In Episode 12 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Will Allen, senior, head varsity debate captain, and US baseball player. He takes us from transferring in from Chagrin Falls and finding his footing to the upperclassman mentors who brought him in and why microeconomics with Mr. Heath became a turning point. On the baseball field, Will relives last year’s historic run to the state finals and relentless summer work that forged US Baseball’s culture. In the classroom and beyond, he shares why he jumped into orchestra and how he manages a schedule that swings from practice to tournaments to late-night homework.

From captaining one of Ohio’s top Public Forum squads to serving as treasurer on the Student Investment, Will opens up about leadership, goal setting, and what’s next, an economics track in college, a possible finance or data angle, and a dream of bringing home a debate state title while chasing another deep baseball playoff run. What does US mean to him now? Waking up excited to come to school, and to the work after the bell. His “why”? To be “a little bit better at everything you do every day”, to keep showing up, keep improving, and keep building something bigger with the people around him.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 11 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Ben Malbasa, head varsity football coach, English teacher, and US ’96 alum. He takes us from the Lower School’s early days of theme learning (and the teachers who shaped him) to being “cut” from basketball and welcomed onto the bench as an assistant, his doorway into coaching. We trace his path from Ohio State to John Carroll, why he sees law as a true liberal art, and the years building programs at Elyria Catholic, Benedictine, and NDCL before returning home to US in 2015 with the encouragement of Jim Stephens and Bill O’Neill. Coach Malbasa reflects on US’s identity as an early spread-offense adopter, the brotherhood born from 6:30 a.m. summer lifts, and the “flow” that happens when leaders lead leaders. He relives a rough Week 5 loss, the best week of practice he’s ever seen, and a rivalry win that reset the season, plus the electric Friday-night game under the lights at the Shaker campus that pulled the whole community together this year.

From goals to what legacy really means, Coach shares the message he keeps close to him: “This will not be the best thing you do; it will be a sign.” We talk about the humor and humility that define US, his pitch to student-athletes and what it’s meant to share the school with his own family. He breaks down why English class matters, why Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day speech is the blueprint for nearly every pregame talk, and why great literature, from Macbeth to Gatsby, survives. His “why”? An “irrational belief in the importance” of teaching, coaching, and helping young people pursue big goals together, and the conviction that there’s always a next big thing.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 10 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with senior Chase Takaoka, pep rally mastermind, Prep Squad spirit leader, and award-winning street photographer. Chase talks about his family (including trips to visit his grandparents in Japan), how travel turned into a love for immersive food hunts and candid street shots, and the classroom spark that pushed him from “landscapes” to storytelling with strangers. He contrasts the quietness of Tokyo with Cleveland game-day chaos, remembers the neon-out under the lights at Shaker, and explains why real school spirit means showing up loud and together.

From freshman-year to becoming senior, Chase opens up about growth, a tough leg surgery and recovery, and the moments that made this year feel different. He shares the story behind his national Silver Medal in the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a striking shot outside a public smoking box in Ikebukuro, and introduces his new nonprofit, the Backstage Pass Project, bringing instruments, lessons, and music therapy access to kids who need it. We talk whiteouts with baby powder, packing the stands for hockey, and what it means to leave a legacy that makes US feel big: civil, rowdy, and proud. Chase sums up his “why” simply, friends, family, and the drive to show up, be better, and help the community do the same.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 9 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Mr. Bo Montanye, middle school science teacher, head of the House system at the Shaker Campus, and longtime soccer coach. Growing up where New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont meet, Mr. Montanye recalls life at a tiny boarding school, captaining three sports, and as the “weird kid who wanted to know everything.” He traces his path to Colgate, where a Geology class rerouted him from astrophysics to rocks and isotopes where along the way he double majored in Classical Studies, discovered intramural sports, and via ballroom dance and Dancefest, met his future wife. He shares beloved Colgate traditions like “Geo Pizza,”.

From lake muds to middle school labs, Mr. Montanye walks us through grad work at the University of Akron (reconstructing 400 years of ecological change in Lake Tanganyika, a three-week ocean research cruise off Costa Rica, and the infamous acid-hood mishap that took away his sense of smell), then opens the door to his classroom: the splashy Archimedes density lab, film-can rocket investigations, and geologic time projects that turn billion-year scales into baseball fields and world-spanning strings. We talk coaching A-team soccer, why House Cup traditions build real brotherhood, how student leaders learn by carving pumpkins and planning assemblies, and what it means to enroll his own son at US. A huge Pokémon fan who still chases tournaments, Montanye dreams of visiting every active lava lake on Earth, from Hawai‘i to Antarctica to the Congo, and sums up his “why” with a line from a certain 90s theme song: to be a little better every day, helping kids stay curious, hands-on, and excited to learn.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 8 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Joe Brown ’85, lifelong flyer, community-builder, and former president/chairman of Hartzell Propeller. Growing up in Shaker Heights and arriving at US in seventh grade, Joe talks about middle and high school and its fake courts, and shop teachers who mentored him, and teachers who kept him going even when classes were challenging. He shares his favorite US memories and then traces his path to Middlebury College, where his professor’s response to his first paper reframed his thinking of what school was, and set the tone for a career built on curiosity and craft.

