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.
