The Rising Coaches Podcast

Raphael Chillious is a former collegiate and current Head Coach at South Kent High School. Coach Chillious started at West Nottingham and South Kent before working at Nike, which led him into assistant roles at Villanova, Washington University, Connecticut, East Carolina and now as the Prep Head Coach back at South Kent. Chillious has coached 17 players to make an NBA roster and has coached alongside and learned from some great coaching minds.

William Twigg is the current Academy Coach for the London Lions and Youth National Team Head Coach in the United Kingdom. Coach Twigg is a young coach on the rise as he has worked with a variety of D1 and NBA basketball camps in the USA, while also holding stints as a very successful head coach for a variety of youth programs in the UK. We are excited to learn more about international basketball and some ways coaches can connect with international coaches.

Josh Pastner is a former NCAA Head Coach and current ESPN Analyst. Coach Pastner is a young coach with a stellar career path as he started as an assistant coach at Arizona following his playing career. After 6 years as an assistant at Arizona, Pastor landed another assistant role with Memphis which led him into his first head coaching gig at Memphis for 7 years. Following Memphis, Pastor went on to be the Head coach at his most recent position, Georgia Tech for 7 more years before stepping down and working as an analyst. Coach Pastner has held a tremendous record of 276-187 with near a 60% win ratio as a head coach. We are excited to learn more from a great in the coaching industry!

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with the current Assistant Coach at Indiana University, Coach Brian Walsh. Coach Walsh is a young coach on the rise with a great resume so far, having a stellar playing career at Xavier and Akron University. Following his playing career Walsh started his coaching career at Akron University which led into a stint at Dayton, and where he now stands for the last 7 seasons, Indiana University. The Pittsburgh native has helped bring in one of the top recruiting classes in the nation for the Hoosiers and produced a strong season this past year with numerous BIG 10 wins on the road. We are excited to learn more from a young and aspiring head coach.

Mike Jarvis is a former NCAA coach with 28+ years of coaching experience, with 18 of which being a head coach. Coach Jarvis started his coaching career following his playing career at Northeastern and onto Harvard as an Assistant Coach. Following Harvard, Jarvis went on to Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, as his first head coaching gig, which led him to Boston University, George Washington, St. John’s and most recently Florida Atlantic University. Coach Jarvis has multiple coach of the year awards on top of a 364-201 overall head coaching record.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with the current Head Coach of John Carroll University, Coach Pete Moran. Following Moran’s playing career at JCU he went out to coach at Berkshire High School in Cleveland where he led his team to three conference and two district championships in 3 years, leading him into an assistant coaching role at John Caroll and ultimately into the head role where he stands now. In Moran’s 7 seasons as a head coach at JCU, he has posted a 92-54 overall record with 3 OAC Championships, numerous NCAA appearances and a Final Four appearance, while also being the #1 Division 3 team in the country numerous times throughout his stint. We are excited to learn from a phenomenal young coach.

Paul Biancardi a former Division 1 coach and current National Recruiting Director of High School Basketball and Sports Analyst for ESPN. Coach Bicardi has made various coaching stops along his way including Salem State, Stoneham HS, Suffolk, Boston University, Boston College, Ohio State, and Saint Louis all in the assistant coach positions and was named the #1 assistant coach in the country by Hoop Scoop in 2002, while also holding a head coaching stint for 3 years at Wright State where he earned the Horizon League coach of the year award in 2004. We look forward to learning more about the recruiting process and getting some advice from one of the best in the business.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with the current NBA scout for the Chicago Bulls, Coach Dave Bollwinkel. Coach Bollwinkel provides a ton of knowledge on the game with his extensive resume including assistant coaching positions at Cal University, Oregon, Colorado State, San Jose State, University of Dayton, Wisconsin, St. Marys and having a head coaching stint at Cal Poly Pomona and St. Mary’s. Bollwinkel also held NBA positions with the Washington Bullets, Philadelphia 76ers and currently the Chicago Bulls. We talk about some advanced scouting tactics that NBA scouts use and what to look for when recruiting a player.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with the former Grand Canyon University and recently appointed assistant Coach at Ohio State University, Coach Jamall Walker. Coach Walker has nearly 25 years of coaching experience at a wide range of stops. Following his playing career at Saint Louis University, coach Walker took a position as an assistant at Alton High School, which helped lead into spots at F. L. Schlagle High School, Redlands Community College, Ball State, Saint Louis, Murray State, Ohio University, Illinois University and Grand Canyon University, where he helped GCU win their first ever NCAA tournament game this past season. Congratulations to Coach Walker who was recently appointed the assistant coaching position at Ohio State University following our conversation.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with two coaches on the Buffalo Women’s basketball staff, including a pivotal member in the Rising Coaches community, Erin Sinnott. Coach Sinnott and her story are familiar with the Rising Coaches podcast as we have had the opportunity to learn from her individually in a previous episode. Alongside Erin is the current Associate Head Coach at Buffalo, Coach Jacey Brooks. Coach Brooks has a great coaching history helping programs excel such as Canisius College, Bowling Green, SUNY Cortland and currently Buffalo, where they both helped lead the program to the conference championship this past year.

