Coach Chris Acker shares his journey from growing up in Compton, California to becoming the Head Coach at Long Beach State.

He was a member of the Chaminade team that knocked off Villanova in the 2003 EA Sports Maui Invitational. Chris played professionally in Portugal and Greece before returning to the US to play in the Continental Basketball Association.

After finishing up his playing career, he embarked on his coaching career. He was on staff at Citrus College then led West Los Angeles to great success. Coach Eran Ganot hired Chris to his coaching staff at Hawaii.

Following two seasons on staff at Hawaii, then Boise State he joined Coach Brian Dutcher's coaching staff at San Diego State in 2019.

Coach Acker immediately helped elevate San Diego State, the Aztecs started the season 26-0 and finished the season going 30-2 including 17-1 in league play prior to the NCAA Tournament being cancelled due to COVID.

The Aztecs went 134-34 (69-16 in conference) during Coach Acker's time on staff. They won two regular season Mountain West Conference (MWC) championships, three MWC tournament championships, four NCAA Tournaments, a National Championship appearance, then a Sweet Sixteen last season.

Coach Acker was hired as the Head Coach at Long Beach State on April 2, 2024.

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2024 Southern Conference (SoCon) Men's Basketball Media Day:

Dwight Perry (Wofford)

Ed Conroy (The Citadel)

Bucky McMillan (Samford)

Brooks Savage (East Tennessee State)

Mike Jones (UNC Greensboro)

Andrew Wilson (VMI)

Tim Craft (Western Carolina)

*Chattanooga, Furman, and Mercer were unable to schedule interviews this season

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Coach Ethan Kahn shares his journey from growing up in Arizona to becoming a Student Assistant at the NCAA DI level, and eventually becoming an Assistant Coach at Bemidji State University (NCAA DII).

Kahn served as a Student Assistant at Northern Arizona from 2017 until 2021 and moved across the country to become a Graduate Assistant in North Carolina at Catawba College. He served as the Director of Basketball Operations and Video Coordinator in addition to being in graduate school.

Coach Kahn helped with all aspects of the program at Catawba and during the 2022-23 season he served as the Head Developmental Coach for the Red team.

In 2023 he was named an Assistant Coach at Bemidji State University in Minnesota.

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Coach Josh Merkel shares his journey from his playing days to his numerous individual and team accolades he's received as a NCAA Head Coach.

He played HS basketball at St. John Prospect Hall and then continued his career at Salisbury. While at Salisbury he played under two Head Coaches and had a successful college basketball career. After graduating cum laude in 2001 you returned to St John’s Prospect Hall and coach the JV team and assisted with the Varsity from 2001-04.

Coach John Beilein hired him as a Graduate Assistant at West Virginia and he parlayed that into a GA position at Eastern Kentucky - where you remained on staff afterwards as an Assistant Coach for five seasons.

He returned to his D3 roots joining the coaching staff at Randolph Macon during the 2010-11 season under Nathan Davis. After a successful stint at R-MC as an Assistant Coach his alma mater named him Head Coach after his former HC retired.

After four successful seasons in Salisbury, Randolph Macon hired him their Head Coach - just the 5th for the R-MC Basketball program since 1956. He discussed how tough of a decision it was to leave his alma mater and what led him to leave for Randolph Macon.

In his 1st season at R-MC the team posted a 13-3 conference mark and shared the ODAC regular season title with Guilford. The Yellow Jackets went 17-9 overall. In his 2nd season he was named the ODAC Coach of the Year after leading R-MC to a 12-4 record in conference play as well as winning the ODAC regular-season title. The 2018-19 season resulted in a 27-4 overall record including a 15-1 ODAC record, the team's 3rd straight regular season title and R-MC returned to the NCAA Tournament advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. You’re again named ODAC Coach of the Year

This past season the team goes 28-2 (15-1 in the ODAC) prior to COVID ending the NCAA Tournament prematurely. Coach Merkel talks about he's been able to transform R-MC into a team routinely ranked high in the NCAA rankings not being able to finish the the NCAA Tournament after capturing both the ODAC regular-season and tournament titles after winning their 1st two NCAA games.

Coach Brian Eskildsen shares his coaching journey from playing JV basketball at WT Woodson High School to becoming the top Assistant Coach at Harvard.

Brian grew up in Fairfax, VA and attended WT Woodson High School where he was cut from the freshman team, led the JV team in scoring, and then was cut from the varsity team. After graduating in 2005 he attended Tennessee and tried to walk-on the team, after not making the team he began playing intramurals and caught the eye of the Lady Vols coaching staff. They invited him to be a practice player and serve on their "Scout Team". He shares some stories about the late Pat Summit and how he was a member of two NCAA National Champion teams.

In 2009-10 Joe Pasternack hired him for his first college coaching job at the University of New Orleans as their Director of Basketball Operations, he plateaued that unpaid coaching job into a full time position at Stanford University working under Johnny Dawkins. After serving as their Video Coordinator and helping them to back to back NIT appearances - including winning the 2012 NIT Championship. After leaving to become an Assistant Coach at Rice University, Stanford benefited from the foundation he helped build and Stanford made the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

At Rice University they didn't have the level of success that they had hoped for, but he gained experience recruiting and working at another high academic college basketball program. Fellow WT Woodson graduate Tommy Amaker hired him to join the coaching staff at Harvard and they've gone on to have unprecedented success in Cambridge. Recently Brian was named one of the top assistant coaches in the Ivy League in a poll of Ivy League coaches. The Crimson are recruiting nationally ranked players and consistently playing in the postseason.

Coach Chuck Henry shares his journey from growing up in the DMV area and how basketball has taken him around the world and now is the Head Coach of the Fairmont Heights Hornets (2017 Maryland 1A State Champions).

Coach Henry grew up in the DMV and excelled at multiple sports, he ended up going to Morris College and then transferring to Barton College where he played under the legendary Ron Lievense, After graduating from Barton he ended up playing overseas where he averaged nearly a triple double, including a league best 33PPG, 16RPG, 8 Steals in 2008-09. He also recorded 4 triple-doubles and had three 50-point games, while in Germany he began coaching and training youth basketball.

He returned stateside after an injury and joined the coaching staff at Barton College under Coach Lievense, Coach Henry helped lead them to a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA D2 National Tournament before moving back to the Washington DC area where he became a teacher and coached at Catholic University under Steve Howes.

