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The Elwood Panthers Report with Ryan VanSkyock & Trent Hicks (2.169.2) · The Central Indiana Sports Report

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: You are listening to the Elwood Panthers report.
• 0:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: The Central Indian sports reports a weekly look at the 2025-26 Elwood Panthers.
• 0:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: Every week with head coach Ryan VanSkyak and most weeks with a guest and this week, we have a very special guest.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: One of the top five Elwood Panthers of my lifetime and current assistant coach, also a very good friend from my childhood.
• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: And one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet Trent Hicks.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Will join me after I go over what's been happening with the Panthers.
• 0:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: Talk to Coach Vanskyak about Tuesday night's loss against Southern Wells and look ahead to the schedule with Coach Vanskyak.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: I will get Trent Hicks' view point on what's going on with this year's team and what it will take to make the program as good as it was.
• 0:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: when Trump played for the Panthers, and man was that team good.
• 1:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: Before we get to all of that, I want to tell you about my new daily podcast, Greg, and his friend's talk sports.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: Every day, about 15 to 30 minutes, my friends and I talk about what central Indian sports fans are talking about the Pacer's fever cults I.U.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: Purdue, Indicard Butler,
• 1:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: National Sports and of course high school sports with Elwood and the CIC at the center of it Again, it's every day and it can be found on SoundCloud Spotify Apple Amazon YouTube audible.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's pretty much everywhere Plus we released a Pacer's Report on Monday a Purdue Report on Wednesday And we're supposed to have Hennai you report every Tuesday, but all right you guys were at the IU game
• 1:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: the night that we were supposed to record and then we're too tired from going to the IU game to do it on Tuesday night.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, hoping to record that on Wednesday and have that for you on Thursday.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: Come join us every day.
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: It is a lot of fun.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was a rough night in Pinedo on Tuesday night as Elwood went to play a game against
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: 18, the theoretically should have been competitive with, and left with a 58 to 48 loss.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: As you'll hear from Coach Ranskaiak and Coach Hicks, it was a performance that had the coaching staff scratching their heads and leaving them with more questions and answers.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: But there are opportunities ahead.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: Six games left in the regular season, five of them look very winnable, but that certainly
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: especially if they play like they did on Tuesday night, three games in the next three days, two of them road trips to Indianapolis.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: It starts on Thursday against GEO next generation.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: The Eagles are oh and nine and just the third full season of varsity basketball for the program.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: Over near the Indianapolis Fairgrounds, then on Friday, Blue River Valley comes the town and what should be a really competitive game.
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: The Vikings are 5 and 11 in their first year under head coach Dallas, Dugan, the Vikings have one three in a row though, taking down Union City, Seaton, Catholic, and Knights town consecutively.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: They also have a 56-51 win over Anderson Prep on January 14th.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: another trip to Indianapolis to Providence, Christo Ray to take on the nine and ten wolves.
• 3:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: The Panthers beat the wolves 51 to 38 in Elwood a year ago.
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: So again, the tone of the conversation with Coach Vanskrak and Coach Hicks, let's just say it was an overly positive but at seven and ten, Elwood has a chance to get the ten and ten by the end of the weekend.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: By the way, Thursday night's game is scheduled for 6 o'clock.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: The regular season schedule concludes next week with two games, both at home on February 20 against O'Kill, the Golden Eagles have spent the majority of the season number one.
• 4:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: They were 15 and O before their first loss of the season on Friday against homestead.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: A good for a program, so needless to say, that'll be quite the test.
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: with Cowan on the 21st, the Blackhawk's currently set at 4 and 12, and have lost 6 of their last 7.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: Again, most of those games are winnable, but as we're about to hear from Coach VanSkyok, something's going to have to change.
• 5:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: Please stay tuned for Elwood Head Coach Ryan VanSkyok and Assistant Coach, and I would Panthers legend, Trahicks.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: here uh... back on the old Panthers report with head coach Ryan vanskyok and joined by one of my favorite people in the whole world train hex one of my heroes growing up one of the great all-time elwood panthers and here to give their opinion on what's going on with this year's team and i'm going to start just a couple questions with coach vanskyok uh... we've heard your opinion a lot so we're going to turn it to coach hex and tough loss last night tell us uh... what went wrong
• 5:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like we're just very dysfunctional right now as a team.
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, basketball's like a rollercoaster is going to be ups and downs and right now we're all know the way down and staying down.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: We just got to be able to fight through battles and adversity.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And like we told the kids today, we're done screaming at them, we're done getting on them.
• 6:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: We do the same thing over and over and over to try to make them better basketball players.
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's time for them to step up and do things the right way.
• 6:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the number one thing to me is if we're going to be successful, they're going to be coachable.
• 6:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they've not been coachable for about two years.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: We've got through stretches where they do a good job.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then they go back to bad habits.
• 6:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that was the most meshes today for them was if they could really self reflect and look themselves in the mirror and say, yeah, I didn't do this right or yeah, coaches right here or maybe I need to be coachable.
• 6:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Until we can do that in self-reflect and really understand that we need to change because nobody's perfect coaches screw up Players are going to screw up But for us those kids always want to put blame on somebody else and it's time to step up to the mirror and be like Yeah, I didn't do this right coaches ride or man.