David Richards is the current head coach at Chatham University. Richards comes from a strong background in the basketball industry as he has held a variety of positions at schools such as Robert Morris University, West Virginia Wesleyan, Merrimack College and where he now stands as the head coach at Chatham University. Coach Richards just finished his 6th season at Chatham and holds the conference's highest win percentage with an overall record of 79-42 with 2 NCAA appearances, 2 Conference Championships and a conference coach of the year award.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix, with a father-son duo in Pat and Matt Ambrose. Matt Ambrose is a recent graduate from Calvin University and was a pivotal player for the men's basketball team's successes with a 25-5 record this past season. Pat Ambrose is a former head coach of Stevenson High School and Hall of Fame coach who has excelled the Stevenson program for the past 24 years while holding an overall record of 505-191 with 4 state trophies and coaching former and current NBA players and a wide range of kids into various colleges, including current NBA All Star, Jalen Brunson. We are excited to get to learn from a current Hall of Fame coach and another one on the rise.

Bruce Weber is a former stand out Head Coach at Kansas State. Coach Weber started his coaching career as a GA at Western Kentucky, leading him into an assistant role with Purdue and starting his head coaching career at Southern Illinois, Illinois, and then most recently Kansas State. Coach Weber has posted a 497-302 record in his stint as a head coach winning 2 championships in the MVC, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences each, on top of his extensive collection of Coach of the Year awards. Weber is now working with the Big 10 network as an analyst.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix, with the current Senior Director of Wasserman Basketball, Coach Tony Ronzone. Coach Ronzone has a ton of experience including his professional playing career overseas while beginning his coaching career as the youngest Head Coach in New Zealand history, while also leading the Saudi Arabian, Chinese and United Arab Emirates national teams. Ronzone held a variety of positions in the NBA including stints with the Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. Ronzone was the General Manager of the Timberwolves and most recently was responsible for the preparation and organization of the NBA draft for the Dallas Mavericks.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with TJ Rosene and Mano Watsa. Coach Rosene is the current Head Coach at Emmanuel College, Director of Coach Development at PGC Basketball, and host of the Hardwood Hustle Podcast. Alongside Coach Rosene we get to speak with a former Head Coach at the University of Waterloo, President and Founder of More Than Hoops Inc, and the President and Owner of PGC Basketball, Coach Mano Watsa. Tj and Mano both have tremendous knowledge on the basketball industry, not only in how to grow as a coach but also as a player.

Adam Gordon is the former CEO and Co-Founder of Rising Coaches and a former college basketball coach. Coach Gordon has been in coaching positions at a variety of places including the University of Tampa, College of Central Florida, Clemson, Northern Colorado, Mississippi State and Southeast Missouri State. Coach Gordon was the Co-Founder of Rising Coaches where he recently passed the torch and moved on to where he currently stands, the VP of Athletics at Renaissance Search and Consulting.

Matt Mayberg is a current member of the Rising Coaches community and the assistant at Lewis and Clark College. Coach Mayberg is a young coach and still on the rise as he has learned in a variety of positions including an intern,Graduate Manager and Head Grad assistant all at Seattle University. Following Seattle, he moved on to Peninsula College and helped them lead to a 36-18 overall record in two seasons while being in the top four of the conference every year. Mayberg now stands at Lewis and Clark where they have recently recorded the best offensive point production in over 20 years.