After coaching at the NCAA D2 and D3 level, Coach Henry got hired at Longwood (D1) and shares how that was arguably the lowest point on his life. He shares in depth about the depression he suffered from after the first time in his life that he didn't achieve a high level of success. He began coaching at Caesar Chavez HS as an Assistant Coach and then taking over at Fairmont Heights HS the following season. Coach Henry has already led them to one state championship and he continues to pour his heart and soul into coaching those young men - as well as the Team Takeover AAU team that he coaches too.

Coach Chris Cottrell shares his coaching journey from growing up in New York to becoming a NCAA basketball coach and now being back in New York  and running his own HS basketball program.

Chris is the son of a coach, and always knew that he wanted to coach basketball at some level. He attended High Point University and became a Student Manager under Bart Lundy during his first season at HPU. While at High Point he worked alongside guys like Josh Schertz, Don Burgess, Sean Woods, Justin Furr, and some solid managers. He quickly took on the role of a Student Assistant, he was able to manage his time with being in a fraternity, being a high academic student, and working long hours with High Point MBB. Coach Lundy gave Chris the opportunity to become the program's first Graduate Assistant in the long and storied history of HPU Hoops.

When Josh Schertz was named the Head Coach at Lincoln Memorial University (D2), Chris was one of his 1st hires and worked relentlessly to build LMU into the national powerhouse that it is today. Coach Cottrell accepted the HC position at Davis & Elkins College (D2) in West Virginia in 2013 and he did a very good job during his tenure. We talk about him offering me my first college basketball coaching job and reminisce on working camps together. Chris left D&E and took a year off from coaching, then returned to LMU for one final season before moving back to New York.

He left the NCAA ranks to takeover a HS basketball program and become a teacher. Recently Coach Cottrell began The Bonafide Basketball Podcast which is dedicated to covering and promoting NCAA D2 basketball.

Coach Ryan Saunders shares his coaching journey from growing up in Florida to becoming the first HC is the history of Converse College's men's basketball program.

After a successful high school playing career,  he attended Barry University and was a three-year captain, helping led them to their first-ever NCAA Division II tournaments appearances. Ryan finished as the all-time assist leader at Barry University after playing under the late Cesar Odio. He stayed eight addition years on staff coaching under Coach Odio for six seasons, and then his final two were under Coach Butch Estes before accepting an AC position at Belmont Abbey. While on staff at Belmont Abbey he served under Martin Unger, Billy Taylor, and then Dan Ficke.  eight addition years on staff under Butch Estes before accepting an AC position at Belmont Abbey. While on staff at Belmont Abbey he served under Martin Unger, Billy Taylor, and then Dan Ficke.

Coach Saunders discussing being passed over for the Head Coach position at Belmont Abbey and how much he appreciated Dan Ficke retaining him, and even promoting him to Associate HC during his final campaign at Belmont Abbey. He talks about how he's gone about building named the Converse College men's basketball program from the ground up, and so much more.

Coach Nate Loesner shares his journey from growing up in Cedar Falls, Iowa to eventually being an Assistant Coach for the Chicago Bulls.

Nate was born without his left hand, but he never let than hinder his love of sports. He went on to earn 11 varsity letters in four sports during his playing days at NU High School. After meeting Tim Floyd at a summer camp, he stayed in touch and decided to attend Iowa State as a Student Manager. Nate attempting to be a walk-on for the Iowa State baseball team he was cut but continued to play in wood bat leagues where eventually he caught the attention of the coaching staff and earned a spot on the team as a senior.

After graduating from Iowa State he returned to NU High School as the Head Coach for both the boy's basketball team as well as the baseball team. He then went on to coach at Ames HS before chasing his dream to coach college basketball. Coach Larry Eustachy met with him prior to moving down to Southern Miss and he agreed to hire him as a Graduate Assistant - he quickly was promoted and ended up spending a total of six years on the coaching staff at Southern Miss.

Fred Hoiberg hired Nate to be a Graduate Assistant at Iowa State, he was then promoted to the Director of Player Development before joining the Chicago Bulls as their Video Coordinator after Coach Hoiberg was hired as the Head Coach. He quickly established himself as a hard worker and the following season he was tasked with being the first Head Coach in the history of the Windy City Bulls (NBA G League), where he had players from other NBA franchises on his roster and was in constant communication with the Chicago Bulls coaching staff and management.

Coach Hoiberg made him an Assistant Coach of the Chicago Bulls in 2018 and despite Coach Hoiberg being let go, Nate was retained and his contract was extended. He's a terrific example of a coach's coach who's also a player's coach at the same time. Coach Loesner will be back on a coaching staff and continuing to impact lives in no time.

Coach Will Martin shares his journey from growing up in Tennessee and going to Kentucky and eventually becoming a Student Manager at UK under John Calipari. He was a part of teams that reached the Elite 8 on three occasions, the Final Four on two occasions and during his time as the Head Manager - the 2012 National Championship! Coach Martin also served as captain of the University of Kentucky Ethics Debate team from 2009-2011.

After Kentucky he helped train the 1st pick of the NBA Draft [Anthony Davis] and lived with him in New Orleans. Coach Martin went on to serve as the Graduate Assistant and Video Coordinator at the University of Tulsa from 2013-2015. He served under Danny Manning during the season that the team won the Conference USA Championship, and then under Frank Haith during his seconds season. If being a Graduate Assistant and Video Coordinator on top of taking care of business in the classroom, Martin also served as Senator for the College of Education during his time in Oklahoma.

From Tulsa Coach Martin moved to San Francisco to be the Director of Basketball Operations on Rex Walters' coaching staff. After San Francisco he drove 30+ hours home to Nashville, then sold real estate and trained kids for free. He was the 4th Volunteer Assistant Coach at his alma mater - Battle Ground Academy and then served as the Director of Athletic Admissions and Assistant Coach at Martin Methodist.

Coach Martin is also involved in a prison ministry project – “Against the Grain” – where he serves as a volunteer teacher of the “180 Project.”

Coach Brandt Danals shares his coaching journey from growing up in a "canoe town" [Loudounville, OH] and now being on the coaching staff at North Alabama.

He played at Ashland University (D2) under the late Roger Lyons before becoming a Student Assistant under him. After Coach Lyons retired, John Ellenwood was hired and Brandt met with him and expressed a desire to play again so he suited up his senior season.

