Beyond the Ball

Jacey Brooks is in her third season as Cortland's women's basketball head coach.

During the 2019-20 season, Brooks led the Red Dragons to a 22-7 record, the finals of the SUNYAC tournament and an NCAA Division III tournament at-large berth. Cortland won its NCAA first-round game and tied for 17th place nationally. Brooks was named the D3hoops.com East Region Coach of the Year, and she and her assistant coaches were selected as the SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year. Brooks also guided Cortland to a SUNYAC tournament appearance in her first season in 2018-19.

A former standout player at Buffalo State College, Brooks worked with Division I coaching staffs 11 years prior to her arrival at Cortland, most recently as an assistant coach for five years at Bowling Green State University in Ohio from 2013-18.

Brooks was part of a Bowling Green program that finished 30-5 overall, captured the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season title with a 17-1 mark, and won three games in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) in the 2013-14 season. She co-managed the Falcons' offensive scheme, including in-game decisions, from 2013-16 and served as the program's defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator from 2016-18. The program had the fifth-highest team grade point average among Division I women's squads in 2014-15 and the seventh-best team GPA in 2016-17.

In August 2015, Brooks was one of just 50 coaches across the nation selected to participate in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) Center for Coaching Excellence's inaugural session for assistant coaches in Atlanta, Ga. She is a June 2017 graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy (WCA) Class #41 in Denver, Colo., and she also attended the NCAA/National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) Women's Leadership Symposium in Kansas City, Mo., in May 2016.

Prior to her work at Bowling Green, Brooks spent three seasons on the coaching staff at Canisius College. She primarily worked with the team's backcourt players while assisting with the day-to-day operations of the program. Brooks also worked at St. Bonaventure University, where she moved into an assistant coach role for the 2009-10 season after spending two years as the director of basketball operations. The Bonnies finished 23-10 and made their second straight WNIT appearance in 2009-10.

A native of Machias, N.Y., Brooks graduated from Buffalo State in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness. During her four seasons on the hardwood for the Bengals (2002-05 and 2006-07) she recorded 1,219 points and 554 rebounds, earned two All-SUNYAC honors, and helped lead the team to three straight conference tournaments. She currently ranks sixth in school history in scoring and 15th in rebounding. Brooks is also the Bengals' career free throw percentage leader (84.5 percent), and she holds the school single-season records for 3-point shooting percentage (43.4 percent in 2003-04) and free throw percentage (87.0 percent in 2004-05).

Brooks has also coached in the Empire State Games, serving as an assistant coach for the Western region in the women’s open division. She earned a Master of Science in Sport Administration from Canisius in May 2012. 

Twitter - @Coach_JBrooks

Mick & Melissa Kuberka are the leaders of the Buffalo Titans Basketball program.

Melissa is currently the head coach at St. John Fisher College. In her three seasons in charge, the Cardinals have won 61 games, posted two 21-win seasons, and celebrated one Empire 8 conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Melissa was named Empire 8 Coach of the Year after the 2020 season. She began her collegiate coaching career at Hilbert College in 2015 after previously serving as assistant varsity basketball coach at Mount Mercy Academy. In her first season, the Hawks tied the program record for wins at the Division 3 level with 11. The Hawks duplicated that feat in Kuberka's second year, while returning to the AMCC playoffs for the first time in over a decade. 

As a player at Mount Mercy, Kuberka was part of the 2007 Msgr. Martin League Championship team and the 2009 State Championship team. She was a member of the 1st Team All-WNY Team and was named to the All-Msgr. Martin Team three times. Her career continued at SUNY Geneseo where she helped lead the Knights to a 2011 SUNYAC Championship, while being named to the All-Tournament Team. As a senior, she earned the Geneseo Athletic Department’s Leadership and Contribution Award after earning DIII All-American honors, spots on the D3hoops.com All-Tournament team and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate NY team, and was named as the SUNYAC women’s basketball Player of the Year. She finished her career with a school-record 115 blocked shots, ranked 12th on the Knights' scoring list (1,042 points) and is among Geneseo's all-time leaders in rebounding, assists, three-pointers, and steals.