Andy Farrell one of the founding fathers of Rising Coaches, while also being a member and the current Assistant Coach at Siena College. Coach Farrell has a ton of basketball knowledge for us as he has been at various positions including Virginia Commonwealth University, where he started his coaching career also including Clemson Depaul University, Longwood University, Southwest Mississippi Community College, Dayton Flyers, and where he currently stands, Siena College.

Adam Bauman is the current Director of Scouting and Analytics at Alabama and Rising Coaches Member. Prior to Bauman’s years at Alabama he served in various roles at the University of Buffalo, Mississippi State University, Santa Clara University, Arizona State and Southern Illinois. On top of Bauman’s role at Alabama, he is also the Head Coach for Blue Collar U which is a team in the TBT or known as The Basketball Tournament.

Brad Stevens is one of the best coaches in the basketball business. Coach Stevens has a short road of stops but an incredible background nonetheless, as he grew from an assistant role at Butler to being the Head Coach and ultimately one of the best Butler has seen during his 6 year head coaching stint, including 2 Horizon Coach of the Year awards, 2 Final Four appearances and 7 regular and tournament Horizon League championships in total. Following Butler, Stevens stepped into a role with the Boston Celtics as a head coach for 8 years and now serves as the current President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics. 

Amit Tailor is the current Manager of Basketball Operations at Grand Rapids Gold in the NBA G League. Coach Tailor has a wide range of knowledge expanding from a Game Day Statistician with the Chicago Bulls, a Scout for the Knicks and NetScouts Basketball as well as an assistant for the University of Florida, Santa Clara University, Clemson as well as assisting with USA Basketball. Most recently Coach Tailor was a Video/Player Development Associate with the Houston Rockets and is now currently with the Denver Nuggets G League team, the Grand Rapids Gold.

Kendall Aldridge is a Rising Coaches Member and current Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Purdue University Northwest, Coach Kendall Aldridge. Coach Aldridge has a great career path for young Coaches as he started in the high school ranks at Decatur Central High School, as well as various other High school positions and ultimately landed his first NCAA Division 3 coaching gig with Houghton College. Following Houghton, Kendall gets a position where he currently stands at Division 2 Purdue University Northwest. Kendall is definitely a coaching name on the rise!

Ben Sanders is the current head coach of Guaymas in Mexico and current Rising Coaches Member. Coach Sanders brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast working in various roles in the G league with the Windy City Bulls, Long Island Nets, and Wisconsin Heard as well as a stint in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls. Prior to these roles, Coach Sanders held positions in the NCAA with New Mexico, Rice and Alfred University all playing a pivotal role in his new found head coaching gig.

Alan Stein, Jr. is a very influential person as he is a coach, trainer, author and motivational speaker. Coach Stein was a Director of performance for Pure Sweat Basketball, Founder of Stronger Team, Author, and Motivational speaker who has worked with the biggest names in basketball today including, Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. Coach Stein brings us a wealth of knowledge as we will get to learn more about his techniques for coaches and players to improve their mindset in game as well as on a day to day basis.

Luka Voncina is a former professional basketball player and current Founder of LV prospects. Luka is a current owner and operator of a company in Slovenia to help assist players to pursue their collegiate careers in other countries. Luka helps give us some insight on how coaches can use International agencies to their advantage in the recruiting processes.

Nate McMillan is a very well known name in the basketball industry as a coach and player. Coach McMillan was a draft pick to the Seattle Supersonics in 1986 and then went on to start his coaching career for Seattle following his 12 year playing career in the NBA. He coached in the NBA at various places such as Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta all in the assistant role while also holding the head coaching title in Indiana and most formerly with the Atlanta Hawks.This conversation was so insightful, we just kept going, so we decided to split it into two parts.

Nate McMillan is a very well known name in the basketball industry as a coach and player. Coach McMillan was a draft pick to the Seattle Supersonics in 1986 and then went on to start his coaching career for Seattle following his 12 year playing career in the NBA. He coached in the NBA at various places such as Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta all in the assistant role while also holding the head coaching title in Indiana and most formerly with the Atlanta Hawks.This conversation was so insightful, we just kept going, so we decided to split it into two parts.

Coach Major is a man of many talents as he is the current President of Basketball Operations with Rising Coaches and Co Host of the Rising Coaches Podcast. Coach Major also has a strong coaching background including Cal Lutheran, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Xavier, Ohio State, Texas and the Nigerian National team all in the assistant role, as well as, Charlotte and the Rwanda National Teams as a head coach. We are very excited to get to do this one.