Crestview High School hired Brandt to be their Head Coach straight out of college at the age of 23, after a few seasons he accepted a Graduate Assistant position at Indiana Tech (NAIA) and after seven days he was promoted to the Assistant Coach position . Not only did he serve as an Assistant Coach for Men's Basketball, but he also would later serve as the Head Coach for Men's & Women's Tennis in addition to his basketball position.

Coach Danals accepted an Athletic Director and Head Men's Basketball Coach job at Silver Lake College (which became Holy Family College) and led the program to success during his tenure. Due to COVID the school shut it's doors, he discusses how he found out and what his mindset was like. Coach Danals talks about how he landed at North Alabama as their Director of Basketball Operations.

Coach Corey Schmidt shares his journey from growing up in Nashville to becoming a becoming an Assistant Coach at Southwest Mississippi CC. He got his start as a Student Manager and then Graduate Assistant under the legendary Rick Byrd at Belmont.

After Belmont he accepted an unpaid position at the University of New Orleans and eventually was the paid Director of Basketball Operations during his four seasons under Coach Mark Slessinger. After many NCAA and NIT appearances he accepted the Video Coordinator position at Wake Forest under Danny Manning, he talks about what made him leave a successful program like UNO for a team that had struggled as of late [Wake Forest].

We talk about how he's been able to make a long distance relationship work with his girlfriend - and her neat business with a great name!

He's one of the more genuine people you'll meet in college basketball and a terrific basketball mind.

Coach Cabral Huff shares his journey from growing up in Atlanta to becoming a Head Coach at Voorhees College (NAIA). He attended Morehouse and then coached high school basketball at multiple schools. He talks about how he learned to block out the JV game afterwards so he was able to devote all of this attention and effort to the Varsity game that followed. After becoming a Head Coach at Cedartown HS then American International School he took over as Head Coach of two semi professional teams.

He spent six seasons at the Head Coach at Saint Francis HS where he coached multiple players who would go onto play at the NCAA D1 and NBA levels. Just like so many other coaches, he aspired to coach at the college level so he took a pay cut to be the DOBO at Georgia Southern. After one season he became an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Alcorn State, and inherited a team that was being penalized for APR.

Coach Huff returned to Georgia to takeover at Duluth HS and then Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (HIES). He was hired as the Head Coach at Voorhees College in late October. Coach Huff is a true student of the game and is constantly working on his craft.

Coach Jarren "JD" Dyson shares his journey from being a DIII student athlete at Emory & Henry (now NCAA DII) to becoming a D1 Assistant Coach

Dyson served under Coach John Krikorian at Christopher Newport University and helped lead the CNU to back-to-back conference championships and a run to the program's first-ever Final Four appearance in 2016.

Following a 99-19 record and three conference championships during his time at CNU, Coach Dyson landed an Assistant Coach position at Lafayette College - he went on to spend five seasons at Lafayette under the legendary Coach Fran O'Hanlon.

After Lafayette he returned to Christopher Newport for one season - and helped them win the NCAA DIII National Championship. Following that feat he returned to the Patriot League to be an Assistant Coach at Army on first year Head Coach Kevin Kuwik's inaugural coaching staff.

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Coach Ronnie Hamilton shares his story from being a football player at Duke to becoming an Assistant Coach at Ole Miss.

Following his NFL training camp experience with the New York Giants he coached multiple sports at the high school level before accepting a Graduate Assistant position at UNC Pembroke. Upon finishing his Master's degree he accepted an Assistant Coach position at Tarleton State (then D2) in Texas. He went on to coach at Citadel, Tulane, Houston and then under Kermit Davis at Middle Tennessee State and now Ole Miss. He's coached at schools that have changed conferences and talks about how that effects their recruiting. A veteran college basketball coach of 15+ seasons shares what he's learned along the way and what has made some of those teams so successful.

Chris Sause shares his journey from growing up in Durham, North Carolina to becoming an Assistant Coach at Averett University (D3).

He played alongside Jay Huff (University of Virginia) in high school and knew early on that he wanted to be a coach, he attended North Carolina Wesleyan and played under John Thompson while also serving as an intern and Administrative Assistant for the team during his four years in Rocky Mount.

Coach Sause worked as a scout and social media reporter for the Phenom Hoop Report for a over a year and later accepted an Assistant Coach position at Averett University.

Coach Tim Sparks shares his journey from not playing HS basketball to becoming a college basketball Head Coach! He talks about growing up in Virginia Beach and his experience as a white male attending a local HBCU (Norfolk State). Coach Sparks has been at the D1, JUCO, D3 and HS levels and still teaches during the day and still manages to work full time hours at The Apprentice School. He genuinely cares about his players and values relationships with them as well as his coaching peers. His experiences will really help coach of all ages understand the grind that it takes to be successful in coaching. Coach Sparks is the type of coach that you'd want your son to play for!

Jason Eaker is the Head Coach at Oklahoma Baptist University and he shares his coaching journey. He started off playing for five different Head Coaches during his playing career at multiple colleges.

Upon graduation he reunited with the Bob Hoffman - the Head Coach who recruited him to play for him at OBU. He served as his Video Coordinator at Texas Pan-America before going with him to be on staff at Oklahoma under Kelvin Sampson. Coach Eaker served as a Graduate Assistant for a year before being hired at Liberty University. He spent eight years at Liberty serving under three different Head Coaches [Randy Dunton, Dale Layer, and Ritchie McKay] and met his wife there. Coach Eaker is a religious person and so being at Liberty University was a perfect fit.

Just like so many in coaching, Coach Eaker didn't leave Liberty on his own terms, he was arrested. He speaks very openly about the circumstances and how it changed his life. Again he would reunite with Bob Hoffman, he joined his coaching staff at Mercer and they experienced lots of success! Coach Eaker talks about returning to where it all started [OBU] and the various things he's learned during his one-of-a-kind coaching journey.

Coach Trevor Dorsey shares his journey from growing up in West Virginia to becoming the Head Coach at Peninsula Catholic HS in Newport News, Virginia. He attended Marshall University and earned both his bachelors and masters degree from there. We talk about how we met while I was recruiting a player he coached back in 2018, and how he's gone about building his program into a program that has increased their win total by 3 each of the past two seasons - including beating one of the traditional state contenders. Coach Dorsey talks about being a white guy from West Virginia who didn't play college basketball and how he goes about not exactly having instant "street cred" with players or their families, and how he genuinely cares about developing relationships!

