Marching to Madness

Coach Steve Forbes is back on "Marching to Madness" as he was one of my first guests on the show back in 2016 when we started. Coach Forbes has a 180-83 (.694) record in five years at East Tennessee State and three at Wake Forest. Currently, he has a top-rated transfer class headed to Wake Forest with key returnees in Cameron Hildreth, Damari Monsanto, and Andrew Carr.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Demon Deacons transfer class and the new freshmen that come into the team
• Coaching changes on the squad
• Characteristics that facilitate building a winner
• How Cameron Hildreth, Damari Monsanto, and Andrew Carr can take their games to another level

… And much more!

Coach Ritchie McKay took his Liberty Flames to the NIT where they took a win over Villanova before a 65-61 loss to Wisconsin. Liberty shared the ASUN regular season title with Kennesaw State before a 67-66 loss to the Owls in the ASUN championship. The Flames lose a stellar point guard in Darius McGhee, who was a three-time ASUN Player of the Year. Liberty moves into the CUSA next season as once again conferences will be stocked with new teams throughout the game.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Flames' overall 2022-23 campaign
• Darius McGhee once again wins ASUN POY
• Working a new rotation throughout the summer
• Liberty's movement into Conference USA

… And much more!

Coach Dustin Kerns has just finished his fourth season as the head coach of the Mountaineers as ASU once again possessed one of the country's top defenses, Coach Kerns returns his starting five which includes Appalachian State's top two scorers in Donovan Gregory and Terence Harcum. Coach Kerns discussed his thoughts on the four new teams in the Sun Belt which gave the conference 14 members.

Topics of discussion include:

• The consistent defensive stature of the Mountaineers
• The Sun Belt Conference adding the four new teams
• How for the offensive attack to improve
• Coach Kerns' thoughts on the NCAA Tournament and NBA Playoffs

… And much more!

SMC's Randy Bennett picked up his 500th win this season and the Gaels and Gonzaga tied for the top spot in the WCC. Coach Bennett's team is consistently one of the top defenses in the nation and SMC finished 27-8 as it allowed only 60.1 points per game and allowed opponents only 51.6 field goal attempts, 10th in college basketball.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Gaels' defensive mantra
• The dictation of Coach Bennett's philosophy and his talent
• The return of Alex Ducas
• The impact of Aidan Mahaney as a freshman in '22-'23

… And much more!

The Thundering Herd's 24-8 record was one win off of Coach D'Antoni's record of 25 'Ws' in 2018. Marshall finished one game back of Southern Miss in the Sun Belt regular season standings. Tavion Kinsey moves to the next level as he will likely be picked in the NBA Draft as Andrew Taylor and Micah Handlogten decided to work the transfer portal.

Topics of discussion include:

• Analysis of the 24-win season
• Losses of Kinsey, Taylor, and Handlogten
• Ability for rising role players to make an impact for Marshall
• Thoughts on Louisville's legendary Denny Crum, who passed on Monday

… And much more!

North Florida Ospreys head coach Matt Driscoll always implores one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation as Gonzaga, Washington, Houston, Pitt, Duquesne, and Kentucky. The Ospreys finished in the middle of the ASUN Conference as they lost at the buzzer to Bellarmine in the first round of the ASUN tournament. Coach Driscoll also chats about analytics as he uses certain analytics that coincide with his philosophy of the game.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Ospreys' usual tough non-conference schedule
• The course of coming through the UNF Basketball program
• Building a solid program
• Key analytics that coincide with Coach Driscoll's roundball philosophy

… And much more!

ODU Monarchs head coach Jeff Jones is back on "Marching to Madness" as he led the squad to a 19-12 overall record and 11-7 inside the Sun Belt Conference. The Monarchs finished 8-2 over the last 10 games and they finished tied for fifth in the conference. From the point, Chaunce Jenkins was the Monarchs' leading scorer with 13.5 ppg as he shot 36.6 percent from three.

Topics of discussion include:

• Abilities that allowed the Monarchs to go 8-2 late in the season
• Effects of the transfer portal
• The play of point guard Chaunce Jenkins
• Categorizing ODU's first season in the Sun Belt

… And much more!

Coach Bob Cantu is back on "Marching to Madness" as we wind up the college basketball season after UConn took its fifth national championship in the last 24 years on Monday night. The Huskies pulled away from San Diego State, 76-59, after the Aztecs had cut their deficit to 60-55 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.

Coach Cantu had his own close relationships with members of the Final Four as he and FAU head coach Dusty May were at USC in 2001 and 2002. Coach Cantu has also known San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher since the mid-1990s while Cameron Whiteman is the manager at Miami as his father Kirk played for Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga at Bowling Green.

Topics of discussion include:

• UConn's fifth national title
• Adama Sanogo, Tristen Newton, and Jordan Hawkins as a prime triplicate for the Huskies
• San Diego State's five-win run to the title game
• FAU and Miami as teams who could return a huge majority of players

… And much more!

Coach Dusty May has had the Owls reaching its highest ground as a basketball program this season as they take on San Diego State in the Final Four in Houston on Saturday. They have registered 35 wins, most in school history, and they have knocked off Kansas State (Elite 8), Tennessee (Sweet 16), and Memphis (opening round). In the Round of 32, the Owls knocked off a tough Farleigh Dickinson team that defeated 1-seed Purdue in the opening round. This is a deep team that plays well together on both ends of the floor. Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin join Nick Boyd, Bryan Greenlee, and Michael Forrest to formulate one of the top three-point attacks in college basketball.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Owls' East Regional championship over Kansas State
• The play of guard Johnell Davis
• The versatility of the FAU attack
• Three-point field goals as a vital part of the attack

… And much more!

Charlotte head coach Ron Sanchez led his 49ers to the CBI title with the win over Eastern Kentucky last week. Sanchez used a balanced attack as the 49ers were able to win four games against quality opponents in five nights to capture the CBI in Daytona Beach, Fla., at Ocean Center. Leading scorer Brice Williams posted 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Western Carolina while he had 25 as Charlotte knocked off the University of Milwaukee. Jackson Threadgill and Lu'cye Patterson helped to spur a 12-0 second-half run that helped to give Charlotte a 63-56 win over Radford. In the tournament's championship game, Williams and Patterson led with 14 and 13 points respectively.

Topics of discussion include:

• Winning the CBI Championship
• How the 49ers posted the CBI wins over four solid opponents in five nights
• The overall tournament success of CUSA this season
• Charlotte's movement to the American Athletic Conference beginning in 2023-24