The Freshman Foundation® Podcast

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Introduction — rehabbing a torn Achilles (twice) and the road back

01:44 — Growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia — hockey, baseball, and choosing a path

03:17 — Drafted 105th overall by the Yankees after starting baseball five years later than most

05:00 — The bad habits he avoided by not starting the game at five years old

08:14 — The “goldfish mindset” — the parallel between athletes and gamblers

08:27 — Cold-emailing nearly 300 schools to find a college opportunity

10:08 — Junior college at McCook, Nebraska — walking on, switching positions, and grinding

14:04 — Earning a scholarship to Western Kentucky University

15:48 — A .398 average, 23 home runs, and the Conference USA Triple Crown

16:41 — The pre-draft process — meetings, workouts, and getting scouted by the Yankees

19:44 — Gambling as normal entertainment — before things changed

21:57 — The Biloxi story — the slot machine, the $3,500, and chasing “that rush”

24:07 — Why athletes are especially prone to compulsive gambling

27:07 — The shame of gambling — hiding the losses, showing off the wins

29:05 — His first trip to the casino at 19 — and how the habit escalated

30:13 — The $600K signing bonus, “feeling invincible,” and living a double life

34:25 — Owing teammates money — and how it started to hurt the organization

36:37 — The financial reality of minor league pay

38:19 — Getting released by the Yankees

41:39 — The Instagram DM that led him to Epic Global Solutions

44:13 — “We're anti-gambling harm” — presenting at 45 schools in a year

46:36 — The moments that make it worth it — student-athletes coming forward

48:53 — What's next — Team Canada, the 2028 Olympics, and a possible coaching path

50:50 — Jake's closing advice: ask for help before it gets too late

🤝 CONNECT WITH JAKE SANFORD

📷 Jake Sanford's Instagram

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction

00:33 – Building Athletic Department HQ from scratch — and why it's already taken off

02:05 – The feedback from ADs and administrators already putting the content to use

04:07 – Getting coaches to buy in — the "old school" mindset and why excellence means continued evolution

06:06 – Why King's Academy leans into mental performance and staying ahead of the curve

07:56 – The marketing side of athletics — enrollment, visibility, and the reality of NIL

10:23 – Staying "on mission" while balancing competition and admissions

13:11 – Why athletics can't be the only reason a family chooses a school

14:58 – Relationship-building with athletes — avoiding pitfalls before the hard conversation arrives

18:12 – The value of assistant coaches — finding people who can fill the gaps you can't

19:24 – "Playing coach" vs. coaches who genuinely care — and the responsibilities that get in the way

21:57 – Having favorites — investment, effort, and earning a coach's attention

26:11 – Staying mission-driven as a team — and what happens when everyone's rowing the same direction

27:45 – Having his daughter under the same roof at King's Academy

29:49 – Derek's vision for the future of Athletic Department HQ

32:56 – Staying on-brand and resisting the urge to chase followers

35:59 – The story behind the viral Netflix parody video

37:44 – What that video reveals about empathy — seeing the other side of the desk

38:43 – Why "not everything needs a response" when handling upset parents

40:25 – "If your kid isn't in danger, it's gonna be okay" — advice for parents

40:42 – Derek's closing advice: be mission-driven, not scoreboard-driven

🤝 CONNECT WITH DEREK CHIRCH

📷 The Athletic Department Instagram

🎥 The Athletic Department YouTube Channel

📷 The King’s Academy Athletics 

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction

02:18 – When baseball started to become a bigger part of Luke's life — and the freshman-year "practice squad" tryout

05:02 – Training with Tread Athletics, playing up in a men's league, and watching the velocity — and the belief — start to climb

05:54 – Internal vs. external motivation, and why one strikeout can become permanent proof

07:17 – His dad's analytical approach to early development — J-Bands, Plyo balls, and a "prepare the right way" mindset

09:36 – High school ball, two conference titles, and "the most natural I've ever felt playing baseball"

11:18 – Trust, presence, and what it means to compete free of outcome

12:39 – Being held accountable to character, not results — the culture at Seton Hill

16:18 – The jump from a great high school experience to a humbling freshman fall

19:01 – Redshirting, elbow pain, and a slow-burn recovery that built more than an arm

20:32 – "Do I belong here?" — patience as an undervalued skill

22:58 – Being where your feet are, and what separates guys who actually develop

25:02 – Summer ball in the NECBL and the Cape, and the line: "I got so much better at throwing strikes once I stopped believing I was bad at throwing strikes"

