The Upside with Adam Finkelstein

Known as a top recruiter, Earl Grant recently became the 13th head coach at Boston College. Under Grant's leadership the College of Charleston was one of only 21 NCAA Division I schools to have players drafted in both the 2019 and 2020 NBA Drafts. Grant led the Cougars to a top-four finish in the CAA in each of the last five seasons, including the 2018 regular season and conference tournament championship. He also led the Cougars to their first NCAA Tourney appearance in 20 years.

Now as leader of the Eagles, Grant looks to bring the passion back to Chestnut Hill as he joins host Adam Finkelstein on The Upside Podcast.

She's a pioneer in the world of grassroots basketball. ReeCee (Aisha) Hollans is the first female in charge of a grassroots basketball circuit. She was born and raised in the Bay Area while winning a state championship at Berkley High School. Highly decorated out of high school she got a full ride at USC. Playing overseas in several countries led her to 'blindly' answering a Craiglist ad that got ReeCee to Nike. Now as a pioneer in the field of Grassroots basketball at Adidas, Ms. Hollans joins host Adam Finkelstein on The Upside Podcast.

He's had to build a brand new coach staff during a pandemic. Agreeing to a 5 year deal Ben Johnson joins his alma mater after spending 3 seasons at Xavier as an assistant coach.

Johnson helped lead Xavier to consecutive top-30 recruiting classes in 2019 and 2020 and the Musketeers posted a collective record of 51-37 in three seasons with him on the bench.

In his previous stint at Minnesota in 2013, Johnson helped recruit local standouts and current members of the Los Angeles Clippers organization Daniel Oturu and Amir Coffey to the Gophers. He also recruited current Gopher Gabe Kalscheur to the Maroon and Gold. Johnson was instrumental in recruiting and developing Jordan Murphy, who finished his career atop the Gopher record books in rebounds (1,307), free throws made (460), free throws attempted (698) and second in scoring (1,802 points).

The sports card trading market is absolutely blowing up right now. If you're hold a Michael Jordan rookie card in a high-grade condition, you are sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So what (and who) is behind the madness?

Mike Gioseffi is one of the lucky ones who was able to trade in his hammer and construction career and make a go of it in the world of sports cards. His brand, 'Sports Card Nonsense', is now the latest podcast on The Ringer Network and includes an active community on his website and a variety of social media channels.

Mike's been able to take his talents to help both experts and newbies alike help navigate this suddenly hot alternative asset class.

Visit Sports Cards Nonsense: http://www.sportscardsnonsense.com

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Rachel Baker may be the most influential person in the world of grassroots basketball that the average college basketball fan has not heard of. She grew up the son of longtime college and professional coach Rod Baker, began interning with Nike shortly after her college graduation and ended up becoming a pioneer for women in the grassroots basketball space. Her current work ranges from working with families to coordinating EYBL events to contributing to Kevin Durant's product line.

In this interview, she talks about her roots and path, obstacles she faced along the way, how her job has evolved, what she envisions for her future, and what her advice would be to the next generation of young women looking to break into this space.

Rebecca Bonner comes from one of the more well known basketball families in New England. She played her college ball at Stanford and Boston University and later had a pro career overseas. After coaching stints at Louisville and Maryland, Becky moved into the administrative ranks.

Now, after 4 years as Director of Player Development and Operations with the Orlando Magic she is the leading candidate to become the first female General Manger in the NBA.

The Coaches vs Cancer initiative kicks off this week, January 25-31. Head Coaches around the country will wear sneakers with their suits during games to create awareness for the cause.

Current Michigan assistant and long-time St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli joins us, along with Brian Casalinova from the American Cancer Society to discuss the challenges of fundraising in the current climate.

Visit https://suitsandsneakers.org/ for more information on how to support Coaches vs Cancer.

The Ivy League was one of the first conferences to opt out of the 2020-2021 basketball season. In 21 years at the helm in New Haven, Jones has never had a single player transfer. He also has finished in the top four in the Ivy every single season. Yale Head Coach James Jones gives us insight on how the dark period will effect recruiting and his program long term as the nation slowly climbs out of the pandemic. He's still very busy looking at players, learning new aspects of the game all while always trying to continually get better and grow his program.

Mohegan Sun was the host site for one of college basketball's first 'bubbles' in 2020. The sheer size of the property and the amenities that the Uncasville, Connecticut property offered made it alluring for teams to feel they were putting their student-athletes in a safe situation in which to compete. Naismith Hall of Fame Vice President of Basketball Operations, Greg Procino takes us inside the logistics of pulling off the 'minor miracle' of hosting 27 games in these unprecedented times.

He was 5'9" as a high school freshman leading his team to a league title in Massachusetts. A few short years later growing to 6'6" Michael Carter-Williams would become the 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year. Now, this Syracuse University alum is in his 9th year as an unrestricted free agent. In this very special edition of The Upside, Adam and the New England native are joined by his 2 younger brothers, Max Zegarowski currently at Franklin-Pierce and Marcus Zegarowski with the #11 pre-season ranked Creighton Blue Jays. Who won those backyard battles? Who gives who coaching advice? You'll be surprised at some of the answers.