We had a great time chatting with Steve Smiley, Northern Colorado University Men's HC about a variety of topics for episode #278! In this episode, we talk about coaches journey through the JC ranks to a Division I AC to now the head man. In addition, we talk about NIL and the effects of the portal on mid-major programs like his, the influence of the legendary Don Meyer and his network of coaching friends, bench organization, implementing your scouting report, turning defense into offense and much more! Had a lot of fun talking hoops with one of the best young coaches in the country!

Fremont Bergan (NE) Boys HC Ryan Mlnarik comes on the podcast this week, fresh off of an unlikely state championship run this spring, the first #8 seed to win a state championship in years! Coach Mlnarik discusses his journey as a basketball coach and his stops along the way, navigating the season with a very young team, hitting the tournament trail and the process they went through to win a title, and more! We also talk about how he sets up his practices, offensive transition and his half court philosophy, among other things! Great chat with a newly minted state champion!

We spend alot of time during the season devoted to developing the team game, but many times at the end of the season it comes down to either getting a score or a stop in an isolation situation. This week, Tony and I break down the importance of one on one and why you should be working on it in practice. In addition, Tony and I will drop over a dozen drills that you can bring back to your program to help develop your one on one abilities on both sides of the ball! We also have trivia, a discussion of the NBA playoffs and a preview of the WNBA's Western Conference with Carter Plum!

Episode #276 features state champion GBB HC Kristina Danella of Glen Ridge (NJ) High School! Coach Danella has had a well traveled career at both the collegiate and high school level, and we dive into that, along with her successful playing career at the Division I level and how that has affected her coaching style, along with some transition offense, offensive sets, communicating with parents, her state title journey and many other things. Alot of fun with a terrfic young coach from the Garden State!

Although most of the topics that are discussed on this podcast deal with current coaching issues, one thing that we rarely think about until it happens is what life is like without coaching. This week, Tony and I break down the do's and don'ts of life without coaching, including prepping for the next stop, what we should look for in our next position, how to handle the situation if it wasn't your choice to step away and much, much more! In addition, we've got a new segment at the top of the pod, trivia, NBA playoff discussion and an Eastern Conference WNBA preview with a new guest! Enjoy!

Four girls basketball coaches got together last week at Wine 121 here in Omaha to talk some hoops; Gretna East's Wade Coulter, Oakland-Craig's Scott Guzinski and APAAN's all around pinch hitter Marc Kruger got together to discuss their 2025 journey, of which each team played on the final day of the season. We talk about those journeys and look ahead to the summer of 2025 and how they plan on putting their teams together. We also talk about what our coaches want to get better at as they prepare for the summer of 2025. Enjoy our roundtable discussion!!!

One of the elements that makes life difficult for many coaches is the parents of the kids that they coach. It's easy to put all of your difficult parents into one basket, but there are different kinds of difficult parents. In this epiosde, Tony and I break down those types of parents, along with our swan song for opening numbers. In addition, we have our trivia segment and our TWIB segment, including a big thank you to Coach Pop and a discussions of the NBA playoffs. Enjoy!!

Jared Blackwell took over the legendary Sandy Creek (NE) girls basketball program four years ago and has worked hard to put the Cougars back amongst the elite in the small school spectrum of Nebraska. In this fun podcast, Coach Blackwell talks about building the program back up after some down years, the influence of Russ Ninemire, the adjustments you make going from an assistant coach to a head coach, scouting, game day superstitions and much more! A really fun conversation with one of Nebraska's up and coming coaches!

Every team needs to have players that are going to keep things together and do great things without the ball in their hand; hit their partners with a great pass, screen well, be a great help side defender, and on and on the list goes. The more that EVERY player on your roster buys into the elements of being a glue player, the better your team will be. Tony and I break down the elements that makes glue players so important, and we also discuss the NBA playoffs, St. John 's dominating the transfer portal and more!

Coach Derek Sonderland is a veteran girls basketball coach in southwest Iowa, having coached almost a quarter of a century in various stops, including his current school, Tri-Center Neola, where he's on his second run as head coach. Coach Sonderland discusses those travels, along with some influences in his career, what his team needs to do to improve for next season, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, building a strong culture, some of his favorite drills and much more! A really fun conversation with a terrific coach!