Squash University

Jackson and Gilly are back this week with a loaded show for the people. The gents kick things off by breaking down the latest CSA coaching carousel update, as former Georgetown head coach Tim Lasusa has accepted the head coaching position at Connecticut College. Gilly and Jackson talk through the huge acquisition for the Conn Camels and the fallout for the Hoyas women’s program. They also discuss last week’s Platinum PSA event in Paris and Gilly provides a Liverpool FC update (0:25). 

Then, Gilly and Jackson welcome a good friend onto the show for the first time. If there was a squash documentary series modeled after the NFL Network’s A Football Life, Bill Buckingham would be one of the first subjects of A Squash Life. Buckingham has a fascinating life in squash, with his first taste of the sport coming in the form of watching Dave Talbott’s Yale teams of the early 2000s. Fast forward 20 plus years; Buckingham is one of the most prominent MCs in squash, and, alongside Denison HUGE RED alumni Connor O'Malley, cohost of Squash Radio, one of the sport’s most prominent podcasts. Wild Bill, as lead PSA commentator Joey Barrington calls his PSA colleague, joins Squash University to talk about his involvement in the National Squash League, his thoughts on the CSA Individuals being moved to the middle of the season, his top 5 squash podcasts, the top 3 things he’d change about college squash, his top 3 favorite men’s and women’s CSA players of all time (We’re big list guys here at Squash University), and more. Bill is definitely a character, to say the least, and it was a blast to have him on the show (26:34)! 

As always, thanks for listening and... ENJOY! 

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This week's episode of Squash University has been a long time in the making, as Jackson welcomed University of Rochester #1, friend of the program, and this week's honorary cohost Yash Fadte onto the show. Jackson and Yash talked about being back on campus ahead of the upcoming CSA season, Yash's excitement to become a captain for the Yellow Jackets, helping the team's new freshman acclimate to college life, being snubbed from CSA Individuals last season, his goals for this season, what he's most looking forward to off the court in his senior year, and more (0:22). 

Then, Yash's former teammate, current coach, and good friend Matt Dukarm makes his long overdue debut on Squash University. The U of R head coach and reigning Liberty League Men's Coach of the Year discusses his roller-coaster journey to becoming the program's interim head coach this time last year and ultimately being named full-time head coach by season's end. Jackson and Yash also asked Coach Matt about leading the Yellow Jackets to the Hoehn Cup title, Rochester's legendary nicknames tradition, becoming a certified meditation instructor, and more (32:31). 

Huge thanks to Yash for cohosting this week's show and to Coach Matt for joining us, as we're wishing Rochester the best of luck this season! 

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Episode 16 kicks off with Jackson and Gilly discussing this week’s huge announcement regarding the future of the CSA Individual National Championships event, recapping Gilly’s experience cheering on his beloved Liverpool team in person in Philly last week, and previewing today’s interview with the newest individual to join the CSA head coaching ranks (1:02). 

After 40 years as the Head Coach of the Trinity College women’s squash team, Wendy Bartlett did what very few have, she went out on top, winning her 4th National Championship last season to put a bow on her legendary career. The individual entrusted in replacing the longest tenured coach in college squash, Trinity’s newly named ladies head coach Lauren Patrizio. 

Patrizio is a former CSA National Champion in her own right as a player as she helped lead Penn to their first National Championship in 2000 and is primed and ready for the opportunity to take over one of the most prestigious programs in college squash. Gilly and Jackson ask the former Mount Holyoke coach about her conversations with Coach Bartlett and legendary Trinity men’s squash coach Paul Assaiante, as well as what standards and culture she's hoping to implement, and what she’s most excited for as she embarks on her first season from Hartford (15:14). 

Huge thanks to Coach Patrizio for joining us, as we wish her and her team good luck in their quest to win back to back National Championships this season! 

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On this week’s Squash University, Jackson was accompanied by honorary cohost Matias Knudsen! Matias graduated from Drexel University in 2023 where he played number 1 and helped lead the Dragons to a top 5 finish in the country (their highest  in program history). 

Since graduating last spring, the Bogota, Colombia native has broken into the PSA World Tour top 100 and helped lead the New York City Knights to win the inaugural NSL Championship this past June, a league through which he met super-duper star commentator Jackson Bragman (see how it all comes together?) 

Jackson and Matias chatted about the Drexel grad’s offseason training and goals for this season on tour, as well as some of their favorite players on tour to watch, the upcoming NSL Legends match Matias is playing in this September, what it was like playing for Drexel Head Coach and former World number 1 John White and Colombia’s heartbreaking Copa America finals loss (0:39). 

Then, Drexel University’s men’s number 1 Nico Serna joined Squash University. Matias and Nico go way back to early in their junior days, both growing up in Bogota and playing international tournaments together across South America, and they reunited for 2 years in Philadelphia while playing for Drexel. 

As he’s now getting set for his senior season with the Dragons, Matias and Jackson asked Nico about junior squash in Colombia, starting his college career at Dickinson and transferring to Drexel his sophomore season, his best moments from last season (including the Dragons nearly taking down Trinity in the first round of CSA Nationals) and he shared some more John White stories, as well (39:49). 

Huge thanks to Matias for cohosting this week's show and to Nico for joining us, as we're wishing them each the best of luck this season! 