Coach Brett Ferguson shares his coaching journey and how he ended up in Cullowhee, NC coaching at Western Carolina University. In September he was promoted to an Assistant Coach after spending the previous two seasons as WCU’s Director of Basketball Operations.

He got his start in the business as a Student Manager at Michigan State University under Tom Izzo. Coach Ferguson was a was a part of back-to-back regular-season Big Ten Championships and consecutive Final Four appearances in 2009 and 2010 while serving as a Student Manager at MSU.  

Following his time in Lansing he interned for the video department of the Big Ten Conference office in Chicago where he worked with both the football and basketball officials including organizing clinics. In 2012 he accepted a GA/Video Coordinator position at Winthrop and the next season he was hired at his alma mater to serve as the Video Coordinator at Michigan State and was a part of their 2015 Final Four run.

After serving as the Video Coordinator at MSU he went to work with Powerhouse Hoops, an official member of the Under Armour Association (UAA) in Phoenix, Ariz., as a coach and personal basketball skills trainer for kids ages six through high school. Coach Ferguson also was an advanced scout for two NBA teams – the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks.

Coach Shawn James is the DOBO at Eastern Washington (NCAA D1) and shares his journey from playing HS in Texas before becoming a student-athlete at The University of Redlands (NCAA D3) before embarking on a coaching career. He coached at Dallas Christian College (NCCAA) and then worked the camp circuit before accepting an Player Development internship with the Dallas Mavericks where he became fluent in various film breakdown software and sparked up a friendship with Dirk Nowitzki - who apparently is one of the best trash talkers that nobody knows about!

Shawn accepted a GA position with Eastern Washington and after graduating was hired as their DOBO. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, he not only was hired full time, but was recently got engaged to his longtime girlfriend. He is as anti "coach talk" as they get, and one heck of a great guy. EWU is lucky to have him!

Coach Craig shares his journey from growing up in Bethlehem, PA to becoming a State Championship winning HC in Virginia.

He attended Lehigh University for his undergrad and then received his Master's degree before moving to the Washington DC area. Coach In 2000 he began teaching at WT Woodson High School in Fairfax Virginia and joined Mike Pflugrath's coaching staff the following season. When Coach Pflugrath accepted the position at newly opened South County HS he interviewed to succeed him as the HC at Woodson. Doug Craig was named the 4th HC in the storied history of WT Woodson Boy's Basketball in April of 2005. After helping numerous players go on to play at the college level - including a number at the NCAA D1 level, he made school history winning the State Championship in 2017 after back-to-back Regional Championship and Regional appearances.

WT Woodson has had it's share of tragedies including the suicides' and deaths of students, Coach Craig and his program have been an integral part of the community that has rallied around them during those devastating times. He shares how he's dealt with it as both a coach and a teacher, any other coaches who have gone through similar circumstances can learn from how he's tried to navigate those type of situations.

Coach Kevon Davis shares his journey from JUCO player to D1 Assistant Coach. We talk about how we the NABC Coach's Convention in San Antonio during the Final Four in 2018 and talk about his playing and coaching career. He's entering his 1st season on staff at Maryland Eastern Shore after spending the 2019-20 season at Indian Hills Community College. The team went 30-3 and were Region XI and District XI Champions and earned a number two seed in the NJCAA Tournament prior to COVID-19 cancelling the tournament. Prior to Indian Hills, he spent three seasons at California Poly as the Director of Player Development for his first two seasons before being elevated to an Assistant Coach prior to the 2018-19 season. Before Cal Poly, he was an AC at Casper College where he helped them go 47-18 during his two seasons. His first coaching position was at his alma mater [Harcum College] in 2010. The team went 100-29 during his four-year tenure and reached the semifinals of the NJCAA national tournament in 2014.

Coach Scott Greenman shares his journey from player to coach. He was a All-Ivy League player at Princeton before embarking on a professional playing career for B'nei Ha'sharon in Israel. Coach Greenman then became a coach at his alma mater and was named HC of the U.S.A. U-18 Maccabiah Team in 2009. After Princeton he moved down to DC to be on staff at Georgetown and then at American University. He was recently named the 3rd best Assistant Coach in the Patriot League via a poll among the coaches in conference. Coach Greenman got to know the late John Thompson who's son was Scott's college HC and then his boss at Georgetown - he shares a funny story about him. Not everything has been sunshine and rainbows for Scott and his family, he opens up about the loss of their newborn Eliana. After her passing him and his family have been very active with the "March for Babies" campaign.

https://www.marchforbabies.org/

https://twitter.com/Coach_Greenman

Coach Billy Bales shares his journey from growing up in Elizabethton Tennessee to becoming a coach at the NCAA DI level. Bales played college basketball at Lenoir-Rhyne under three different head coaches (John Lentz, Ryan Odom, and Everick Sullivan). In 2016 he led the Bears to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA DII Tournament. He remained at Lenoir-Rhyne as a Graduate Assistant under Coach Everick Sullivan and again helped them reach the NCAA Tournament. After completing his master's degree at Lenoir-Rhyne, Bales was hired by Coach Ryan Odom at UMBC and he spent one season coaching at UMBC before going with Coach Odom to Utah State as the Director of Player Development. While at Utah State he helped the Aggies to a 2023 NCAA Tournament berth, as well as a 2022 NIT appearance. Coach Bales was hired at VCU in April of 2023. **Sponsored by FastModel** Be sure to check out FastModelSports.com and use the promo code "BOXSCORE" for 15% off your purchase.

