirds start practice on September 20, with the "Ballin' on Beaufort" event on October 7, and first exhibition game at home on October 18 against Northwestern. The regular season opens on November 2 at St. Mary's.
For more information about Illinois State Men's Basketball, click here.
New member inductions
On September 14, we inducted two new members. Please welcome Melissa and XXXX to the club!
Announcements
Scott Seibring: Scott presented the proposed slate of officers and board for the 2026-2027 Kiwanis year.
President: Sonya Weber
President Elect: Andy Morgan
Past President: Kathleen Lorenz
Vice President: Andrew Greisiger
Secretary: Gail Dobbins
Treasurer: Jacob Schlipf
Continuing Board Members:
Kevin McConnell
Trevor Seibring
David Martin
Dee Wilson
New Board Members:
Alyx Merritt
Loren Singer
Bob Starckovich
Mary Jo Murphy
Terms Ending October 1:
Ron Ulmer
Lacey Caughron
Bryan Crabtree
The club will vote on this slate at the next meeting on September 28.
Sonya Weber: Sonya is working on finalizing the committees for the next Kiwanis year. If you're interested in a specific committee, please contact Sonya.
Bob Starckovich: Bob took an honor flight to Washington DC, and he wants to thank all of the Kiwanis members for their support of this opportunity.
Alyx Merritt: ISU Circle K is meeting on September 14, and there are other Key Club meetings upcoming. If you'd like to attend these meetings, contact Alyx.
Kathleen Lorenz: The board has proposed new membership tiers for our club. She brought physical copies of the proposed changes. A vote on these changes will take place at our meeting on September 28.
volunteer opportunities
Boys & Girls Club Family Fun Night
September 18, 4:30-6:30pm
Come lend a hand and support local kids while connecting with fellow Kiwanians. It’s a great opportunity to serve our community and have some fun together!
👉 Ready to join us?Click here to sign up to volunteer.