29:21 – The transfer portal — chasing outcomes vs. chasing values

31:04 – Mechanical or mental? How to tell the difference when command breaks down

35:59 – Coaching the individual, not the system — Luke's coaching philosophy

43:55 – Inside EPD Pitching — who he works with, and why he'd rather watch a guy pitch when no one knows he's watching

46:10 – Using "proof" to reframe a bad outing

47:21 – Reset routines — the mound walk-off, the breath, the refocus cue

48:46 – The umpire-blame text message — a lesson in locus of control

53:21 – The cliff-jumping story — trusting the pitch the same way you trust the water

56:12 – Awareness, emotional regulation, and identity as the real mental game

1:00:22 – Why guys who tie their identity to performance actually care the most — and just need to learn to organize the energy

1:01:40 – Where to find Luke and EPD Pitching

🤝 CONNECT WITH LUKE DESCHENES

📷 Follow Luke on Instagram

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction 

🧠 SHOW NOTES

In Episode 93, I sit down with Coach Kerri Kuzbyt of Transforming Basketball to talk about what player development looks like when you train the whole athlete — not just the skill.

Kerri played five years of Division I basketball in Canada and four years professionally in Australia, Spain, and Germany. She didn't encounter the Constraints-Led Approach until the final two years of her pro career. The difference it made was night and day — and it's the foundation of everything she does today.

We discuss:

Why failure is the fastest path to growth — and how the environment you create determines whether athletes use it as a catapult or a crutch.

Why context is king. Five hundred reps in an empty gym don't transfer to a contested game. Training has to be representative of the environment — including the emotional and physical constraints of competition.

Why decision-making is the number one skill in any sport — and why emotion is the primary constraint on it.

How emotional regulation is a trainable skill, not a personality trait. Reset routines, journaling, and intentional practice under pressure are the tools that build it.

The difference between outworking everyone and outlasting everyone — and why showing up at 40% capacity and giving it everything you have that day is still a win.

Why identity beyond sport is the foundation of sustainable confidence — and what it means to be dangerous.

Why you don't have to lone wolf it — and what it looks like to find people who can hold your emotions without flinching.

🤝 CONNECT WITH COACH KERRI KUZBYT

📷 Coach Kerri's Instagram 

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction 

01:30 – The #1 challenge Nick faces working with young athletes: consistency, not knowledge 

03:30 – How Nick structures the initial intake meeting 

06:00 – Getting athletes to buy into the "why" behind the plan 

08:00 – Experimentation and the A/B test approach to building habits 

10:00 – Building trust — and playing mediator between athletes and parents 

12:00 – Earning your seat at the athlete's table 

14:00 – The counseling side of being a dietitian — and why it matters more than the science 

18:00 – Parents texting at 2am — and what Nick does with that 

20:00 – Nick's background as a college baseball catcher at Mercy College and Queens College 

24:00 – Two serious injuries and how they led him to nutrition 

27:00 – Florida State, interning with Eric Cressy at CSP, and spring training with the Blue Jays 

30:00 – Why young athletes can spot someone who doesn't care — and why it matters 

33:00 – Starting with the school day: building structure where it already exists 

36:00 – Adapting to weekends, tournaments, and travel 

40:00 – Progress isn't pass/fail — it's an investment 

43:00 – A Division I catcher, one flat week, and Nick's response: "And?" 

46:00 – Finding motivation for the next goal after goal A is achieved 

51:00 – Autonomy, competence, relatedness — and why all three have to be present 

54:00 – What mental performance and nutrition have in common 

55:00 – Nick's final message to every high school athlete: don't wait

🧠 SHOW NOTES

In Episode 92, I sit down with Nick Valenti — registered dietitian and founder of a sports nutrition practice — to talk about what it really means to build the right team around a young athlete.

Nick calls it the table.

It's the sports coach, the strength-and-conditioning coach, the mental performance coach, and the dietitian. Everyone talking. Everyone with a role. And at some point, each person has to be willing to step into the lead — and trust the others to do their job.

Nick has earned his seat at a lot of those tables. And this conversation is about what that actually takes.

He was a catcher at Mercy College and Queens College. Tore his ankle on the first play of his college career. Transferred. Tore his labrum a week before the season at his new school. Two years in the rehab room, watching PT guys work, asking questions, learning how the body responds to stress and recovery. That experience didn't just change his career path — it changed how he thinks about athletes and what they need.