Coach Davis shares his journey from coaching HS and AAU basketball and then college basketball. His energy, passion, and work ethic are some of the best in the business. He is highly motivated even authored his own book as well as a brand. He worked a various HS programs prior to getting into the JUCO ranks - and made quite a name for himself in the recruiting aspect of coaching! Coach Davis has recruited and signed 18+ players on multiple occasions. After reaching out to college coaches about working their camps, he connected with Jayson Gee while he was at Longwood University and instantly hit it off, he was hired and worked his way up from Assistant DOBO to Video Coordinator in his 2nd year. After Longwood be got on staff at Owens CC in Ohio and currently is their HC. They were one of the schools that made the decision to suspended athletics this past spring and so he's recruited a full class and had to get creative on how to coach a team without having practices or games this season. If anyone can do it - Donte Davis can!!

https://www.manifestexcellenceme.org/

Coach Bialkoski is the Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Maryland. He started his coaching journey as a Student Manager at Georgia Southern before being promoted to Head Student Manager under Jeff Price. From there he moved onto UNC Charlotte where he started off as a Graduate Manager under Bobby Lutz and remained on staff as the Program Assistant then DOBO under Coach Alan Major. Coach Bialkoski is entering his sixth season in College Park working under Mark Turgeon and his third as DOBO after starting off as the Video Coordinator for his first three seasons. He's worn a number of hats in the college basketball coaching profession and has worked for - and with great basketball minds. Coach Bialkoski is a coach who truly wants to help fellow coaches and "grow the game".

David Muchnick shares his unique coaching journey. Growing up in New York he fell in love with basketball and went on to play at SUNY Genesco before embarking on a college basketball coaching career that has span over 15 years. He started off as a Graduate Assistant at SUNY Cortland and was on staff there from 2005-2008. After SUNY Cortland he moved onto to Denison University in Ohio for two years before returning to New York as an Assistant Coach at the United States Merchant Marine Academy - he eventually became the Head Coach in 2014 before accepting a HC position at the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, ME. Coach Muchnick stayed for three years before resigning due to health reasons.

Coach Muchnick went back to being an Assistant Coach who was working side jobs to make it work as an AC at the small college level in 2017. He was hire by Ryan Hyland at John Jay College where he helped build that program into a CUNYAC powerhouse before accepting a full-time AC position at NYU. He's gone through many highs and lows both in the profession - and in his personal life. Coach Muchnick is one of the good guys in the business who I look forward to seeing get another shot at being a HC at the college level.

Coach Thompson shares his journey from HS Assistant Coach to coaching in the ACC, SoCon, SAC and Sunshine State Conference prior to becoming a the Head Coach of a NCAA Men's Basketball program.

He's worked under Mike Madagan, Ben Miller, Seth Greenberg, Josh Schertz, Duggar Baccum, and Mike Dement over the course of his career. Coach Thompson has coached at the NCAA D1, D2, and D3 levels in addition to his HS coaching days during his time as an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech. He was hired as the HC at SUNY Canton in 2016 while still continuing to serve as an AC at Lincoln Memorial University during their postseason run to the NCAA D2 National Championship. After three years at SUNY Canton he accepted the same position at Emory & Henry College, a homecoming of sorts for the Southwest Virginia native.

His father Rick is an accomplished coach as well, his Lebanon  HS team won the 1991 VHSL State Championship and was named VHSL Coach of the Year - Rick serves as an AC for Ben at Emory & Henry.

Coach Griggs shares his journey from playing D3 basketball at Centre College to becoming the 1st Head Coach in the history of Mary Baldwin University's Men's Basketball program. After concluding his college basketball playing career he became a Graduate Assistant under Pat Kelsey at Winthrop. After completing his term as GA he was retained as the Video Coordinator and remained there until Clay Nunley hired him as his full-time Assistant Coach at Roanoke College (D3). Coach Nunley eventually promoted him to the Associate Head Coach prior to him being hired by Mary Baldwin University to be their inaugural HC.

Coach Kevin Carroll shares his coaching journey. He's currently an Assistant Coach at Lipscomb after spending two seasons as an AC at Virginia Military Institute. He has nearly twenty years of coaching experience, including ten seasons as a head coach at the collegiate and high school levels.

During his time at VMI, the Keydets showed marked improvement, nearly doubling their win total over a two-year span and capturing the program’s first SoCon Tournament victory in sixteen seasons in 2019. He was instrumental in the recruiting efforts of the 2019 SoCon scoring champion and 2018 Freshman of the Year Bubba Parham (ended his career at Georgia Tech as a Grad Transfer). 

Prior to his arrival at VMI, Carroll served as the head coach at NCAA Division II member, Maryville University-St. Louis, from 2010-2017. His tenure began on the tail end of the program’s transition from NCAA Division III to Division II and was highlighted by setting a program record for wins in a season and being the only coach in school history to record wins against nationally ranked opponents. After rebuilding the program in his first two seasons, he led the 2012-13 team to the most wins in the 43-year history of the program and the first 20-win campaign in 34 years.

Carroll came to Maryville after serving as an AC for three seasons at the United States Air Force Academy from 2007-2010 under Jeff Reynolds. Before coaching at Air Force he served as an AC at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2006-07.

Before moving to the college ranks, Carroll served as the head coach of St. Pius X High School in Atlanta, Ga.  In three seasons as head coach, he amassed a 49-38 record while rebuilding the program into one of the most successful in the state.

Carroll was a four-year member of the men's basketball team at Berry College (Rome, GA) where he earned his degree in math education while helping guide the Vikings to three consecutive 20-win seasons. He played for Lennie Acuff - who is now the HC at Lipscomb.

Coach Matt Graves is an Assistant Coach at Mount St. Mary's. He's entering his 2nd season at Mount St. Mary's after serving as the Director of Basketball Operations this past season. Previously he served as an Assistant Coach at his alma mater, Belmont Abbey for six seasons. Coach Graves was a big part of their success which included a 23-8 season in 2018-19. He served under four HCs, and also served as the Head Coach of the men’s basketball program’s Developmental team. Prior to Belmont Abbey, Graves was an assistant coach at McDaniel College. A 2012 Belmont Abbey graduate, Graves played for four years under Stephen Miss - currently Belmont Abbey's Athletic Director. After graduation, Graves was awarded the prestigious Victory Scholarship from Sport Changes Life. The Victory Scholarship Program assists deserving students from the USA in obtaining a scholarship package to study at Masters level throughout Ireland. While in Ireland, Graves graduated with a Masters of Business Studies from the University of Ulster, Jordanstown, in 2013.  He served as head coach for the Ulster Elks Premier League Men’s Basketball team in Northern Ireland. He was the captain of the Ulster Elks National League Basketball Team and was an E-Hoops Counselor with Sport Changes Life. Coach Graves recently got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Melissa who played at Notre Dame and is currently an Assistant Coach at Wake Forest - he discussed how they make it work long distance and both being college basketball coaches.

