Rob Grace IV is used to being around a basketball court.  As a youngster he used to run around the gym at Minneapolis Southwest High School when his dad was the coach.  He was also present at Target Center for many NBA games as his father was creating excitement with fans as “hoop man” as those fans try to make a shot into basket hovering above his head.

Now Rob is grown and is a senior at Macalester college and also shoots content for the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Rob had a great career at The Blake School where he was an all-conference player as well as a 1,000 point scorer.  He then went on to play college hoops locally for Macalester but it was a simple Instagram message that helped spark his career to where he is today filming content for an NBA team. 

For this episode, I’m joined by one of the most prolific brother/sister combos in Minnesota high school basketball history and they are Matt and Marissa Janning.  The Janning’s grew up playing for Watertown-Mayer high school and put up some amazing numbers.

The older of the two Matt graduated in 2006, and was somewhat of a late bloomer.  He played 3 years of varsity basketball, was an All-State player and left as the school’s all-time leading score and 3-point maker.  His senior year he averaged a metro area best 31.8ppg and scored 954 points.

Marissa graduated in 2012 and started playing varsity basketball as a 7th grader.  She ended her career scoring a school record 3,587 points and earned all Metro honors as well AP Player of the Year.  Her senior year she averaged 30ppg and was named Minnesota’s Miss Basketball.

As siblings they also have two of the more accomplished college careers as well.  Matt played collegiately in Boston, Massachusetts at Northeastern University where he led the Huskies in scoring his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.  He was voted all conference 3 times and graduated as the programs 4th leading scorer in school history.  He was inducted into the Northeastern athletics hall of fame in 2024.

Marissa attended Creighton University and was the Missouri Valey Conference freshman of the year in her first season.  The next year when her school switched conferences and moved to the Big East she was awarded Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore.  She was a 3-time All Conference 1st team player and graduated as the schools 4th leading scorer all-time.  She was inducted into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

Ryan James from Prep Hoops joins the show to semi-preview the MN boys high school basketball season and will share some highlights from the Breakdown Boys Tip-Off Classic and the Granite City Classic which always bring in talented teams from all over the state.  RJ shares his thoughts on some of the top performers that he’s seen along with his take on who the top teams are to watch in each of the 4 classes for MN boys basketball.  He also share some insight on the top players to be on the lookout for the Mr. Basketball award.

For this episode we welcome back a frequent guest to the show and he is Grant McGinnis from Prep Girls Hoops.  Grant joins the show to preview the MN girls high school basketball season and also recaps the Breakdown Girls Tip-Off Classic which always bring in talented teams from all over the state.  Grant shares his thoughts on some of the top performances from that event along with his take on who the top teams are to watch in each of the 4 classes for MN girls basketball. 

Detlef grew up in West Germany and left his senior year to be a foreign exchange student in Washington state.  He went on to play college ball for the University of Washington and was drafted to the NBA.  During his 16-year career he was voted NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year twice and was the first European player to play in the All-Star game.  Detlef’s steady game was an important piece to the successful and exciting Seattle Supersonic teams of the 1990’s.  Detlef was on the forefront of European players to make it in the NBA and he has also forged a very successful career in his post-NBA days.

From a hog farm in a tiny southern Minnesota town to becoming to the states leading scorer that was the path of today’s guest – Cody Schilling.

Cody grew up in Ellsworth, MN with 21 kids in his graduating class but that close knit family and community raised him into a high school basketball superstar, a division two all-american and now head coach at his alma mater.  After graduating from high school as Minnesota's boys basketball’s leading scorer and assist maker, Cody’s path took him to Augustana University in South Dakota where he finished his career as that’s schools all-time leading scorer. Recently he was just named head men’s basketball coach for the Vikings and can’t wait to get going.  

For only the second time ever and for the first time since 1984, the same school has won both the women’s and men’s basketball championship in division two.  That school is Minnesota State Mankato!  In this two part episode you will hear from the coach of each of those teams.

In her 12th season as head coach Emilee Thiesse led the Mavericks to a 32 - 5 record this year, the NSIC regular season and tournament titles and of course the national championship.  Coach Thiesse’s team is known for its uptempo and full court style of play and with that style forced their opponents into an average of 28 turnovers per game.  We chat about overcoming a slow start to the beginning of their season, getting on a roll in the regular season and capping it all off in a championship.

Coach Matt Margenthaler has led the men’s team for 23 seasons at Mankato and this year’s team finished 35 - 2 and also won the NSIC regular season and tournament titles along with winning the national championship in dramatic fashion.  The son of a coach he has basketball in his blood along with a deep passion for Mavericks hoops.  We discuss what made this team special, playing on their home court in the regional playoffs and that memorable championship game.

For this episode I am joined by the head boys basketball coach of the Minnetonka Skippers – Bryce Tesdahl.   Bryce and his team just won the boys class 4A state championship capping off a fabulous season.  Coaching is not new to Bryce or his family.  He is the grandson of Bob McDonald who is the all-time winningest coach in MN boys basketball history.  While he is following in his grandfather’s footsteps he is also blazing his own trail.  Bryce was also an outstanding player growing up in Crosby-Ironton and helped lead them to the state tournament and also went on to play collegiately at Bemidji State.  We chat about playing for a legendary high school coach, their championship season and overcoming a losing streak against a long time conference rival in the state final.

For this episode I’m joined by two MN boys high school basketball experts to help break down the upcoming MN boys state basketball tournament.  Ryan James from Prep Hoops and TC Hoops Czar are here to give us their insight into each bracket for the 4 classes, some of the top players to watch and who they think will win it all.   No one watches more high school basketball than these two and it will be fun to hear their thoughts.

For this episode we’re trying something we’ve never done before and that’s two guests in separate interviews put into one episode.  And these guests are legends in Minnesota girls high school basketball.

First we have Alexandria head coach – Wendy Kohler.  Wendy is in her 39th season leading the Cardinals and has been quite the fixture on the sideline.  She recently coached in her 1,000th game and is nearing win number 700 for her career.  She sits as the winningest female coach in Minnesota basketball history and is number 3 overall for all girls basketball coaches.  She has led Alexandria to the state tournament 12 times capturing the state title in 1997.  Her team is red hot again this season and is currently ranked #3 in class AAA.  

For part two of this episode we are joined by the winningest head basketball coach in MN state history girls OR boys and that is Mike Dreier from New London-Spicer.  Mike’s team success and numbers speak for themselves over his 45 seasons as head coach.  He currently has 1,062 wins and boasts an amazing 84% career winning percentage.  He also ranks number 13 nationally for most wins in the history of girls high school basketball.  Mike has led the Wildcats to the state tournament a record 20 times and has two state championships winning it all in 1997 and 2002.  This year’s squad is again ranked in the top 5 in class AA and is looking for another trip back to state.