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really let my teammates down.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I got to do this better.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's been our focus today
• 7:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I get any better, I don't know, I hope so, because you wish the best for these kids, but till they truly buy in and understand that, I guess, understand to be coachable and to be pushed, we're never going to reach the potential where we have, and I mean, you like the last couple weeks, we're not even close to what basketball team we could be.
• 7:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a bunch of seniors.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's a disappointing thing.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's coming fast, you're not going to have much time to fix this.
• 7:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's week by week by week, and now we're down to two and a half, three weeks left, and the end is here.
• 7:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, will they do it?
• 7:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hope so.
• 7:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hope they really go home and reflect a night of things after change.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I don't know.
• 8:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I don't.
• 8:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I watch this play and we're just so dysfunctional last three weeks and we went out last night and we act like we could care less to be there.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean we didn't play hard, we had no heart.
• 8:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: All of our younger kids that came in played much harder than the varsity and they're going to start tomorrow and varsity and we're going to make a point is we're going to coach kids that want to do the
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: the right thing, that want to play hard.
• 8:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And those older kids are going to have to show us that they really care and want to be here to get their spot back.
• 8:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: And the good news is if they want to, there's an opportunity out there.
• 8:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: There are teams on your schedule that are windless, teams that you've beaten in the past, teams you expect to be, teams in your sectional, you know you can be, so the opportunities out there.
• 8:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's the hardest part, it makes me sick every night as you look at what we have and you're like, man, these kids can compete with anybody.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But when you don't play as a team and you're not coachable, we look like a glorified a UTM out there that's just not very good.
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when that happens, when you're playing the organized basketball against really good teams,
• 9:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: his shows and you're never going to win those games.
• 9:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So to me is if the kids could just flip that mentality to be coachable, what could happen.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I truly think amazing things can happen.
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of the day, those kids are really good kids, but for whatever reason and they've had this trouble since I started playing basketball, just listening, what
• 9:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're hoping and I pray because there's nothing more than I want for those kids to be successful the end of the day.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: It eats at me when all these people talk trash about Elwood or talk trash about our kids or how bad our kids are, because they're really not, and again, I mean, for me there's nothing more in the world than I want for our kids to be successful, and we're trying to give them everything that we can.
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: We just hope they start listening.
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks Coach.
• 10:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
• 10:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: Coach Hicks, you are part of one of the best teams of the last my lifetime.
• 10:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: We'll just say my lifetime and without question, I think the best class of my lifetime.
• 10:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: What's missing from, again, a large class like yours was, a bunch of kids who stuck with it.
• 10:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: What's missing?
• 10:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think looking back at the last couple of games we've just had from a basketball perspective, I'll start with that, just a lack of effort and energy.
• 10:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: We talked today a lot about working hard and that's just not getting up and down the court fast to get in spots, but it's being strong with the basketball.
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: when you're posting up, it's posting up strong.
• 10:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's setting good strings.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's crashing the boards for rebounds.
• 10:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Get down on the floor after both.
• 10:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Getting on the floor after about two halls.
• 10:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what we're talking about, especially with our top five and six.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: And we're just not...
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: seeing that the way that we want to or that we know the way that they can.
• 11:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: We've had some games even when we've lost where they've done that but the last couple weeks it just seems like that hasn't been there and you're right.
• 11:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: Our schedule, especially moving forward and even the last couple weeks, they're all winnable games at least in my head and so that's getting us the opportunity to get to that 500 season in above for the first time in like 14 years.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: In terms
• 11:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: we played a lot of basketball back in the day of just getting up and down the court so we had to learn each other's games we had to learn
• 11:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: who we're going to set us trained for, who to get the ball to, to Christ the boards, without necessarily a system in place.
• 11:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't see that from this group as much as I want to.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Our younger kids, the JV and freshman, both had wins this week, and it's because of their effort.
• 12:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: They just played hard, and that's what got then their wins.
• 12:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: We put that group in the last few minutes of the game last night, and there was a difference in the energy.
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think our older kids can continue to learn from that.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I like what we did the day of practice to watch last night's game, just to kind of get, hey, this is what really happened 24 hours ago.
• 12:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: So let's go home, look into Mayor, and go from there, you know, starting right now and with the six games left we have in the regular season was still the focus on sectional coming up in about three weeks.
• 12:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: three games in the next four days if they don't get it together now it's gonna be ugly this is it this is it for sure you know and to go off of what coach said you know we want them to be successful at the end of the day not just basketball wise but in life Elwood basketball means a lot to me I've told the kids this story a few times and again today is a reminder that and this is not about me but you know my dad was on the last
• 13:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: his pictures on the wall for two conference championships, a sexual championship, his pictures on the wall with CIC Championship teams as a coach.
• 13:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: And even one in the early 2000s, he came back to volunteer coach, just as what I'm doing.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so you know a little about that.
• 13:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so to me, I would basketball means a lot personally.
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: If it wasn't for that, if he doesn't go to Purdue and begin his teaching and coaching career,
• 13:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Who knows where I would be today, you know, from the things that I've been able to do in my life.
