The Jump Around with Blake DuDonis

James Madison head coach Sean O'Regan joins me two days before his team's big WNIT Final Four matchup.

We talk about what makes JMU so special that after graduating from there, he has spent 12 years there as an assistant and head coach. We talk about the most difficult things he faced when taking over the head coaching spot from Kenny Brooks, how he has grown the most, and what it felt like to take down his former boss in the WNIT this season.

While everyone waits for the D1 Sweet Sixteen to play out, there is already a NCAA champion at the D3 level, and I talk to their head coach. Jeff Hans, head coach of Thomas More University joined me to talk about his program's second national championship.

We discuss all that went into the season, including being an independent team, something that forced them to travel all across the country and play, at times, 5 games in 7 days. Despite that, the team went 33-0 to win the whole thing.

Aaron Roussell, head coach of the 12-seed Bucknell Bison, joined me to talk about his program as they head to their 2nd NCAA tournament under his guidance.

We discuss his coaching journey and how a move to D1 was never in the plans but led him to take the Bucknell job without his wife ever seeing the place. We also talk about the building of the program that has led to his current group of seniors winning 100 games in their career.

I also get him to share the story of going recruiting the same day his third child was born, plus we preview the matchup with Florida State.

NCAA tournament-bound for the fourth straight year as a program and second straight year under him, Belmont head coach Bart Brooks joins me to talk all about his stellar team.

We talk about his introduction to the coaching side of the game, and how working camps led to him working for the legendary Doug Bruno for 11 years. Also, what led him to Belmont, and how he had to overcome a lot of self-doubts once he was there.

We also talk about him being a champion dairy goat showman in middle school. Yes, for real.

Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell joined me to talk about his team's third straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

We discuss the uniqueness of having a 30+ year career at only two schools, how his team approaches goal setting, and his side job when he first started coaching.

*Note: due to an unfortunate technical issue, about half of the conversation got cut off. I felt the material that still made it was worth sharing, but sincere apologies for the issue that is out of my control.

Abilene Christian head coach Julie Goodenough joins me to talk about her coaching journey.

Starting at the NAIA level, Coach went on to lead a program to four D3 tournaments, then took over at Oklahoma State. We discuss what went wrong in her three seasons there and how it helped her be successful down the road.

After seven seasons at Charleston Southern, she took the Abilene Christian job and helped them transition to the D1 level and now has them on the brink of making the NCAA tournament for the first time ever.

New Mexico State head coach Brook Atkinson joined me to talk about her team's stellar season as they try to return to the NCAA tournament after making the WNIT last season.

We discuss how she has grown from year one as the head coach to now in year two, the strangeness that is the WAC, and how her team has continued to improve as the season has gone along.

As we continue our "Upset" series, coaches of programs who could break your bracket, Drexel head coach Denise Dillion joined me. We talk all about her 16 seasons at the Philly based school and how she turned a once dormant program into a consistent force atop the CAA.

We also discuss her playing career at Villanova and how an injury led her into coaching. We also discuss whistling.

UT-Arlington head coach Krista Gerlich joined me to talk about how she has taken her program to levels it's never been before.

We also talked about her playing career at Texas Tech that finished with a national championship her senior year and, eventually, her jersey hanging in the rafters.

We also talk about how she has grown as a head coach since starting at the D2 level, how difficult her first season at UTA was when they only won 4 games, and the process of missing out on their biggest recruit: her daughter.

American head coach Megan Gebbia joined me today to talk about her program in another episode of our "Upset" series, a focus on teams that could bust your bracket come NCAA tournament time.

We talk about her 10 years at Marist as an associate head coach and all she learned during her time there, plus what made her take the leap and accept the American job. We also discuss her immediate success with the team before a really difficult third season.

After that difficult year three, the team has blossomed again, something Coach gives credit to that season for.

We also talk about the really bizarre way she hurt her ankle, poison ivy, and a raccoon in her garage.