Marching to Madness

Coach Niko Medved returns to "Marching to Madness" as he discusses Rams fifth-year returnee and all-MWC first-teamer Isaiah Stevens. Colorado State also returns a solid three-point shooter in Jalen Lake. The Rams welcome in a solid transfer class and will look to pick things up defensively over a year ago.

Topics of discussion include:

• The growth of Isaiah into a player who could turn down the NBA Draft and remain a Ram for one more season
• Minutes for Jalen Lake
• The addition of D-2 Player of the Year Joel Scott
• Evaluation of commonalities on the new roster
• Much more!

Coach Sampson and his Cougars move into the Big XII after being a stellar member of the AAC. Houston is 93-14 in the past three seasons with a pair of AAC regular season titles as well as two AAC Tournament championships with the Final Four appearance in 2021. Houston loses three stellar players in Jarace Walker, Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark, but the return of Jamal Shead plus the additions of Baylor transfer LJ Cryer and Temple transfer Damian Dunn will give the Cougars plenty of scoring punch in the backcourt once again.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Cougars' Australian trip in early August
• The presence of returning guard Jamal Shead
• LJ Cryer and Damian Dunn as transfers into the backcourt
• J'Wan Roberts in the post
• Much more!

Coach Jones built Radford University into a Big South contender and now he has the UNCG Spartans challenging in the Southern Conference. Last season, they finished one game behind Furman and Samford last season in the race for the SoCon crown. Coach Jones returns solid twin brothers, Keyshaun and Kobe Langley as Keyshaun was the leading scorer while Kobe works as a solid playmaker.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Spartans' foreign trip to Senegal and France
• Creating depth in the attacks in preseason practice
• The Langley twins and Mikeal Brown-Jones as keys to the program
• How basketball mentality and physicality change once the season begins
• Much more!

A candid conversation with former UCLA head coach Jim Harrick about the loss of the Pac-12. Ken laments his loss as well as a watcher of many Pac-12 games as he studies the league in football as well as basketball. Coach Harrick gives his ideas on where and how the league was unnecessarily brought to its knees. He also talks about the potential of the upcoming 2023-24 Bruins. Coach Harrick also took Pepperdine to four NCAA Tournaments in his nine seasons and led UCLA, Rhode Island, and Georgia to 13 NCAA Tournaments in 14 seasons. The legendary head coach took the Bruins to the 1995 NCAA title as he won 470 games in his 23 seasons.

Topics of discussion include:

• Coach Harrick's thoughts on the loss of the Pac-12
• What happens to Washington State and Oregon State as they are the lone Pac-12 members
• Changes with the realignments of 10 of the 12 league teams
• Could teams in one, two, or three bid leagues delete the difference between themselves and power conferences … … And Much More!

Coach Dambrot returns to "Marching to Madness" with three key returning starters in guards Dae Dae Grant, who made 94 triples last season, and Jimmy Clark, an all-defensive A-10 talent. Coach Dambrot discusses 6-7 shot blocker Tre Williams who is also closing in on 1,000 points. Dambrot also welcomes 10 new players for the second season in a row.

Topics of discussion include:

• Duquesne's Basketball Tip-off Event which is scheduled for Thursday evening
• Duquesne's Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark, III, in the backcourt
• Tre Williams' versatility on both ends of the floor
• Adding 10 new players to the roster for the second consecutive season
• Much More!

Iowa Hawkeyes' head coach Fran McCaffery is a guest on "Marching to Madness" once again as he discusses the team's tour to Spain and France and the importance of the international trips for teams. Coach McCaffery welcomes his returning leading scorer in Tony Perkins, who started all 32 games for Iowa last season. He also comments on the addition of Pryce Sandfort, who joins his brother Payton Sandfort on this season's team.

Topics of discussion include:

• Six new Hawkeyes includes four freshmen on the 2023-24 roster
• Working on different styles of play and player to go into a "playbook."
• Tony Perkins as the leading returning scorer
• Iowa high school player of the year Pryce Sandfort joins his brother Payton as a Hawkeye

… And Much More!

Coach Legans checks in as he has finished his second season in command of the University of Portland Pilots. He is in the middle of rebuilding the program as the Pilots have won 33 games in his first two seasons. You have to go back to 2013-14 and 2014-15 to find when Portland was close to that statistic when the PIlots tallied 32 in back-to-back campaigns. Watch Tyler Roberts who will be a key player on both ends of the floor for Coach Legans this season.

Topics of discussion include:

• Playing through tough challenges
• Tyler Robertson's prep as a leader plus his skills
• Creation of a solid three-point game in the offensive structure
• The building of team defense

And much more!

The Cardinal returned at the end of August after a 10-day trip where they played in Spain and Greece in late August. Stanford and it's rival, the Cal Bears, have one more Pac-12 season before moving to the ACC with SMU. The Cardinal will be led this season by Spencer Jones, who was an all-Pac-12 forward a year ago and will be key in the Cardinal potentially moving into the top echelon of the Pac-12.

Topics of discussion include:

• Bringing the trip to France and Greece to where it is a springboard for the beginning of spring practice
• What to accomplish in the 10 extra practices that are a result of the trip
• Spencer Jones' scoring ability and rebounding prowess
• The effects of losing five transfers from last year's team

And much more!

Coach Stoudamire, who was the 1996 NBA Rookie of the Year with the Toronto Raptors, checks in as the head coach at Georgia Tech in the ACC. Coach inherits the program as he comes over after a five-year stint as the head coach at Pacific and then a two-year stint as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. GT looks to get back near the top in the ACC as it won the ACC Tournament in 2021. Coach Stoudamire has an extensive background inside the game with a 12-year NBA career that took him from Toronto through Portland and then ended in Memphis and San Antonio.

Topics of discussion include:

• The learning curve between coaching in the NBA and college basketball
• NBA Rookie of the Year season in 1996
• GT guard Miles Kelly inside his program
• Newcomer Kowacie Reeves and how he translates into Georgia Tech

… And much more!!

Coach Johnson took over the Minnesota Golden Gophers and is working on a monumental rebuild of the basketball team, which he took over three seasons ago. Coach Johnson played for Minnesota from 2002-2005 and has held assistant positions at five different schools as well as Minnesota (2013-18). This is a really solid and analytical conversation where we learn about Coach Johnson's thoughts and ideas on a wide range of basketball concepts.

Topics of discussion include:

• Interesting aspects of the depth of his coaching philosophy
• Key ways of rejuvenating Gophers basketball
• Dawson Garcia as the leading returning scorer
• Coach Johnson's ascension inside the game as an assistant coach

… And much more!