Coach Chris Cottrell shares his coaching journey from growing up in New York to becoming a NCAA basketball coach and now being back in New York  and running his own HS basketball program.

Chris is the son of a coach, and always knew that he wanted to coach basketball at some level. He attended High Point University and became a Student Manager under Bart Lundy during his first season at HPU. While at High Point he worked alongside guys like Josh Schertz, Don Burgess, Sean Woods, Justin Furr, and some solid managers. He quickly took on the role of a Student Assistant, he was able to manage his time with being in a fraternity, being a high academic student, and working long hours with High Point MBB. Coach Lundy gave Chris the opportunity to become the program's first Graduate Assistant in the long and storied history of HPU Hoops.

When Josh Schertz was named the Head Coach at Lincoln Memorial University (D2), Chris was one of his 1st hires and worked relentlessly to build LMU into the national powerhouse that it is today. Coach Cottrell accepted the HC position at Davis & Elkins College (D2) in West Virginia in 2013 and he did a very good job during his tenure. We talk about him offering me my first college basketball coaching job and reminisce on working camps together. Chris left D&E and took a year off from coaching, then returned to LMU for one final season before moving back to New York.

He left the NCAA ranks to takeover a HS basketball program and become a teacher. Recently Coach Cottrell began The Bonafide Basketball Podcast which is dedicated to covering and promoting NCAA D2 basketball.

Coach Ryan Saunders shares his coaching journey from growing up in Florida to becoming the first HC is the history of Converse College's men's basketball program.

After a successful high school playing career,  he attended Barry University and was a three-year captain, helping led them to their first-ever NCAA Division II tournaments appearances. Ryan finished as the all-time assist leader at Barry University after playing under the late Cesar Odio. He stayed eight addition years on staff coaching under Coach Odio for six seasons, and then his final two were under Coach Butch Estes before accepting an AC position at Belmont Abbey. While on staff at Belmont Abbey he served under Martin Unger, Billy Taylor, and then Dan Ficke.  eight addition years on staff under Butch Estes before accepting an AC position at Belmont Abbey. While on staff at Belmont Abbey he served under Martin Unger, Billy Taylor, and then Dan Ficke.

Coach Saunders discussing being passed over for the Head Coach position at Belmont Abbey and how much he appreciated Dan Ficke retaining him, and even promoting him to Associate HC during his final campaign at Belmont Abbey. He talks about how he's gone about building named the Converse College men's basketball program from the ground up, and so much more.

Coach Nate Loesner shares his journey from growing up in Cedar Falls, Iowa to eventually being an Assistant Coach for the Chicago Bulls.

Nate was born without his left hand, but he never let than hinder his love of sports. He went on to earn 11 varsity letters in four sports during his playing days at NU High School. After meeting Tim Floyd at a summer camp, he stayed in touch and decided to attend Iowa State as a Student Manager. Nate attempting to be a walk-on for the Iowa State baseball team he was cut but continued to play in wood bat leagues where eventually he caught the attention of the coaching staff and earned a spot on the team as a senior.

After graduating from Iowa State he returned to NU High School as the Head Coach for both the boy's basketball team as well as the baseball team. He then went on to coach at Ames HS before chasing his dream to coach college basketball. Coach Larry Eustachy met with him prior to moving down to Southern Miss and he agreed to hire him as a Graduate Assistant - he quickly was promoted and ended up spending a total of six years on the coaching staff at Southern Miss.

Fred Hoiberg hired Nate to be a Graduate Assistant at Iowa State, he was then promoted to the Director of Player Development before joining the Chicago Bulls as their Video Coordinator after Coach Hoiberg was hired as the Head Coach. He quickly established himself as a hard worker and the following season he was tasked with being the first Head Coach in the history of the Windy City Bulls (NBA G League), where he had players from other NBA franchises on his roster and was in constant communication with the Chicago Bulls coaching staff and management.

Coach Hoiberg made him an Assistant Coach of the Chicago Bulls in 2018 and despite Coach Hoiberg being let go, Nate was retained and his contract was extended. He's a terrific example of a coach's coach who's also a player's coach at the same time. Coach Loesner will be back on a coaching staff and continuing to impact lives in no time.

Coach Will Martin shares his journey from growing up in Tennessee and going to Kentucky and eventually becoming a Student Manager at UK under John Calipari. He was a part of teams that reached the Elite 8 on three occasions, the Final Four on two occasions and during his time as the Head Manager - the 2012 National Championship! Coach Martin also served as captain of the University of Kentucky Ethics Debate team from 2009-2011.

