The Grounded Theory Podcast

Rayshawn Simmons is the head coach at Jennings High School (St. Louis). Ray hooped and played football in high school at Webster Groves (St. Louis), then went on to play basketball at Moberly Area Community College and then Division 1 at Central Michigan University. After graduating from there he went on to have a very successful professional career that began by playing in the NBA summer league with the Washington Wizards for 2 summers before going overseas with 9 different countries: Australia (Thunder), Belgium (Kangoeroes), Germany (Science City Jena and Ehingen/Urspringschule), Greece (Ionikos), Hungary (Zalakeramia ZTE KK), Qatar, Czech Republic (Prostejov) Ray is the co owner of Hoops and Beyond which is a program that teaches youth athletes the importance of mental health, financial literacy, character-building, career readiness, resiliency, life skills, and basketball skill development. He was an assistant coach for our former high school coach Jay Blossom at Principe high school in St. Louis as well as an assistant at Moberly Area for a year before becoming a first year head coach this year at Jennings high school. A resume that's up there with the best of them. We talk about growing up with Bradley Beal and go in depth about his playing and journey with things like his experience playing in the NBA summer league as well as his time at pre draft workouts with guys like Anthony Bennett, Tyler Ennis, Bobby Portis, Langston Galloway, Garrett Temple and a lot of other pros. We also talk about his experience as an assistant coach as well as his mindset entering his first year as a head coachPlaying at Webster Groves high school myself, Ray was someone I looked up to growing up so it was awesome to get to chop it up with him. Tap in with him and everything he's got going on:Instagram: @hoopsandbeyond_YouTube:  @hoopsandbeyond  Instagram: @r4ysw4yJennings Instagram: @jtownboysbball

Bryan Turner is the head coach at St. Mary's South Side Catholic High School (St. Louis, MO). BT grew up in Greater Ville in North St. Louis and went to Beaumont High School. He hooped at SIU college for Bruce Weber and Matt Painter. He first got into coaching at Gateway STEM high school for 2 years before heading to St. Marys. In this conversation we talk about a wide range of topics from the importance of having hobbies and an identity outside of basketball, coaching Yuri Collins who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies G League, how AAU basketball has evolved throughout the years, how St. Louis's style of basketball compares to California and other states, to the importance of having family as a support system, sports gambling, Rick Rubin, creating content and a lot more. BT is a really cool dude. Lots of pockets of conversation outside of basketball I enjoyed that easily could've gone on for longer. Go tap in with him on the socials: Instagram: @coach.bryan.turner YouTube:  @BigTyme314  Twitter: @CoachBT_Turner Tik Tok: @bthoopcoachSt. Mary's basketball schedule: https://www.stmaryshs.com/athletics/teams/basketball

Amorey Womack is a licensed real estate agent with Ascend Real Estate Advisors. Mo and I were teammates at Webster High School so it was crazy enjoyable to chop it up with him. Amorey grew up training at WITTS with Corey Fraizer in the same gym as Jayson Tatum, Tyler Cook, Xavier Sneed and many other top talents to come out of St. Louis. From there Mo went to Cardinal Ritter high school, then transferred to Maplewood to reunite with Coach Fraizer and continued his career at Webster Groves for 2 years where we won a state championship together in 2018. From there Mo was a redshirt freshman at Tennessee State University, then went to Moberly Area Community College, Shelton State in Alabama and then Philander Smith University. We found a great pocket talking about social media, how what we see shapes our reality and how that affects the goals we set and our idea of what success looks like. We also talked about his process for creating content, his current journey of being at Ranken to get his degree in architecture, and what a day in the life of a real estate agent looks like. If you're interested in real estate or just want to connect with Mo go tap in on: Instagram: @ amoreywomackFacebook: Amorey Womack Tik Tok: @amoreywomack1

Carl Givens is a strength and conditioning coach and owner of Given100. He also is currently in charge of strength and conditioning for Harris Stowe Athletics. Born and raised in St. Louis, Carl played basketball and football at Chaminade high school and football at Westminster college in Fulton, Missouri. After pursuing NFL opportunities, Given100 was born. In this conversation we talk about his faith, the importance of helping athletes on but also off the court, the importance of getting to know athletes as people and how that translates to better performance, owning his own business and more. Go get some work in with Carl on Instagram @ given100

Freeze Calipari aka Jarell Graham is currently the assistant coach at Confluence Prep Academy here in St. Louis. Freeze has coached some of the best talent St. Louis has had to offer throughout the years when they were kids and has coached multiple nationally ranked AAU teams. Being in the mix for so long, he's coached with and against lots of NBA guys like Cam Boozer, Darius Acuff Jr., Thompson twins, Cooper Flag and more. Freeze has been on the front lines in a way that gives him a really interesting perspective on basketball in St. Louis as well as nationally. We talk about the And 1 mixtape era, the differences between developing young talent vs trying to win right now, the differences in play styles from state to state, the importance of being able to effect the game by more than just scoring, AAU politics, the NIL generation of athletes and a lot more. Lots of St. Louis basketball name drops and a little peak behind the curtain of the music industry at the end. Very entertaining conversation.Go tap in with Freeze on IG: @freezycalipari