Coach Perron is the Head Coach at Catawba College (D2) in North Carolina. I got to know him this past season and he showed me great hospitality. He's guided them to back-to-back 20+ win seasons, NCAA Tournament selections and wins over nationally ranked teams. In six years at Catawba he's won 100 games out of 176 total games coached. He came to Catawba after serving as associate head coach at Newberry under Dave Davis. Prior to Newberry he was the Director of Basketball Operations for the Charlotte 49ers from 2006 to 2012.  Coach Perron first worked with Coach Davis at Pfeiffer before going to Charlotte. as their DOBO. He was head coach at his alma mater St. Andrews from 2002 to 2005 and took a 2-25 team prior to his arrival to the CVAC Tournament semifinals in his first season.  He started his coaching career at his St. Andrews as an assistant in 1997.

Coach Caputo shares his coaching journey and gives great advice to aspiring coaches. He grew up in New York and went on to play D3 basketball at Westfield State before beginning his coaching career. Coach Caputo began his coaching career at George Mason University after graduating from Westfield State and served in a variety of roles under Jim Larrañaga and would eventually move on to the University of Miami with Coach Larrañaga. Him and Coach L have worked together for 19 years and have had great success. George Mason had a Final Four run in 2006 and tons of success while Coach Caputo was on staff, he's been recognized as one of the top Assistant Coaches in the nation by his peers and multiple media publications.

Coach Heather Macy shares her journey from growing up in a small town in North Carolina to becoming the all-time winningest HC at East Carolina and now serving as the Head Coach at Spartanburg Methodist College (NCJAA D1) in South Carolina. She was inducted into both the Starmount High School and Greensboro College Hall of Fames as a player. 

She began her coaching career as an AC at Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne before entering the NCAA D1 coaching ranks as an AC at High Point University and UMBC.  During her time as an AC she earned her Master's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Coach Macy took over as the HC of Pfieffer and then at Francis Marion University having great success at both schools, she led a high octane offense that was one of the best in the nation. She became the HC at East Carolina and would remain there for eight years and finishing 134-117 including three consecutive seasons with 20+ wins and WNIT appearances.

She's the author of “Two Feet Forward” and also the founder of the non-profit "Influence and Impacters". Coach Macy is one of only 300 coaches in the country Macy received a Certification in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in 2016.

Twitter @2FTNHeatherMacy

Website: www.influenceandimpacters.com

Coach Steven Asher shares his journey from growing up in Maryland and playing Club Basketball at JMU, to becoming a NCAA DI women's basketball coach at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne.

After graduating from James Madison University he accepted a Graduate Assistant position at the University of Maryland under Coach Mark Turgeon. While at Maryland he was a part of a program that advanced to the Semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament and the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Asher accepted an Assistant Coach position at Lycoming College (NCAA DIII) and helped them win their conference tournament and advance to the NCAA DIII Tournament. From Lycoming he moved onto Catawba College where he served as an Assistant Coach for Coach Rob Perron. While on staff at Catawba, they advanced to the NCAA Tournament in both 2019 and 2020 while winning the South Atlantic Conference in 2020.

Following a successful at Catawba, Coach Asher joined the women's coaching staff at Rice University and aided them to a Women's National Invitational Tournament Championship. Rice finished with a 23-4 record including a 12-2 Conference USA record.

In 2021 Coach Asher joined the coaching staff at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne.

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Coach Doherty talks about growing up in New York and playing HS basketball under Bob McKillop and then playing basketball at North Carolina under the legendary Dean Smith alongside players such as Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Sam Perkins. He's a member of the 1982 NCAA Championship team and had a successful career with the Tar Heels. After being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers he experienced adversity being cut and he wanted nothing to do with basketball. He went on to work on Wall Street for three years before moving to Charlotte and slowly getting involved with basketball. Coach McKillop offered him an AC position at Davidson and for three years he was on staff at Davidson. In 1993 Roy Williams offered him an AC job at Kansas and Coach Doherty was a part of some very successful Jayhawk teams during his seven years in Lawrence. Notre Dame names him their HC in 1999 and he led them to a 22-15 record - including an appearance in the NIT Championship game. He was named the HC at North Carolina - his alma mater in mid-July and in his first season was named the Associated Press National Coach of the Year after winning the ACC regular season championship and finishing 26-7. Although his tenure at UNC didn't go as well as he hoped it would, he took his year out of coaching to take courses at Darden School and the Wharton School of Business so that he could better prepare himself to be a more effective coach. Florida Atlantic named him HC in 2005 and he led them to a 15-13 record - including a 14-6 mark in Atlantic Sun play. He took over at SMU and coached their for six seasons before stepping away from coaching to do some NBA scouting, ESPN play-by-play, and a two year stint as the Atlantic 10 Conference's Associate Commissioner for Men's Basketball. Coach Doherty is one of the most humble coaches I know and while he's had his share of adversity during his life - he's found his calling doing Executive Coaching, Public Speaking and Consulting with the "Doherty Coaching Practice". He shares plenty of advice for coaches of all ages and talks openly about his experiences and how he's learned from them. 

www.CoachMattDoherty.com

Coach Dixon shares his journey from growing up in a small town in North Carolina to being one of the most respected Assistant Coaches in the country. He transferred a few times during college and graduated from UNC Wilmington, and eventually landed an AC position at Belmont Abbey before spending two years at Queens University in Charlotte. From Queens he joined the coaching staff at Stetson for a couple years before he joined Billy Donovan's coaching staff at Florida and spent two years in Gainesville. After Florida he coached at three different D1 programs in Louisiana in five years before joining the Wyoming coaching staff for a year. For four seasons he would serve as UNC Charlotte's men's and women's Technology and Scouting Assistant. Coach Dixon went to Lenoir-Rhyne along with Ryan Odom and helped lead them to the Quarterfinals of the NCAA D2 National Tournament in their lone season in Hickory, NC - he also talks about how great the coaching is in the Southern Athletic Conference. After moving on to UMBC with Coach Odom they have been able to sustain success and obviously made history as the first #16 seed to knock off the top seeded University of Virginia in the NCAA Tournament back in 2018. Coach Dixon has been very active with the NABC and gives GREAT advice for all coaches!