From the plant floor to the corner office, Joe talks about discipline, his love of flight, and a family mantra, “Let’s go be somebody”, that shaped decades at Hartzell and later Tailwind Technologies. He talks about the company’s slogan, “Built on Honor,” its Wright Brothers roots, flying 500 hours a year to meet customers, and hard calls like selling Hartzell Aviation in 2023. We dive into Yellow House, the residential community he co-founded in Vermont for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and what he’s learned from his daughter’s joyful empathy. Joe reflects on US brotherhood that became a lifelong network, and why our generation must be the “restoration generation”. He closes with his “why”: to pay it back and pay it forward, showing up for his kids and new grandchild, and pouring gratitude into purposeful work every day.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news

In Episode 7 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sat down with Griff Koch, a Sanders House prefect, varsity football captain, and Columbia Football commit. A US lifer who grew up minutes from the Shaker campus, Griff reminisces about castle-marshmallow launches, eighth-grade current-events classes that sparked a love of history, and the lower-school coaches who first showed him what great teams feel like. He traces his path from multi-sport kid to the varsity O-line, through an ACL setback and back again, and credits his older captains and teachers for pulling him in and showing him how to lead.

The conversation spans recruiting highs and hard lessons like gaining 50 pounds the right way, turning “I’m nervous” into “I’m excited,” dimmer-switch game-day prep, and why Twitter and persistence finally put his film in front of the right coaches. Griff opens up about choosing Columbia, loving the staff’s intensity, and a program on the rise, plus his academic curiosity that ranges from biology to economics. He reflects on prefect duties, house culture, and what he’ll miss most about US. He closes with his “why”: to honor the sacrifices of family, classmates, and teachers by chasing excellence every day, so that his effort matches what others have poured into him.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 6 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sat down with Nico and Matteo Morelli, University School brothers, varsity football standouts, and proud members of McKinley House. From first days at US and finding their footing in the weight room to a great moment when Nico’s first varsity touchdown sprung loose behind Matteo’s block, the Morelli brothers unpack how sibling synergy, locker-room culture, and mentors shaped their grit and leadership.

The conversation spans recruiting highs and lows, including Matteo’s summer hamstring setback and the resilience that followed, Nico’s early camp reps and film-first mindset, and the daily discipline that comes from planners, late-night film, and teachers who change your trajectory. They salute past coaches, celebrate their mom’s cooking business at home, and talk house pride, and paying it forward to younger teammates. The brothers close with their “why”: to be great, leave a legacy of effort, and honor their family’s work ethic, so that when people hear “Morelli,” they think of a standard to live up to.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 5 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with Anthony Doerr, University School Class of 1991 alum, New York Times bestselling author, and Pulitzer Prize winner. From library runs and Outdoor Projects days with Mr. Terry Harmon to a home that celebrated curiosity, Doerr reflects on how his Cleveland roots, US education, and early obsessions with stories forged his voice.

The conversation traces Bowdoin College, post-grad years in Telluride and mailing stories to magazines, and the life-jolting Rome Prize. Doerr unpacks his bestselling novel All the Light We Cannot See, an interrupted cell call on a train that led him to radio, propaganda, and the unseen light spectrum, and the whirlwind of global success, and a craft-first reset that produced his next ambitious novel Cloud Cuckoo Land. He urges students to “chase your enthusiasm” and find awe anywhere (even in a migrating hummingbird), speaks candidly about working through a concussion, and closes with his “why”: to arrange words that light up images in a stranger’s mind, connect us, and make the world feel a little less lonely.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 4 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with Mrs. Ullery, Assistant Director of College Counseling, sophomore class dean, former Director of IT, and longtime librarian at University School, to trace a career defined by curiosity, care, and community-building.

The conversation spans her Summit County roots with a twin and two teacher parents; a Spanish major at Miami University that led to study abroad in Mexico and a first teaching post in Wichita; a return to Ohio for Cleveland Heights classrooms and a Kent State master’s in instructional technology and library media; and her 2004 arrival at US as librarian before stepping in as Director of IT to help lead the school’s COVID-19 pivot. She spotlights book club lunches, advising one of the first all-boys One Love chapters, the sponsor system, sophomore-year growth, archival traditions like the first- and last-day handshake, and her WKYC digital-detox message, along with thoughtful guidance on AI and learning to “give up a little control” to spark authentic dialogue. Closing with gratitude (from her Thanksgiving assembly) and a clear “why,” Mrs. Ullery says her purpose is simple: love people well, take care of them, and make sure they know they matter.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

In Episode 3 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with Jordan Barham, University School Class of 2012 alum and professional basketball player. From backyard battles and multi-sport seasons at US to becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer, Jordan reflects on how family sacrifice, tough coaching, and a tight brotherhood forged his edge.

The conversation traces his choice of Davidson College, the shock-and-learn curve of Division I speed, and hard match-ups like Duke, UNC, UVA, and stars like Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins, plus a trip to the college slam dunk contest. Jordan opens about a globe-spanning pro career in France, the Czech Republic, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Luxembourg; lessons from mentors like Coaches Lipford, Oslan, Zappas, and Stevens; and the senior-night memory that still gives him chills. Looking ahead to NBA scouting and front-office paths back home, he closes with his “why”: to honor his mom and brother’s decades of sacrifice and keep chasing a game he loved long before he was paid to play it.

Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.