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Rishi Srivastava and Caroline Fouts are each the #1 ranked junior squash players in the United States amongst men and women respectively. This week, they joined Jackson and Gilly on the season 2 debut of Squash University! 

First, Jackson and Gilly kick things off by previewing Season 2 of Squash University and all of the new things coming to the show ahead of the 2024-2025 CSA season. They then touched on Gilly’s assistant coach at Penn Stuart Crawford accepting the head coaching position of the English National team and talked about Stuart’s impact on the Penn men’s and women’s program over the last 4 and a half years. Finally, Gilly broke down what he made of Penn’s 3 incoming freshmen this fall and their efforts at the World Squash Federation World Juniors in Houston Texas last week and the gents wrapped things up with some English Premier League banter (2:56). 

A week after an incredible run at the World Juniors in Houston, which saw the American men place 3rd in the team event and the women place 2nd, Rishi and Caroline joined the show to discussed representing Team USA on the world stage, preparing for the upcoming college squash season they’ll both be apart of (Rishi as a freshman at Yale and Caroline at Harvard), and more (40:29). 

Huge thanks to Rishi and Caroline for joining us this week and best of luck to them in their upcoming freshman seasons! 

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It could be argued that the United States Naval Academy is the most fascinating program in all of college squash. They're the only military service academy in the CSA today, they perennially lead the country in dual matches played, are, and are one of only 6 schools to ever win a CSA National Championship. 

The man currently at the helm of this program is Navy’s Head Coach of the last 6 seasons Tyler Osborne. After growing up as a top junior in Canada, of all places, he was named to 3 CSA All-American Teams and helped lead Princeton to a National Championship in 2012. Osborne graduated in 2015 and decided to pursue a career in coaching, staying on with the Tigers as an assistant coach. 3 years later, Navy came calling with the offer of a lifetime, a head coaching gig at one of the most storied programs in college squash. 

The 31 year old is set to embark on his 7th season with the Midshipmen and sat down with us to discuss his incredible playing and coaching careers. Huge thanks to Coach Osborne for taking the time to join us this week! 

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In the midst of summer, the college squash off season, and Gilly welcoming a pair of newborn twins to the Lane Clan (Mazel Tov!) the gents sat down for a light hearted mailbag episodes in which they answer questions submitted by you, YES YOU, the fans. Enjoy! 

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Last month, at the Arlen Specter Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cornell University’s Veer Chotrani took down Trinity College’s Mohamed Sharaf in a 4 game battle to claim the 2024 CSA National Collegiate Individual Championship, but that title was far from Veer’s first major accomplishment in college squash. The 4 time All American, Ivy League Player of the Year, and Skillman Award winner joined Jackson and Gilly on Squash University this week. 

Veer recapped his incredible run to the Individual title last month, wrapping up an undefeated season for the Big Red, before talking about training with Cornell head coach and former World #1 David Palmer last summer. Finally, Gilly finished things off with a barrage of rapid fire questions. 

Huge thanks to Veer for taking the time this week and for his positive contributions to college squash with his play and his impeccable sportsmanship over the last 5 years. Enjoy! 

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Mike MacDonald took the position of Head Coach of the Denison University men's and women's squash programs on short notice in the fall of 2022, but as an alumni of the Big Red  himself, it was a job he couldn't pass up. Having just concluded his second year as head coach and in Denison's third season as a varsity program, Coach MacDonald is ready to take his programs to new heights. 

Among Coach Mike's biggest accomplishments in his coaching career, thus far, was successfully recruiting renowned 2 time Deroy Silver Junior Champion Jackson Bragman to headline his first recruiting class for the Big Red. After months of begging and pleading, Coach Mike has finally agreed to join Jackson and Gilly on Squash University for an exclusive interview. 

Coach Mike discusses his time playing for Denison as a club program before getting into his early days in coaching, ultimately leading him to accept the head coaching position at Connecticut College, where he held the position for 5 years before coming back to Granville Ohio to take charge of the storied program at Denison. Jackson and Gilly also ask the 2009 Denison grad about how he plans on taking Big Red squash to the next level, his laid back approach to coaching, and what he learned from selling knives during the summer of 2007. 

It was awesome to have a class act and a total character in Coach Mike MacDonald on the show this week and we look forward to doing it again soon. Huge thanks to him for making some time for us. Enjoy! 

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The University of Pennsylvania Quakers are your 2024 CSA Men's National Champions! After an amazing season full of talking about teams across college squash, this episode is all about our guy Gilly and his boys hoisting the Potter Cup for the first time in school history. And what better way to do it than live, in person, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in the heart of Philadelphia, PA, the site of Penn's National Championship win less than a week prior. 

Gilly tells Jackson how it feels to finally win a National Championship for the school he played for almost 2 decades ago and what it means for the Penn Squash program before the gents welcome on Penn team captain Roger Alber Baddour to recount the team's trials and tribulations throughout the year and how they were able to avenge their 2 regular season losses, to Princeton and Trinity, in the National semifinals and finals. 

It was so cool to record live from the Specter Center during last week's CSA Individual Championships. Huge congrats to our brand new CSA Women's Individual National Champion, Harvard's Saran Nghiem and the men's champion, Trinity's Mohamed Sharaf. 

Huge thanks to Roger for joining us and congrats for helping lead his team to its first ever National Championship. Enjoy! 

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