Seniors Kyle Beedon, Hayden Doyle, and Drake Kindsvater (left to right) are key figures on the WashU team as the Bears chase a national title. (Yiwen Zha, Ella Giere, Sam Powers | Student Life, Photo Editor, Managing Photo Editor)

Out of the 18 players on the WashU men’s basketball roster, just three are seniors. The trio of seniors, part of the team’s first recruits after the COVID-19 pandemic, endured two back-to-back losses on their home court in the second round of the NCAA tournament followed by a Sweet 16 exit their junior year. As seniors, the Class of 2025 leads the No. 17 Bears to their best tournament run in over a decade. 

As the team charts their path to the program’s first Final Four appearance in 16 years, the men’s basketball senior class is playing some of their best basketball at the right time, delaying the end of their WashU athletic careers until the final possible weekend. In the Bears’ first three tournament games of the 2024-25 season, senior guard Hayden Doyle spearheaded the offense, logging team highs with 24, 15, and 16 points, helping the team win all three games. In WashU’s Elite Eight victory over No. 5 University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, when Doyle was held to just nine points, senior forward Drake Kindsvater was the squad’s focal point, racking up a career-high 31 points and 15 rebounds. 

While the third senior — guard Kyle Beedon, who tore his ACL following a breakout 2023-24 season and is planning to return for a graduate year in 2026 — has been leading from the sidelines, the Bears’ senior class is piloting the squad’s best tournament run since back-to-back national championship wins in 2008 and 2009.  

Hayden Doyle

In addition to being a strong shooter, guard Hayden Doyle is a vocal leader on the WashU team. (Asher Lubin | Contributing Photographer)

Doyle has been a crucial member of the WashU lineup since his first season in St. Louis. The 6’1” guard from Brookfield, Wisconsin, made an instant impact, becoming a featured member of the WashU backcourt as a first-year player. Doyle started all but one game his first year, and earned University Athletic Association (UAA) Rookie of the Year honors as the league’s best newcomer. 

Since his first year, Doyle has worked to build connections between active Bears players and the team’s alumni, a practice that was inspired by the late Justin Hardy, a former WashU player who passed away from cancer in 2022. 

“When I was a freshman, Justin Hardy told me to start getting in contact with the alums,” Doyle said. “Every Sunday, I’d reach out to five different alums through email. One of the guys I got really close with was Sean Wallis, who was kind of the leader, the point guard of the [2008-09] team.”

Wallis, the Bears’ all-time assist leader and a former first-team All-American, even invited Doyle to his house for a golf tournament during Doyle’s sophomore summer, where Doyle met members of the 2008-09 Bears national championship team. 

Like Wallis, Doyle has emerged as a team leader. According to his teammates, Doyle’s energetic pregame speeches and constant communication during practice and games, including occasional trash talk, have made him a central figure on the team.

“[Hayden] is just a great communicator,” Kindsvater said. “He’s never afraid to let others know what’s on his mind, whether it’s with the team, in a leadership role, or if it’s just making conversation with random people.”

On the court, Doyle has been a constant presence in the Bears’ starting five, averaging more than 10 points, three assists, and 30 minutes per game for all four years. As a junior, Doyle emerged as the Bears’ leading scorer with 15.4 points per game, and has taken his game to the next level in his fourth and final season. As the team’s most consistent scoring option, Doyle is averaging 17.4 points per game, including four games with more than 25 points.

Doyle’s efforts have been rewarded with national recognition. As a junior, he was named a second team All-American, and as a senior, has been named one of ten finalists for the 2025 Jostens Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in Division III basketball. He was also named to the National Association Basketball Coaches Third Team All-American list.

Drake Kindsvater

Forward Drake Kindsvater drives to the hoop during his junior fall. (Elaheh Khazi | Student Life)

While Kindsvater entered college best known for his work on the defensive side of the game, he quickly became an electrifying presence on the other side of the court as well. With his ability to compete both in the paint and as an outside shooter, the 6’6” forward is difficult for opposing defenses to slow down. His highlight-reel-worthy dunks have also proven him to be a dangerous threat in transition.