• 13:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that's not about me, that's just a story to tell the kids of how important this is right now in their life for success when they graduate and go to school or start their working careers.
• 13:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: They're going to have to have effort, energy, attitudes, teamwork every day of their lives.
• 13:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: So that's the big message at the end of the day.
• 13:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's what we want to really get out of them at the end of the day.
• 14:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have hard conversations, but we also want to make sure that they know that they still have an opportunity to get to this winning season, these last six games of the year.
• 14:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, there's an offseason, and I'm not sure that the people around here understand how important that is.
• 14:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: You, of course, were a year-round basketball guy, and you know.
• 14:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: you lived it and you breathed it and it showed on the court and that's yeah it really isn't ever game it is it's it is year round play other sports oh what athletics needs you to play other sports from a population perspective and that's great and you're training your body and mind to do different things and have different coaching perspectives and such so play other sports but it is year round that's what the underclassment of got to understand
• 14:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: moving forward that you know if they want to have success next year and build off of what we've done this year so far it's got it you know as soon as the sectionals over next year starts and so that's that's something I think we have to continue to have and continue to push on them and uh first second third fourth fifth graders
• 15:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: The time is right now at the time is right.
• 15:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just I just interviewed Mickey Hozier that guy was skilled in first grade and you can be to yeah No, you can and you know, that's just all about fundamentals And learning that basic fundamental learning to put a ball in your hands for an hour a day or whatever the case is and In building from there and then doing it with your teammates.
• 15:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: So again in the summer you're learning
• 15:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: who's, you know, what the skill set is for everybody and how you can feed off that to truly create a team.
• 15:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: those summers and the gym were fun, weren't they?
• 15:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: They were fun.
• 15:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, every time I walk into practice, you know, it's winter's court, loser's court, always go through my mind, because that's what I was like.
• 15:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's good.
• 15:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, we had, you know, Steve Hembree come back and play with us.
• 15:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: And when Jamie, let's send graduated, he would come back and play with us for the first, several years out of college, I've played a ball state for a couple of years, so now I'm coming back to play with him at that point in time.
• 16:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, and seven graders were allowed from time to time.
• 16:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no.
• 16:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Exactly, so, but that gives you a perspective of what's happening.
• 16:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're having some of our A traders practice with us right now to get that mindset and to see how coach V coaches and to start building that culture from them.
• 16:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's nothing I want more than this program to be.
• 16:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: I said this on the podcast before.
• 16:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: The Lwood Panther basketball team was my first favorite team.
• 16:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, before the Pacers, before the Boiler Makers, even before Lwood Football, Lwood basketball was my life.
• 16:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: Me, Jeff Cotton was my hero.
• 16:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: Love Jeff, you know, and that team, they weren't very good.
• 16:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: They lost all the time, but when they won, I took pride in it.
• 16:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yes.
• 16:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I want that back.
• 16:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: I did see a couple of kids in the stands watching every play, and that's it.
• 16:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's a good sign.
• 16:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 16:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: I remember going to pretty much every at least home basketball game from six to right on, if not before, and just watching, you know, literally watching from the stands and watching Jeff Cotton and watching Steve Henry, and then knowing, okay, when I'm a freshman, Jamie's going to be a junior.
• 17:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: So when he's a senior, I'll be a sophomore.
• 17:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to play with Jamie on the court.
• 17:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that was my mindset.
• 17:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, sophomore year we started four soft moors and Jamie what stone so we did we were on the way to do that and But that's okay because we won games are CIC change one game Over time don't remind me See I was a real fan.
• 17:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I would have been died.
• 17:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Was that the game that Willis Reed was in
• 17:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: It probably was because I think we saw how to couple games after that to go, but he was recruiting Jamie, you know, that is that's pretty cool Will is really sitting right there.
• 17:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a fact.
• 17:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it is.
• 17:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: That was so cool.
• 18:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: I barely watched the game all I wanted to do is see what Willis Reed was doing right
• 18:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, how you been?
• 18:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Good, doing well.
• 18:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's been a fun year overall.
• 18:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've really enjoyed the chance to come back and again, help the kids just give them a positive message.
• 18:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would do anything for any one of these players.
• 18:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: I tell them that all the time, whatever that looks like, because I want them just again, to be successful in life at the end of the day.
• 18:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's what it's all about.
• 18:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: And to use basketball as a way to learn.
• 18:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: those fundamentals to make sure that that happens.
• 18:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: Trance, thank you so much.
• 18:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: Let's do this more often.
• 18:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got to appreciate it.
• 18:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for much.
• 18:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: Thanks again to Coach Vanskiak and Coach Hicks for joining the podcast and for the Owen Panthers family for making the Central Indiana Sports Report feel welcome.
• 18:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you so much for listening.
• 18:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: We could really use your help.
• 18:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: Please share this podcast with an Owen Panthers fan in your life and help us.
• 19:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Let's spread the words that the Central Indiana Sports Report is talking about what Central Indiana Sports fans are talking about every single day, and of course it's great to be an Elwood Panther.
• 19:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: The central Indian sports report is a product of ITG media and I love Susie.