Coach Goldsmith grew up in North Carolina and was a standout basketball who won four state championships before continuing her basketball career at Lynchburg (D3) where she became one of their all time best players. After her senior season she attended the prestigious "So you want to be a Coach" program hosted by the WBCA. She became a Graduate Assistant at Virginia Tech and met her now boyfriend Josh Chambers (friend of the podcast and currently on staff at Texas A&M). Coach Goldsmith talks about how they've made a long distance relationship between college basketball coaches work. After being the full time Assistant Coach at Emory University for two years she recently accepted the Head Coach position at Allen Academy in Byan, Texas.

My pal Vince Johnson shares his journey from moving from NoVA to New Mexico and then ending up at Catholic University. Vince has a twin brother who also attends Catholic University. He started off as a Student Manager and quickly became a Student Assistant after taking on addition responsibilities. On top of taking 18-21 credit hours each semester, he's a valuable member of the Catholic University Men's Basketball program! He has worked under two Head Coaches in Steve Howes and Aaron Kelly, and has learned from both of them. We also touch on a tragedy that devastated the university - the murder of 20 year old Daniel Anderl. Vince is going to be very successful in life and I hope he continues to stay involved with coaching basketball in some way, shape or form.

Andre Gray shares his coaching journey and a ton of advice that will benefit coaches of all ages! Coach Gray is synonymous with basketball in the state of North Carolina! Starting his career as a MS and HS coach, he's coached at the D1, D2, and D3 levels. He's been a part of some great coaching staffs and has worked under some tremendous coaches such as Wes Miller, [the late] Larry Hunter, Rick Scruggs, and Buzz Peterson just to name a few.

Coach Gray has coached in the SoCon, Conference USA, Colonial, Atlantic Sun, USA South, CIAA, and the SAC. He's a true "Guardian of the Game" who helps grow the game by mentoring and sharing experiences with younger coaches.

Recently he was named one of the top Assistant Coaches in the SoCon by a poll of his coaching peers in the conference conducted by Stadium.

*Last 5 minutes got deleted... If you want to get in touch with Coach Shrine look at the bottom of the show notes!* Coach Tommy Strine shares his coaching journey and how he's been able to advance up the coaching ranks. From being a scholarship level prospect in HS prior to a serious injury and continuing his career at the DIII level prior to transferring to IPFW so that he be President of Teams for Spiece Basketball in Fort Wayne, IN. During his time at Spiece, he oversaw the logistics and development of over 100 AAU teams while also running camps and working out some of the top players in Indiana. He coached HS basketball before getting into the college ranks at Concordia University in Ann Arbor. After Concordia he moved onto the University of Richmond to serve as a Video Coordinator for Chris Mooney. He was unpaid at Richmond and did such a great job that he was hired at American University as their DOBO, he spent four seasons in Our Nations Capital before moving closer to home at Cleveland State University. Coach Strine was named the DOBO at Lamar University in Texas. He was recognized as an Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team this past June. Email: tstrine55@gmail.com  Twitter/IG: Coach_Strine

Coach Mike Blaine takes us through his long and unique journey from growing up the son of a member of the military to nearing two decades in college basketball coaching. He graduated from Bishop Ireton HS in the legendary WCAC and was a key contributor for a upper echelon DIII basketball program at Johns Hopkins under the great Bill Nelson. During his college years he worked numerous camps and made lifelong friendships. After graduating from Johns Hopkins he decided to pursue a career in coaching basketball rather than work on Capitol Hill. He accepted the DOBO position at James Madison (CAA) where he spent the 2003-04 season before accepting an AC position at Army (Patriot League). Coach Blaine remained at Army for two seasons before returning to Virginia where he was an AC at Radford (Big South) under Bryan Samuels for a season. After Radford he landed the full-time AC position at DIII Hampden-Sydney (ODAC), After the season he was offered an AC position at Maryland Eastern Shore (MEAC) and spent two years at the HBCU prior to spending four years at Cornell (Ivy League).

In 2014 Coach Blaine accepted the HC position at Medaille College, a DIII school in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. He took them to great success before being named HC at SUNY Plattsburgh in October 2019. I'm positive that listeners will learn a ton from this interview!  

Coach Ryan Wise takes us through his coaching journey. For a coach under the age of 30, he's been at multiple levels and served under some solid coaches. He didn't take the traditional Student Manager route, instead he coached middle school, high school and AAU while he was in college at West Virginia University. After graduating from WVU he accepted a non-paid Assistant Coach position at West Virginia Tech and helped them earn an At-Large bid to the NAIA National Tournament. He worked a few camps including UNC and Virginia Tech and maintains relationships with the camp staff to this day. The next season he accepted a Graduate Assistant position at Mercer under the legendary Bob Hoffman and got his first taste of NCAA DI basketball in the highly competitive SoCon (Southern Conference). Unfortunately when Coach Hoffman was fired, his replacement [Greg Gary] was unsure if he'd retain him, Coach Wise was offered a full-time Assistant Coach position at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and accepted it. This past season Coach Wise served under Terrence Smith and helped the Bearcats get selected as preseason favorites in the PAC as well as have multiple win streaks including a season-high six game win streak. Coach Wise talks about his decision to be represented by an agency as what they've done for him as far as professional development.

Coach Abar Rouse shares his journey from moving from New York to Texas when he was growing up and then his decade of coaching college basketball at the DI, NAIA, D2 and JUCO ranks. He was a Student Manager at Midwestern State before transferring to Baylor to and immediately being named Head Student Manager and then returned to Midwestern State after graduating. His coaching dream took him to multiple states in different time zones just trying to move up the ranks. After having a tremendous squad at McClennan CC and interacting with numerous college coaches like Bob Knight, he accepted a job at his alma mater as Baylor's Director of Basketball Operations under Dave Bliss.

In 2003 a murder took place and one of their players [Patrick Dennehy] was the victim. Dave Bliss not only paid the tuition of multiple players and tried to make the late Patrick Dennehy out to be a drug dealer. Despite the potential allegations of extortion, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, no criminal charges were filed against Bliss.

Coach Rouse sought advice from coaching mentors and friends in the business as well as lawyers. He was threatened by his boss [Bliss] to go along with the scheme or he would be fired, and ultimately took the advice of his coaching mentors [some of whom are still in the business] recorded Bliss instructing players to fabricate the story of Dennehy being a drug dealer to the University's investigative committee and also said that talking to the McLennan County, Texas Sheriff's Department would give him the opportunity to "practice" his story. The tapes also showed that Bliss and his staff knew that Dennehy had been threatened by two of their teammates when they publicly denied such knowledge.