After Florida State, an internship with Eric Cressy at CSP, and a spring training stint with the Toronto Blue Jays, Nick built a practice that now works with athletes from youth through the professional level.

We discuss:

Why consistency — not knowledge — is the real challenge in working with young athletes.

How Nick earns trust before he builds a plan — and why the first few weeks are never about the scale.

Why athlete autonomy is non-negotiable. If they feel like you're just another adult telling them what to do, they'll tune you out, too.

What it means to play mediator between athletes and parents — and how Nick navigates that without losing either one.

The counseling skills Nick developed as a dietitian — and why he believes they're 10x more important than the nutrition science itself.

How autonomy, competence, and relatedness show up in nutrition the same way they show up in mental performance.

Nick also shares the story of a Division I catcher with a pro future who walked into a weekly meeting devastated — because his weight stayed flat for one week. After months of consistent gains. Nick's response: "And?" 

It's a small moment. But it says everything about what it means to truly be in an athlete's corner.

If you've ever wondered what the right support system actually looks like for a developing athlete — and what it takes to build one — this episode is an honest, experienced answer to that question.

🤝 CONNECT WITH NICK VALENTI

📷 Instagram: @valenti_nick 

🌐 Website: 👉 https://limnt.com/

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction 

01:15 – How Dan and Trevor met — high school teammates to business partners 

03:30 – How Backside Groundballs Media started during COVID 

06:00 – Their experience as college coaches and why they left 

09:00 – Transitioning from coaching to media 

12:00 – What they've learned traveling to college programs 

18:30 – The analytics vs. old-school baseball debate 

22:30 – Why compete and baseball IQ are coming back 

26:00 – Leadership lessons from the best college coaches 

30:00 – What great programs are actually teaching 

36:30 – The biggest challenges freshmen face on campus 

40:00 – The weight room, durability, and the physical demands of college baseball 

42:00 – Adjusting to college life — freedom, stress, and identity 

46:00 – Coach-player communication and how players can advocate for themselves 

51:00 – The "de-recruiting" effect and managing expectations 

54:00 – The transfer portal — what it's doing well and what it's costing players 

59:00 – Do freshmen have unrealistic expectations about playing time? 

01:03:00 – What it actually takes to have a chance at professional baseball 

01:10:00 – Final takeaways: being tough and vulnerable, and leading with humility

🧠 SHOW NOTES

In Episode 91, I sit down with Dan Galati and Trevor Powers — former college coaches and co-founders of Backside Groundballs Media — to talk about what the high school-to-college transition in baseball actually looks like for the players living it.

Dan and Trevor have done something unique. They've traveled to college programs across the country, sat in film sessions, watched practices, and had real conversations with the coaches building these programs from the inside. What they've seen has shaped how they think about player development — and what they believe young athletes are missing.

We discuss:

Why compete and baseball IQ have become the great differentiators at the college level.

What the best college coaches are actually teaching — and how they build culture.

The biggest physical and mental challenges freshmen face when they arrive on campus.

Why the transition from "recruited athlete" to "one of the guys" is harder than players expect.

How the transfer portal is changing the landscape — and what it might be costing players developmentally.

What it truly takes to have a shot at playing beyond college.

Dan and Trevor also share what they've taken away from conversations with some of the top coaches in college baseball — including a lesson from Penn State's Mike Gambino that Dan says changed how he thinks about what it means to be both tough and vulnerable at the same time.

If you've ever wondered what separates the players who thrive at the college level from the ones who struggle — or how young athletes can put themselves in the best position to succeed — this episode gives you a clear, honest, and experienced perspective.

🤝 CONNECT WITH DAN GALATI & TREVOR POWERS

🌐 Backside Groundballs Media: https://backsidegbmedia.beehiiv.com/

📷 Instagram: @backsidegroundballsmedia

X: @BacksideGB

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction

🧠 SHOW NOTES

In Episode 90, I sit down with Bryan Torresani, Head Baseball Coach at DeSales University, to discuss what college coaches are really looking for in recruits — and how players can better prepare for the next level.

For many athletes, the recruiting process feels like a constant evaluation. Players often focus on statistics, velocity, and exposure, trying to prove they belong at a certain level.

But Bryan explains that what separates players often comes down to something much simpler — and harder to measure.

How they respond to failure.

