The Jump Around with Blake DuDonis

After turning D3 Tufts into a national powerhouse during a 17-year run as it's head coach, former UConn great Carla Berube took over a thriving Princeton program and has them primed for a postseason run.

We talk about her time at UConn, why D3 was the route she chose, and why Princeton was the move for her. We also talk about what makes her programs so good and why the Tigers are humming along so well.

After leading Dayton to their 3rd A-10 regular-season title in four seasons, head coach Shauna Green joined me on the pod to talk about her team's success.

We also dive into her journey from a standout at the college player, to starting her coaching career at the D3 level, all the way to now.

We also laugh about Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown, who is just the best.

After leading Merrimack College to 20 wins in their first season as a D1 program, head coach Monique LeBlanc joined the pod.

We talk about her journey as a player at Bucknell to a young head coach of a, then, D2 program and how she transformed it from a struggling program into a contender. We also discuss her growth as a coach and person since her arrival at the Massachusetts based school in 2011, how they we able to be so good in their 1st D1 season, plus we share some stories from our time coaching together.

In today’s episode, I talk with Bethune Cookman head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis, whose journey has been an accelerated one.

After a stellar playing career at Mount St. Mary’s, she served two years as an assistant coach there before getting the job handed to her on the cusp of the season beginning at 25-years-old. All she did with that was become the first person in NEC history to win both the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards.

She won 120 games at the Mount then undertook a new challenge at Bethune Cookman where she took a last place team and turned them into a MEAC powerhouse.

We also discuss her family, including her NBA official husband and ballhog 6-year-old son, race in coaching, and much more.

We back!

After taking off a few months for coaching purposes, The Jump Around returns as Marquette head coach Megan Duffy joins me today. We talk about her rise from a standout at Notre Dame to a super successful coach in the college ranks.

Duffy takes use through her journey as an assistant at three different schools to a head coach who has managed to win 20+ games all three years she has been at the helm. We also discuss how all these stops has molded her, what most surprised her once she became a head coach, and how a Marquette team picked to finish 9th in the Big East is sitting in 2nd place.

Hartford head coach Morgan Valley joins me to tell me all about her journey as a multi-sport high school athlete in Vermont, to winning three national championships at UConn, to a coaching career that moved her all over the country.

We discuss her successes, struggles, and talk about how she nearly drowned in a triathlon last weekend.

UNC-Chapel Hill head coach Courtney Banghart joins me to talk all about her journey from NCAA college soccer prospect to head women’s basketball coach of one of the most prestigious colleges in the country.

We talk about what led her to Dartmouth as an athlete, then back as a coach. Then, after winning just seven games in year one at Princeton, how she turned the Tigers into a national power.

We also had some fun talking about food, movies, concerts and more.

Once the #1 recruit in the country coming out of high school, Jackie Gemelos tore her ACL in the last game of her prep career. This turned out to be one of five ACL injuries she would go through, significantly shortening her career at USC and almost ending her professional career.

Instead of packing it in, however, Gemelos kept working and eventually got drafted in the 3rd round of the WNBA draft. Though cut before the season started, she made her WNBA debut in 2015 with the Chicago style and has put together an impressive overseas resume.

We talk all about her story, her new clothing line, her tattoos, plus a whole lot more. It's hard not to root for Jackie.

Just days removed from the national championship game, SW Oklahoma State head coach Kelsi Musick joins me to talk about her team's incredible season.

We talk about her career journey and the difficulties of winning just three games in her first season as a head coach. Then, we talk through what led them to win the conference tournament in year three and now, in her 10th season, make it all the way to the national championship game.

Fresh off the program's second national championship in four years, Lubbock Christian head coach Steve Gomez joined me on the the pod.

We discuss how being the child of an Air Force vet helped mold him (he lived in Indiana, South Dakota, and Germany, among other places) and how he stumbled into his current job.

Also discussed was his team's undefeated run in 2015-'16 and how UConn played a part in it. Plus, what he was he thinking down 3 with three seconds left in OT in this year's championship?