Marching to Madness – Details, episodes & analysis

Coach Kyle Smith comes back onto “Marching to Madness” as the new head coach of the Stanford Cardinal. He built Washington State back into an NCAA Tournament contender as the Cougars were a 7-seed last season and defeated Drake to get into the Round of 32. Stanford hasn’t been in the NCAAT since 2014, but the Cardinal had a run of 13 tournaments in 14 seasons under legendary Mike Montgomery. Coach Smith and the Cardinal open their first season in the ACC after the Cardinal was a long-standing Pac-12 member.

Topics of Discussion include:

• The return of Maxim Reynaud and how his many basketball talents will drive Stanford
• Developing his stellar defensive philosophy with use of the game’s metrics
• Eight quality new players who will fit with Reynaud, Ryan Agrawal, and Jaylen Thompson
• Changing from the PAc-12 to ACC play

Coach Pitino is bringing back the tradition of New Mexico in The Pit in Albuquerque as he has a 61-41 record after three seasons. Last year, UNM won 26 games and went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. The Lobos won the Mountain West Tournament with four wins and four days as they took a 68-61 decision over San Diego State in the MWC Finals in Las Vegas.

Topics of Discussion include:

• How last season’s championship experience and NCAA Tournament berth can play a key role in this upcoming season
• The abilities of returnees Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior-Joseph
• How Nelly and last season’s co-MWC Freshman of the year Mustapha Amzil can maintain the paint
• The depth and challenge of the Mountain West after six teams were selected to the NCAAT last season
• Much more!

Coach Smith took his Utes to the NIT Championship game where they lost to Indiana State, but the plethora of positivity in being one of eight teams still playing in August could have major impact this season. Coach Smith discusses bringing 11 new players into the program and how you start from the beginning in putting together a new team. Coach also discusses the Utes’ move to the Big 12.

Topics of Discussion include:

• Return of Gabe Madsen, who made 105 triples last season
• Philosophies on moving a program forward
• Ezra Ausar from East Carolina and Miro Little as two key incoming transfers
• Situational philosophies inside the game

… And Much More!

Coach Stoudamire, who was the 1996 NBA Rookie of the Year with the Toronto Raptors, checks in as the head coach at Georgia Tech in the ACC. Coach inherits the program as he comes over after a five-year stint as the head coach at Pacific and then a two-year stint as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. GT looks to get back near the top in the ACC as it won the ACC Tournament in 2021. Coach Stoudamire has an extensive background inside the game with a 12-year NBA career that took him from Toronto through Portland and then ended in Memphis and San Antonio.

Topics of discussion include:

• The learning curve between coaching in the NBA and college basketball
• NBA Rookie of the Year season in 1996
• GT guard Miles Kelly inside his program
• Newcomer Kowacie Reeves and how he translates into Georgia Tech

… And much more!!

Coach Johnson took over the Minnesota Golden Gophers and is working on a monumental rebuild of the basketball team, which he took over three seasons ago. Coach Johnson played for Minnesota from 2002-2005 and has held assistant positions at five different schools as well as Minnesota (2013-18). This is a really solid and analytical conversation where we learn about Coach Johnson’s thoughts and ideas on a wide range of basketball concepts.

Topics of discussion include:

• Interesting aspects of the depth of his coaching philosophy
• Key ways of rejuvenating Gophers basketball
• Dawson Garcia as the leading returning scorer
• Coach Johnson’s ascension inside the game as an assistant coach

… And much more!

Coach McCasland comes to the Red Raiders after taking the North Texas Mean Green to the NIT Championship while the 31 wins last season were the most in a season in NT history. Coach McCasland’s defensive acumen makes him one of the top coaches in college basketball and he now takes his philosophy to Lubbock. The Red Raiders also look forward to the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in November when they open with Villanova.

Topics of discussion include:

• Leading North Texas to the NIT title as well as the 31 wins
• The ability of Pop Isaacs, who looks forward to continuing as a Red Raider
• Incoming transfers in Darrion Williams, Warren Washington and Joe Toussaint
• Competing in the Battle 4 Atlantis

… And Much More!

Coach Chris Gerlufsen talks about his initial year as the head coach at USF. He piloted the Dons to 20 wins which was the sixth time in seven seasons that USF won at least 20 games. Coach Gerlufsen also discusses his offensive coordinator assignments when he was an assistant to Eran Ganot at Hawaii. Khalil Shabazz and Tyrell Roberts graduated as this was the second time in as many seasons that the Dons had two first-team WCC basketball players.

Topics of discussion include:

• How Shabazz and Roberts were able to push the Dons’ image higher
• Studying, game-planning, and scouting opponents
• The return of Marcus Williams, Saba Gigiberia, and Josh Kunen
• Adding USC transfer Malik Thomas

… And Much More!

Coach Micah Shrewsberry takes over the Fighting Irish after leading Penn State for two seasons as he was able to place the Nittany Lions into the NCAA Tournament where the win over Texas A&M in Round 1 was the Lions’ first ‘W’ in NCAA play since 2001. Shrewsberry will work on developing an uptempo and three-point offensive attack with the Irish. He has brought in a transfer class that features former Seton Hall Pirate Tae Davis, Penn State transfer Kebba Njie, and Julian Roper, a guard from Northwestern and also four freshmen.

Topics of discussion include:

• How six seasons as a Celtics assistant helped him prepare for the move from Penn State to Notre Dame
• The influence of Purdue head coach Matt Painter
• How the inside-outside attack is a staple of his offensive philosophy
•  Potential influence of Tae Davis and Kebba Njie

… And Much More!

Coach Odom moves to VCU and the A-10 after leading the Utah State Aggies for two seasons. Utah State finished 26-9 in Odom’s second year as the Aggies lost the Mountain West Tournament championship to Final Four participant San Diego State, 62-57, but USU made it to the NCAA Tournament. Coming into VCU, he saw a group of Rams leave, but added a solid group of transfers into the program. Guard Zeb Jackson is the lone returnee who played major minutes last season.

Topics of discussion include:

• The winning element at VCU
• Implementation of the transitional pace and three-point game
• Max Shulga and Sean Bairstow transferring from Utah State
• Other transfers into the program

… And Much More!

Coach Paris makes his debut on “Marching to Madness” as he took over the South Carolina basketball program last season. Paris will look at building the offense into a more sustainable part of the program as he brings in a solid transfer class for the upcoming season. Coach Paris built Chattanooga back into the NCAA Tournament as they played Illinois in 2022 NCAAT and lost a tough 54-53 decision to Illinois. He had 20 years as an assistant coach at Akron and Wisconsin as well as D-2 IUP, and DePauw, and D-3 Wooster.

Topics of discussion include:

• Early August trip to Bahamas
• The ability and approach of guard Meechie Johnson
• The transfer class which will help upgrade the level of the squad
• Changes in recruiting that he has seen since he became an assistant in the late 1990s

… And Much More!