Gary Waters a former NCAA Division 1 Coach. Waters brings 40+ years of coaching experience to the podcast today, while making various stops at Ferris State and Eastern Michigan in the assistant positions, including Kent State, Rutgers and Cleveland State as a Head Coach while also crowning multiple regular season and tournament titles in the MAC and Horizon League Coach Waters even won a variety of MAC and Horizon League coach of the year awards.

Cooper Neimand is a former NCAA coach and current Owner of Coach Coop LLC . Cooper formerly coached at various places such as Wesleyan Christian Academy, Lander University and most recently Lincoln Memorial University. Cooper now runs his own company to help coaches best achieve their own personal goals in the coaching profession. Check him out at cooperneimand.com.

Mike Bobinski is the current Athletic Director of Purdue University. Mike has been an athletic director for 25+ years and has made various stops such as Navy, Akron, Xavier, Georgia Tech and where he currently resides at Purdue University, since 2016. We are excited to get to learn more about the interview process and athletic director side of things during this podcast.

Kevin Eastman is a coach who has 35+ years of experience at a variety of different levels including NCAA all the way to the NBA. Coach Eastman has been an assistant coach in the NCAA at places such as Richmond, Colorado State, VCU and Tulsa, while also holding head coaching stints at Belmont Abbey, UNC-Wilmington and Washington State. Following his NCAA coaching career Eastman found himself in the NBA for the Boston Celtics and LA Clippers as an assistant coach for 10+ years combined.

Tyler Slick is a current member and pivotal coach in the Rising Coaches industry and also current Coach at Lincoln Memorial University. Coach Slick has made various coaching stops from the high school to the Division 1 ranks at schools such as Minneapolis North High School, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School, Bethany Lutheran College, North Dakota State College, Minnesota State University, the University of Memphis and currently, Lincoln Memorial University.

Cuonzo Martin is a former NBA player and Division 1 coach who is currently a motivational speaker and podcast host of his show “It All Counts”. Cuonzo started his coaching career after his NBA stint where he would play for various teams including the Hawks, Bucks and various teams in the CBA, then continued his basketball career on the other side of the lines, first as a coach in high school, which led him into a position at Purdue. He then grew in his role to be an associate head coach, leading him into head coaching positions at numerous schools including Missouri State,Tennessee, California and most recently Missouri.

Jake Alburtus is the current Recruiting and Operations coordinator at Georgia Tech University. Coach Alburtus is a new face to the Georgia Tech staff, while recently coming from a coaching stint with the Arkansas Razorbacks and spending numerous years with Western Michigan as a student manager and graduate assistant.

Archie Miller is the Head Coach at the University of Rhode Island. Coach Miller is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Native and went on to move south to continue his playing career at NC State. Upon graduation, Miller would carry on his basketball career on the other side of the lines as he would coach at a variety of places in various assistant roles including Western Kentucky, NC State, Arizona State, Ohio State and Arizona. He started his Head coaching career at Dayton University for 6 years which led him into another head role at Indiana for 4 and then currently where he resides now, University of Rhode Island.

Orlando Vandross is a graduate from American International College in Springfield (Mass.), He ranks 13th in scoring at AIC and is third on the career assist list for the school. Coach Vandross enters his fifth season as an assistant coach and eighth overall with the Virginia Men’s Basketball program. He served his first three seasons as UVA’s director of recruiting/player development. He also spent five seasons as an assistant coach for the Charlotte 49ers from 2011-2015 after 13 seasons at Boston University as an assistant, including three as associate head coach.

Karen Aston is a strong Division 1 Head Coach with 15+ years of head coaching experience and almost 30 years of coaching experience overall. Coach Aston is the current head coach at UTSA while also having previous head coaching roles at Charlotte, North Texas and Texas. Prior to her head coaching career she held multiple assistant roles at Baylor, North Texas and Texas.

Kenny Blakeney is a former Duke Blue Devil and a 2 time NCAA Champion Blakeney took a wide range of coaching stops including James Madison, La Salle, Delaware, Seton Hall, Marshall, Harvard and Columbia all in assistant positions and currently rounding things out where he currently stands as the current Head Coach of Howard University.

