Hoosiers hire former Creighton assistant coach and recruiting coordinator to same role
Good afternoon, Indiana women’s basketball fans!
We’ve got some staffing news today, as Indiana announced the hiring of Linda Sayavongchanh as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator earlier today:
Welcome to Hoosier Nation, @CoachSy!
: https://t.co/898eYfg4zt pic.twitter.com/IYvfThKBRw
— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) June 3, 2022
Sayavongchanh joins the staff after serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Creighton from 2015-2022. She will take on the same role in Bloomington. She has also previously served as a coach at Drake, North Dakota, and Saint Louis after getting started on the bench as a GA at Minnesota-Duluth in 2007.
Prior to beginning her career as a coach, Sayavongchanh played at Drake from 2002-2006. She made the All-Missouri Valley Conference team three times. She found her name on the MVC All-Defensive team three times as well. Sayavongchanh scored 1,129 points for the Bulldogs and is best-known for recording a blistering 105 steals during her sophomore season.
Sayavongchanh seems like a great get as the Hoosiers continue to tweak their coaching staff. This past season at Creighton was the Bluejays’ most successful one ever. They made both the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight for the first time and pulled the upset of the Tournament by knocking out #2-seeded Iowa in the second round. Creighton forwards (whom Sayavongchanh oversaw during her time in Omaha) also fared well when it came to individual awards. Sophomores Morgan Maly and Emma Ronsiek were BIG EAST Sixth Player of the Year and an All-BIG EAST First Team selection respectively. The recent success of both CU and IU should make for a relatively smooth transition when it comes to culture. Both schools expect to win.
As a coach we are most excited to see what defensive improvements Sayavongchanh can help make. The Hoosiers’ defense was rated third in the Big Ten last season, but they were 11th in steals with just 216. Expect that number to go up, as Creighton averaged half a steal more than Indiana last season. In terms of personnel, it’ll be interesting to see how Sayavongchanh molds highly-touted incoming freshman Lilly Meister (assuming she continues to work with post players at IU).
We’re also looking forward to seeing how this hire impacts recruiting. As of now, Indiana only has two commits in arriving in 2023. Sayavongchanh’s first acts as recruiting coordinator will likely be aimed at rounding out said class. They need Bigs.