We discuss:

Bryan also shares practical advice for players preparing for college baseball, including the importance of strength training, building routines, and taking ownership of the recruiting process.

If you’ve ever wondered what truly stands out to college coaches — or how players can position themselves for success beyond high school — this episode provides a clear and honest perspective.

🤝 CONNECT WITH BRYAN TORRESANI

🌐 DeSales Baseball:

📷 Instagram:

📷 X:

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction

🧠 SHOW NOTES

In Episode 89, I sit down with Sam Sharf of RPP Recruiting to discuss what high school baseball players should really focus on during the season.

For many athletes, the spring season feels like a constant evaluation. Players worry about statistics, playing time, and whether college coaches are watching.

But Sam explains that the high school season plays a different role in the recruiting process.

Instead of chasing exposure or obsessing over results, players should focus on competing, developing a consistent process, and helping their team win games.

We discuss:

Sam also shares practical advice on in-season development, including strength training, getting extra reps, and managing time effectively during the season.

If you’ve ever wondered how much the high school season actually impacts recruiting — or how players can make the most of their opportunities — this episode provides a clear roadmap.

🤝 CONNECT WITH SAM SHARF

🌐 Website:

👉 https://rocklandpeakperformance.com/

📷 Instagram:

@RPP_Recruiting

@RPP_Baseball

@sharfsam_

🤝 CONNECT WITH MICHAEL HUBER

⚾ Spring Training for the Mind

👉 https://tinyurl.com/HuberSpringTraining

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches:

🌐 Website:

📷 Instagram:

@michaelvhuber

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction

🧠 SHOW NOTES

In Episode 89, I sit down with Scott Shuman, Head Pitching Coach at RPP Baseball, to explore a simple but powerful message for pitchers:

Don’t chase feelings. Build your process.

Scott shares how his early success as a hard-throwing prospect eventually exposed a gap in his development — he had velocity, but he didn’t yet have a plan.

That changed when he learned to simplify his approach, attach cues to feelings, and build a repeatable mental process he could rely on when pressure increased.

We discuss:

If you’ve ever watched a pitcher spiral after one bad inning — or wondered why confidence feels fragile in big moments — this episode will give you a practical framework for building something more stable than emotion.

🤝 CONNECT WITH SCOTT SHUMAN

@RPP_Baseball

@ShumanPerformance

💬 CONNECT WITH MICHAEL HUBER

⚾ Spring Training for the Mind

A free mental preparation guide for baseball families who want to build confidence before the pressure shows up.

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches:

🌐 Website:

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Introduction
01:00 – The intersection of mechanics and mindset
06:00 – Why chasing fixes leads to short-term change
10:00 – Finding the “core” instead of treating surface problems
14:00 – The “watermelon patch” approach to sustainable growth
18:00 – How honesty builds trust between coach and athlete
23:00 – Cam’s story: from failure to freedom
31:00 – Why coaches can only take players as deep as they’ve gone
36:00 – Building bridges between mechanics, neuroscience, and belief
42:00 – The role of parents in creating a healthy environment
50:00 – What true confidence and self-belief look like
56:00 – Why doubt can actually fuel growth
1:03:00 – How bravery transforms performance — and life

🧠 SHOW NOTES

In Episode 87, I sat down with Cameron Ginger, a hitting instructor and founder of Mental Meets Mechanics, to explore how true performance change starts from the inside out.

Cam explains why most athletes and coaches focus on the wrong layer of the system — chasing surface-level fixes instead of addressing the deeper beliefs that drive behavior. We explore the difference between thinking different and thinking differently, what happens when the brain’s survival system hijacks performance, and how patience, honesty, and trust create lasting change.

He also shares personal stories about hitting rock bottom, rebuilding his identity, and learning how to help athletes do the same — not through force or mechanics alone, but through compassion and self-awareness.

If you’ve ever wondered how mental and mechanical skills truly meet, this episode will give you a blueprint for developing confidence that lasts far beyond the cage.

🤝 CONNECT WITH CAMERON GINGER
Instagram: @propelhitting

Website: https://www.propelhitting.co/

🤝 CONNECT WITH MICHAEL HUBER
Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.michaelvhuber.com
Newsletter: https://michaelvhuber.com/newsletter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelvhuber/

🤝 CONNECT WITH MIKE HUBER

🧠 10-Day "Level Up Your Mental Game" Challenge

📩 Free mental performance insights for athletes, parents, and coaches

🌐 Michael Huber's Website