After Kentucky he helped train the 1st pick of the NBA Draft [Anthony Davis] and lived with him in New Orleans. Coach Martin went on to serve as the Graduate Assistant and Video Coordinator at the University of Tulsa from 2013-2015. He served under Danny Manning during the season that the team won the Conference USA Championship, and then under Frank Haith during his seconds season. If being a Graduate Assistant and Video Coordinator on top of taking care of business in the classroom, Martin also served as Senator for the College of Education during his time in Oklahoma.

From Tulsa Coach Martin moved to San Francisco to be the Director of Basketball Operations on Rex Walters' coaching staff. After San Francisco he drove 30+ hours home to Nashville, then sold real estate and trained kids for free. He was the 4th Volunteer Assistant Coach at his alma mater - Battle Ground Academy and then served as the Director of Athletic Admissions and Assistant Coach at Martin Methodist.

Coach Martin is also involved in a prison ministry project – “Against the Grain” – where he serves as a volunteer teacher of the “180 Project.”

Coach Brandt Danals shares his coaching journey from growing up in a "canoe town" [Loudounville, OH] and now being on the coaching staff at North Alabama.

He played at Ashland University (D2) under the late Roger Lyons before becoming a Student Assistant under him. After Coach Lyons retired, John Ellenwood was hired and Brandt met with him and expressed a desire to play again so he suited up his senior season.

Crestview High School hired Brandt to be their Head Coach straight out of college at the age of 23, after a few seasons he accepted a Graduate Assistant position at Indiana Tech (NAIA) and after seven days he was promoted to the Assistant Coach position . Not only did he serve as an Assistant Coach for Men's Basketball, but he also would later serve as the Head Coach for Men's & Women's Tennis in addition to his basketball position.

Coach Danals accepted an Athletic Director and Head Men's Basketball Coach job at Silver Lake College (which became Holy Family College) and led the program to success during his tenure. Due to COVID the school shut it's doors, he discusses how he found out and what his mindset was like. Coach Danals talks about how he landed at North Alabama as their Director of Basketball Operations.

Coach Corey Schmidt shares his journey from growing up in Nashville to becoming a becoming an Assistant Coach at Southwest Mississippi CC. He got his start as a Student Manager and then Graduate Assistant under the legendary Rick Byrd at Belmont.

After Belmont he accepted an unpaid position at the University of New Orleans and eventually was the paid Director of Basketball Operations during his four seasons under Coach Mark Slessinger. After many NCAA and NIT appearances he accepted the Video Coordinator position at Wake Forest under Danny Manning, he talks about what made him leave a successful program like UNO for a team that had struggled as of late [Wake Forest].

We talk about how he's been able to make a long distance relationship work with his girlfriend - and her neat business with a great name!

He's one of the more genuine people you'll meet in college basketball and a terrific basketball mind.

Coach Cabral Huff shares his journey from growing up in Atlanta to becoming a Head Coach at Voorhees College (NAIA). He attended Morehouse and then coached high school basketball at multiple schools. He talks about how he learned to block out the JV game afterwards so he was able to devote all of this attention and effort to the Varsity game that followed. After becoming a Head Coach at Cedartown HS then American International School he took over as Head Coach of two semi professional teams.

He spent six seasons at the Head Coach at Saint Francis HS where he coached multiple players who would go onto play at the NCAA D1 and NBA levels. Just like so many other coaches, he aspired to coach at the college level so he took a pay cut to be the DOBO at Georgia Southern. After one season he became an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Alcorn State, and inherited a team that was being penalized for APR.

Coach Huff returned to Georgia to takeover at Duluth HS and then Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (HIES). He was hired as the Head Coach at Voorhees College in late October. Coach Huff is a true student of the game and is constantly working on his craft.

Coach Ronnie Hamilton shares his story from being a football player at Duke to becoming an Assistant Coach at Ole Miss.

Following his NFL training camp experience with the New York Giants he coached multiple sports at the high school level before accepting a Graduate Assistant position at UNC Pembroke. Upon finishing his Master's degree he accepted an Assistant Coach position at Tarleton State (then D2) in Texas. He went on to coach at Citadel, Tulane, Houston and then under Kermit Davis at Middle Tennessee State and now Ole Miss. He's coached at schools that have changed conferences and talks about how that effects their recruiting. A veteran college basketball coach of 15+ seasons shares what he's learned along the way and what has made some of those teams so successful.

Chris Sause shares his journey from growing up in Durham, North Carolina to becoming an Assistant Coach at Averett University (D3).

He played alongside Jay Huff (University of Virginia) in high school and knew early on that he wanted to be a coach, he attended North Carolina Wesleyan and played under John Thompson while also serving as an intern and Administrative Assistant for the team during his four years in Rocky Mount.

Coach Sause worked as a scout and social media reporter for the Phenom Hoop Report for a over a year and later accepted an Assistant Coach position at Averett University.