“Everything Drake does on the basketball court is entirely unique,” Beedon said. “Every Drake layup is like a snowflake.”

What Doyle and Beedon could not talk about enough, however, were Kindsvater’s “hot hands.” Kindsvater’s quick hands make him a threat to steal the ball from rival players, which allowed him to tie for the UAA lead in steals with 65 as a sophomore. His sophomore year also saw a growth on offense, as Kindsvater improved from an average of 4 points per game as a first year to a team-high 14 points per game in 26 starts. 

“I trust him a lot on the court,” Doyle said. “You just expect him to make plays. His pureness and joy with basketball is refreshing.”

Entering his junior year, Kindsvater was expected to shine, and he did just that, leading the team with 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game through 14 games before a broken nose derailed his standout season. Back on the court as a senior, Kindsvater has helped the Bears log key wins down the stretch of UAA play and the NCAA tournament with scoring outbursts, including a 22-point performance against Colby College in the Lopata Classic and his career-high 31 points against UW–La Crosse. Kindsvater’s play in the Elite Eight is a major reason why the Bears find themselves just two wins away from a national championship.

“I just love to see [him] go out and hoop,” Beedon said. “It’s the most awesome thing, like [in the UW La-Crosse game] where he just go[t] out there and ma[de] every play. It’s unbelievable.”

Kyle Beedon

Kyle Beedon stepped up in clutch moments as a junior, including this 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in overtime in WashU’s 2024 tournament win over Illinois College. (Elle Su | Student Life)

After totaling just 21 points his first two years, Beedon broke out as a junior. Last season the 6’1” guard from North Hollywood, California, emerged as a threat from 3-point range, shooting 73/182 (40.1%) from beyond the arc and averaging 10.8 points per game. Beedon recounted practicing pump fakes in his dorm mirror and playing 3v3s and 5v5s with dads and children at his local YMCA over the summer to improve his game.

After working his way into the starting lineup for 13 of WashU’s final 14 games as a junior, Beedon was figured to play a central role his senior year. However, during an offseason tournament, Beedon tore his ACL, kick-starting a prolonged recovery process that has sidelined him for the entire 2024-25 season. 

Despite not being able to play, Beedon has not shied away from the sport and is still an active participant on the team, helping to compile scouting reports as an unofficial assistant coach. Doyle commended Beedon for scheduling his rehab before or after practices and continuing to outshoot the team in practice shooting drills without jumping or running on his injured leg. Kindsvater, who has built a close relationship with Beedon as his roommate over the last four years, also praised Beedon’s relentlessly positive attitude.

“When he did find out that it was a torn ACL, he had [just] a couple days where it was really bad. He’s great at compartmentalizing that, setting that aside, and focusing on being in the moment … and it takes a really strong-willed person to do that,” Kindsvater said. “A lot of people will just get down on themselves … but I never really saw that.”

Beedon is planning to return for a fifth year at WashU for the 2025-26 season, which will give him the opportunity to lead the team as an experienced veteran and reap the benefits of the past year spent alongside the team. As he perseveres through his lengthy recovery, Beedon shared that the opportunity to play his beloved sport again has been a key motivator.

“The first month was really hard. We were in the off season and I probably slept with a basketball the first three weeks,” Beedon said. “But then it was sort of like ‘Alright, I’m gonna come back next year, I’m gonna get a masters,’ and just thinking towards that next year, I want to do everything I can this year to still be impactful.”

As the seniors gear up for their final weekend competing together, they are all trying to live in the moment and enjoy their last trip with the 2024-25 team.

“We’re all just so grateful to be here, but obviously we’re still so hungry,” Beedon said. “It’s hard not to be super excited for this game. This is stuff that we’ve been waiting for our whole lives.”

This article was updated on March 20 to include additional reporting.

This article was updated on April 9 to clarify that it had been 16 years since WashU’s last Final Four appearance, not 14.