Mick was the top assistant coach at Hilbert College from 2003-2010. Kuberka graduated from Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School in Buffalo in 1998 where he was a First Team All-Catholic and Honorable Mention All-Western New York selection for the Tigers.Before entering the college coaching ranks, Kuberka enjoyed a standout four-year career at Lafayette College, a member of the NCAA Division I Patriot League. As a freshman, he was a key contributor as the Leopards claimed the first regular season conference title in school history and advanced to the 1999 NCAA Tournament to take on the University of Miami. Kuberka helped Lafayette to even greater heights as a sophomore as the team put together a school-record 24 wins and once again secured the Patriot League regular season and tournament championships. The Leopards, who had their season chronicled in author John Feinstein's top-selling book The Last Amateurs, advanced to the 2000 NCAA Tournament and faced Temple University at HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo. During his four seasons, the Leopards put together an overall record of 73-45. Kuberka has worked a number of summer basketball camps over the course of his playing and coaching days, including those offered by the U.S. Military Academy, Canisius College, Siena College, King’s College, Hilbert, and the Buffalo Niagara Court Center.

Twitter

@buffalotitans

@SJFCWBB

Sam Allen, a former all-state point guard at Brookwood High School in Georgia, played his college career at Reinhardt University where he was the starting point guard for a school record 125 consecutive games.

An All-Conference player at Reinhardt, Sam compiled over 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, and 400 assists during his college career. He also led his school to their first ever National Tournament appearance.

Sam received All-Academic Honors at Reinhardt and has a Master’s Degree in Sport Administration from Georgia State.

Since graduating from college, Sam has worked eight years as an Assistant Coach at the Collegiate level—at Faulkner University and Reinhardt University—including working under two National Championship head coaches. Sam also runs Blue Collar Basketball, which focuses on team and individual training, basketball strength and conditioning, and provides a recruiting service for college coaches and high school players. Sam also is a director for PGC Basketball and a lead member of Key5 Coaching. Both are phenomenal resources for both players and coaches. Coach Sam, thank you so much for coming on and talking life and hoops! We appreciate you!

Twitter

@coachsamallen

@Key5Coaching 

 @PGCbasketball

@BCBBall_

Coach Kyle Elmendorf is a great follow and we were lucky enough to have him on the pod to talk about life, hoops, and warm living in the "Sunshine State"

Coach Kyle identifies himself as a father, husband, teacher, coach, writer, speaker. Kyle help coaches, athletes, business professionals, and leaders achieve their goals by providing insight and leadership training through my speaking, writing, coaching and consulting services.

In this episode he discusses his move from the Midwest to beaches of Florida and how he became involved with Lead'Em Up. Coach has a beautiful wife and two amazing sons. Thanks again for coming on and sharing your wisdom!

Twitter - @k_elmendorf @Lead_Em_Up

Matt Sayman is currently serving as the head boys basketball coach at Grapevine Faith High School. Matt recently released his book titled, The Leftovers: Basketball, Betrayal, Baylor & Beyond, describing his journey to college athletics. It’s a remarkable story of personal loss, tragedy and perseverance through his senior season at Baylor University.

Matt’s teams at Grapevine Faith High School have become well known for their offensive accomplishments, including leading the the nation in 3-point field goals made each of the last two years.

Matt was a three-year letterman at The Colony High School in The Colony, Texas, where he played under head coach Tommy Thomas. He was also a two-year Team MVP, elected Honorable Mention All-USA by USA Today, and a McDonald’s All-American nominee as a senior. He was the ninth-ranked recruit in the state by Texas Hoops and also received District 5-5A MVP following a stellar senior season. Other high school accolades include being selected Second-Team All-State and First-Team All-Region 1 by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

After his high school career, Matt signed a scholarship with Baylor University where he played all four years. He was a valuable member of his college team and contributed in many ways both on and off the court. While playing at Baylor, he set the record for the most games played in Baylor history – 118 games.

After college, Matt played professionally in Iceland, winning the Icelandic championship for Njardvik in 2005.

Twitter - @Matt_Sayman @GFCSMBB