Afterwards Coach Rouse was the lone member of the staff who did not receive a show clause penalty from the NCAA, yet was essentially blackballed by the coaching fraternity. One of his idols Mike Krzyzewski, was one of the prominent coaches who publicly criticized him yet Coach Rouse didn't blame Coach K since he didn't have all of the facts. He managed to land back at Midwestern State for a third stint under Coach Jeff Ray, but ultimately left the business on his own terms after a successful season there. He began a career with overseeing and managing prison which was much more stable and allowed him to develop.

I personally look forward to Abar Rouse coaching basketball again after he can retire from his non-coaching career. He provides great insight for aspiring coaches as well as shares his opinions on the Adidas scandal as well as other current events.

Coach Agumagu shares his journey from leaving Nigeria at the age of three to move to Miami. FL and then becoming a NCAA DI Assistant Coach. He grew up in Miami and enjoyed it so much that he accepted a Preferred Walk-On spot at Barry University in nearby Miami Shores. The team had unprecedented success under Head Coach George “Butch” Estes. He helped the Buccaneers win a school record 26 games, a Sunshine State Conference regular season championship, the program’s first Regional Championship, as well as an Elite Eight berth for the first time in program history. In his three years with the Buccaneers, Agumagu had a hand in 70 wins and a plethora of AP Top 25 rankings. After graduating he stayed in South Beach accepting an Assistant Coaching position at St. Thomas University, an NAIA school in Miami Gardens, Florida. In his first year of coaching, Agumagu was the lead assistant for Head Coach Patrick Gayle. Agumagu assisted the Bobcats men’s basketball program to a 20-9 overall record, as well as multiple Top 25 ranks, including a ranking as high as fourth in 2016-17 with wins against NCAA DII Nova Southeastern (2) and eventual NAIA National Champions, Union College. His hard work and genuine relationships led to him being offered a DOBO position at NCAA DI Coppin State University under Juan Dixon. After just one season he was promoted to a full time Assistant Coach and has been a part of increased win totals in each of his four seasons on staff as well as tying a school record for most non-conference wins with four (Loyola Chicago, James Madison, East Carolina, and Cornell). Coach also talks about having their season cut short due to COVID19 and what it's like to work for a former NBA player who was drafted by - and played alongside Michael Jordan!

Coach Soloman "Sol" Zurier shares his journey from growing up in Maryland to becoming the Director of Basketball Operations at USC Upstate.

He attended West Virginia University and started the WVU Men's Club Basketball program that he served as the Head Coach for as well as serving as an Assistant Coach with Morgantown HS. Coach Zurier also interned with the WVU Strength & Conditioning department during his time at West Virginia.

In 2014 he joined the staff at St. Mary’s College of Maryland as an Assistant Coach and remained there until 2019 when he moved onto International Sports Academy (ISA) in Willoughby, Ohio as both an Assistant and Head Coach for their boy's varsity basketball teams.

Coach Zurier accepted the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations role at USC Upstate and after one season Head Coach Dave Dickerson promoted him to their Director of Basketball Operations. He enters his third season in Spartanburg this season.

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Coach Bentley shares his journey of overcoming so much and keeping a positive attitude throughout everything. He was born with Achondroplasia Dwarfism, but refuses to let that get in the way of his desire to coach college basketball. After realizing that he was not going to be able to play at the HS level he told the HC that he was going to be their manager. In his first season as a Student Manager the team won the state championship! Coach Bentley originally had big dreams of being a manager at Clemson, but after meeting Coach Jason Taylor - he was encouraged to be a Student Assistant Coach at Anderson University. In his five years at Anderson (AC during his 5th year) the team made it to the NCAA D2 National Tournament three season. They racked up an Elite 8, Sweet 16 and a SAC Regular Season Championship during his time there. The program's success was a testament to the hard work that the coaching staff and players put in. Coach Bentley continued to grow as a basketball coach by working campus such as Wake Forest, Wofford, Texas, and numerous others and did a tremendous job of networking and building genuine relationships. In addition to coaching at Anderson, he's been involved with AAU basketball serving as the HC of the Upward Stars program based in South Carolina. He's done a great job recruiting and coaching his players. Unfortunately he had a minor setback when the doctors told him that he needed to go under the knife for surgery to repair the Spinal Stenosis of the lumbar vertebrae that had developed and didn't have insurance to cover it. Coach was encouraged to start a GoFundMe page and was able to raise enough money to get medical insurance to cover the surgery and various rehab treatments - former Duke and NBA player Jay Williams reached out to Coach Bentley and he graciously donated towards the cause and developed a friendship. The past five years Coach Bentley as been on staff at Hargrave Military Academy, winning a national championship in his first season. He's continued to become a better coach and refuses to let anything get in his way of pursuing his dreams. 

Coach Benator takes us through his coaching journey and how he's been able to sustain success. He started his coaching career as a Student Manager at The University of Georgia. Benator spent the 2008-09 season at the University of North Georgia as a Graduate Assistant Coach. After the season he served as the Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from 2009-12 - while also completing his Master's Degree! Coach Benator was the Associate Head Post-Graduate Basketball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Fishburne Military School - all 16 members of the post-graduate team earned 4-year college scholarships, including 12 NCAA Division 1 schools. After Fishburne he accepted the Assistant Coach position at Young Harris College. He has been the Assistant Coach at the University of West Florida since 2015 and has been a part of great success. In 2019 he was one of 11 coaches selected to participate in the  Jay Bilas Skills Academy Coaches Leadership Academy.

Coach West shares his journey from serving our country to becoming the Head Coach at Prince George's Community College. He got his start in coaching the Yokosuka Pro Traveling Team in Japan during his time serving in the military. When he got back to the United States he began coaching high school and grassroots basketball - including coaching on the boys and the girls side. Coach West was the Friendship Tech Prep High School boy's varsity head coach for the 2014-15 season, leading the team to a league-best 20-4 record. He was named the Coach of the Year by the league after guiding the squad to a division title as a first-year program. West also served as the boy's junior varsity head coach at Laurel Senior High School from 2011-14 that included leading the team to consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2005-06. After Coach Brian Johnson was hired at Southern Vermont College, he was named Interim Head Coach for 2018-19 and won the NJCAA Region XX Championship in addition to being named HoopDirt Coach of the Week among other honors.