Jamie Dixon was born and raised in Burbank, California. Coach Dixon played his college career at TCU and was drafted in the 7th round of the NBA draft by the Washington Bullets leading him to round out his professional career in New Zealand. He started his coaching career in New Zealand at Te Aute College, making his way to numerous assistant positions including LA Valley, UC Santa Barbara, Hawaii, Northern Arizona, and Pittsburgh. He received his first head coaching position at the University of Pittsburgh and was there for 13 years which led him to his current position as the Head coach of TCU and back to his alma mater. He currently holds 467 wins and 220 loses overall as a Head Coach.

Adam Nelson is a former coach in the NCAA for 15+ years. Adam has had various coaching stops at the University of South Carolina, Boston College, Holy Cross, Northeastern, Newbury and Suffolk University. Adam is now the current owner and operator of the well known coaching resource, HoopDirt.com.

Matt Jones the current Assistant Coach at the University of Idaho. Coach Jones is a 5 year member of the Rising Coaches Organization and a Trinity University Alumni. Matt has had coaching stops in roles such as a GA and DOBO at Seattle University, which then led him into his current position at Idaho.

Mike Mulcahey has 25+ years of experience as an Athletic Trainer. Mike is the current athletic trainer with the Dayton University Flyers Men’s basketball team in his 9th season. We are excited to speak with Mike today to help coaches be able to learn more about how to best help their players get the most out of their bodies while also actively recovering and rehabbing.

Nicole Woods is the current Head Coach of the Women's Basketball program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Woods started her coaching career as a Graduate Assistant at SIU Carbondale for 2 years where she was then led into an assistant position after another two years at Stetson. Following Stetson, Woods went on to be the Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator for 5 seasons and then adopted the Associate Head Coaching position for 1 year. After that, she was most recently appointed the Head Coach position at UNCW.

Today on the Rising Coaches Podcast, you will get to hear a recap of some of the top segments we have had with current coaches and former players after our new podcast relaunch in October of 2023, some of which include Purdue’s Matt Painter, Florida Atlantic's Dusty May, Yale's James Jones, and Marquette’s Shaka Smart, as well as some other of the best basketball minds in the industry. We hope you enjoy our best of 2023 episode. 

Allen Deep is a Pittsburgh native who has a strong resume including a variety of years as a G League Assistant, as well as a team USA Assistant Coach, while currently running his own prep team and training organization, Run The Show. He coached at a variety of places including University of Akron, Maine Red Claws and the Westchester Knicks, while also playing a pivotal role with the successes of Team USA. Allen worked alongside various coaches such as Greg Popovitch, Jeff Van Gundy, Brad Stevens and Tom Thibodeau to name a few.

Terence Dials is a Youngstown, Ohio native and current Director of Professional Development for Ohio State University. Terence played 4 years at Ohio State while being a Big Ten player of the year his senior year while moving on to play professionally in various countries including France, Germany and Uruguay just to name a few. Terence was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame and then came back with the Buckeyes to start his coaching career now starting his 5th season as an assistant coach.

Lionel Chalmers is a current Assistant Coach with the Orlando Magic. Coach Chalmers was born and raised in Albany, New York where he then went on to move to Ohio and play his collegiate career at Xavier University. He was a 2nd round draft pick in the NBA to the LA Clippers and then went on to play 11 seasons in various countries such as Europe, Italy, Russia, Turkey and France, just to name a few. Following his playing career, Lionel got a job with the Orlando Magic in various roles and continues to keep working his way up in the industry.

Greg Tonagel is one of the current hottest names in the basketball industry. Coach Tonagel is the current Head Coach at Indiana Wesleyan University as well as the fastest AND youngest Head coach to receive 500 wins in all of college basketball history, which he accomplished in just 629 games as well as winning 3 NAIA National Championships. Tonagel played at Valparaiso for four years and upon graduation, stayed as the Director of Basketball Operations for one year, which turned into his first head coaching position at IWU.Learn more about the IWU program here: https://www.iwuhoops.net/#home2

Mitch Henderson was born in Indiana and a three sport standout. He continued his playing career for Princeton and was then drafted into the MLB by the New York Yankees, however he decided to continue his career in basketball. He received his first coaching position at Northwestern where he stayed as an assistant for 11 years from 2000-2011. This then led him to his first official coaching position at Princeton where he currently is the Head Men's Basketball Coach and holds a 208-117 record as a head coach guiding his team to 3 IVY League regular season championships and 2 IVY League tournament championships