Dwayne Polk is currently the head coach at Lutheran North high school here in St. Louis. He played, then later on came back to coach at, Vashon high school. After being highly recruited and ranked top 30 in his class, he chose to play at St. Louis University in college. After playing professionally in the PBL (premier basketball league), he began his coaching journey as the head coach at McCluer North for the girls. A handful of state championships at Vashon later, he is going on year 3 at Lutheran North. We talked about the strong culture and tradition of Vashon basketball. Going undefeated his senior year, him playing against future pros like Lebron James, Chris Paul, Monta Ellis and Adam Morrison. Being coached by Rick Majerus at SLU and how that's developed his ability to create buy in from his players as a coach, and a bunch of St. Louis basketball pulls along the way. First pod to reach the 3 hour mark and rightfully so. Great convo with a great human. Go tap in with him: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook: @teampolkwinning Also on Instagram @lncrusadersbasketball to follow along with their season and get some Xs and Os breakdowns throughout the season

Greg Gentry is currently an assistant coach at Clayton high school (St. Louis, MO). Growing up in California he played his freshman year at Taft high school in Los Angeles along side Larry Drew II then finished high school at Durango high school in Spring Valley Nevada. After a cup of coffee at Cosumnes River Junior College in Sacramento, Greg went on to finish his playing career at Fontbonne University in St. Louis. After graduating and going back to California to coach at Calabasas high school, he came back to Fontbonne and joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant. After 9 years with the Griffins, he joined the staff at Clayton high school where the team just made it to the final four in the 2024-2025 season which was the first time they've made it that far since 1975. In this conversation we talk about the California hoop scene, differences between there and St. Louis, mixtape culture and how that effects the on court product, the JUCO grind, mental health for athletes, a deep dive into his process for cooking up scouting reports as a college coach and a lot more. G is a former coach of mine and someone I've always had a lot of respect for so it was awesome to get to chop it up with him. Instagram: @youngcal_24And to follow along with the Grey Hounds next season: @chsgreyhoundbasketball on Instagram

Andrew Keck graduated from Vianney High School (St. Louis, MO) in 2018. From there he caught at SEMO for 4 years before getting drafted by the Atlanta Braves where he spent 3.5 years in their minor league system. He currently is the owner of AK12 Baseball Performance Lab where he helps current players with their catching, hitting, pitching and overall game including mindset. Tons of fun insight chopping it up with someone who played and coaches a different sport. As a catcher it was awesome to hear AK break down the game within the game of baseball as we got fairly deep in the weeds with things like sign stealing and what actually goes on during mound visits during a game as well as what to expect during the process of being recruited as a baseball player. We talked a lot about the similarities and differences between the sports when it comes to the mental game, how analytics effects teams' approaches, play styles within college conferences, travel ball/AAU, and a lot more. Crazy fun to get into my baseball bag, this easily could've been a 3 hour episode. Instagram: @keckacademy Website: ak12sportsgroup.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557980674222

Aurelio Stucco hooped at Whitfield high school in St. Louis, Missouri as part of a team that was probably the best in their schools history that included then Mizzou commit Torrence Watson. After graduating in 2019, Stucco decided to forgo playing in college and began passing on his knowledge of the game to the next generation. He did private and group training as well as team coaching for Larry Hughes Basketball Academy for 6 years and is now a varsity assistant for Fort Zumwalt South girls team as well as head JV coach. An hour and a half turned into 2.5 real quick. This was a great conversation covering a wide array topics. We talked St. Louis hoops, the girls scene, his decision not to hoop in college, how he got into coaching and training, some torching NBA takes, and his journey to rediscovering his faith in God. Go tap in with my guy: Instagram : @stuccoooooFacebook: Aurelio Stucco Basketball Training: stuccosbasketballtraining.com

Danny Brown is the head coach at United Health Sciences Pharmacy, an NAIA in St. Louis, Missouri. A Houston Texas native, Danny played college basketball at St. Louis University before going on to play professionally in many countries including Venezuela, Cypress, Paris and Australia. After his playing career, he returned to SLU to join the coaching staff and helped the team to multiple conference championships and national tournament appearances. In this conversation we dive into his journey, crazy stories about getting cut from overseas teams, training future pro Jordair Jett, the art of creating buy in with players, the differences in play styles between different countries as well as different levels of college basketball, implementing faith based principles into a team setting, developing a culture and much more Instagram is @coachdaddybrown