Illinois State HC Kristen Gillespie joins me to talk about her journey. From a family of coaches, Coach Gillespie played for the legendary Kay Yow at NC State, and has coached at the high school, D3, D2, and D1 levels. She shares all about her journey, her family, her highs and lows, and the feeling once she and the Redbirds reached the top.…

We're back! After a long, dormant period, The Jump Around returns with one of the best young coaches in the country. Sam Purcell just wrapped up season one at Mississippi State and he takes us through his journey to get to where he is. He also shares the high's and low's of year one, tells us what caught him by surprise, and what he thinks is in st…

UC Irvine head coach Tamara Inoue joins me and shares her story from her time as a prep and college baller in California and how that took her to Australia and the eventual start to her coaching career.Blake DuDonis

Delaware head coach Natasha Adair joins me to talk about her journey, from the DMV to Florida all the way to Delaware. She shares about the coaches who impacted her the most, her former players and what their success means to her, and how she took Delaware to the top of the CAA.Blake DuDonis

Former Wisconsin head coach and Stanford student-athlete Bobbie Kelsey joins me on the pod to talk about her story to Stanford, around the country, and back to Stanford again.We discuss her time as head coach at Wisconsin and everything she's done since then.Then, we get into a long dive into the current climate in America.…

Former Boston College and University of Denver head coach Erik Johnson joins me to tell all about his interesting story.From a tall practice player to the head coach of one of the most prestigious schools in the country, Erik shares all about how he gotto where he did and how. Included are some chances meetings, some great successes, as well as a g…

Today I'm joined by St. Louis University head coach Lisa Stone, who has had a storied coaching career.Starting her career as a 22-year-old D3 head coach, Lisa has gone from little Cornell College to UW-Eau Claire to Drake to Wisconsin and now to St. Louis. She shares all about her journey and the lessons learned in between.…

New UNLV head coach Lindy La Rocque joined me on the pod to talk all about her new gig and her journey to get there.After an incredible playing career at Stanford, La Rocque went on to serve on staff at Oklahoma, Belmont, and Stanford before returning to her hometown of Las Vegas as the head coach of UNLV.We talk all about that journey, her enjoyme…

Welcome back! After a few months away, we back!Joining me today is the new head women's basketball coach at UNC-Asheville, Honey Brown. Honey had been an assistant and associate head coach at UNCA for the past eight seasons before taking the top spot this spring.We discuss her journey through coaching, her rapping her version of Kurtis Blow, why th…

In part 2 of a 2 part series on the last day of Autism Awareness Month, the University of Albany head coach Colleen Mullen joins me and shares her story.After having a daughter, Colleen and her wife, Lauren, decided to have one more child and ended up with twin boys. As time went on, they came to discover that they both were on the spectrum.Colleen…

On the last day of Autism Awareness Month, LSU assistant women's basketball coach Aaron Kallhoff joins me in part 1 of a 2 part mini-series on women's basketball coaches who have a child with autism.We talk about how his son, Caylix, first was diagnosed with autism and the whole family's journey through that. We also talk about some of the misconce…

Fresh off a 28-3 season and an America East championship (and a new contract extension), Stony Brook head coach Carolina McCombs joined me on the pod.We talked about her journey as a standout player for Youngstown State to college coach, and all the people she worked for before taking over the Seawolves. We also talked about her team's historic sea…

Boston College head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee (Coach Mac) joined me today in a really episode.We talked all about her team's 20 win season and 4th place finish in the ACC, their best finish since 2004-05 and how last season's end was a jumping off point for them.We also discuss her very long, winding, interesting journey, from playing D2, to wi…

After taking seven years away from coaching, Nell Fortner took over a Georgia Tech program and exceeded all expectations in year one. The former Team USA gold medal-winning head coach and I discuss her coaching career that saw her learn from some of the legends of our game, to being burnt out and taking the TV route, to the job that made sense.We a…

Kent State head coach Todd Starkey joined me to talk all about his journey from an NAIA player and coach, to building a D2 powerhouse, to being an assistant in the Big Ten, to now building a program in arguably the best mid-major conference in the country.We also share some old stories, talk about how he's navigating the current times, and how bein…

Rider head coach Lynn Milligan joins me to talk about building her alma mater into one of the top teams in the MAAC and what it took to get there.We also discuss her college career as a duel athlete, how her stops as an assistant prepared her for her current position, what culture means to her, and how her team has dealt with the sudden end to thei…

After going 25-6 (19-1) and making it to the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game, Montana State saw their season come to a sudden stop due to the coronavirus. I talk to head coach Tricia Binford about a special season having such a strange end.We also discuss her standout career at Boise State as a student-athlete, her time playing in t…

Fresh off another 20+ win season, Fordham head coach Stephanie Gaitley joined me on the pod.We talk all about her journey from playing at Villanova under Harry Perretta to becoming a head coach at 25-years-old. Then we go into how she's been able to build so many programs at the mid-major level so many times.We also discuss a great story involving …

Samford head coach Carley Kuhns joins me to talk all about her team's incredible season, her first at the school. After winning 10 games a season ago, this season the Bulldogs won 18 games, split the regular season SOCON title, and won the conference tournament.We also talk about her time as a standout D2 player and her first head coaching job at h…

Blake DuDonis

Blake DuDonis

Blake DuDonis

Blake DuDonis

Blake DuDonis

Hartford head coach Morgan Valley joins me to tell me all about her journey as a multi-sport high school athlete in Vermont, to winning three national championships at UConn, to a coaching career that moved her all over the country.We discuss her successes, struggles, and talk about how she nearly drowned in a triathlon last weekend.…

UNC-Chapel Hill head coach Courtney Banghart joins me to talk all about her journey from NCAA college soccer prospect to head women’s basketball coach of one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. We talk about what led her to Dartmouth as an athlete, then back as a coach. Then, after winning just seven games in year one at Princeton, how…

Once the #1 recruit in the country coming out of high school, Jackie Gemelos tore her ACL in the last game of her prep career. This turned out to be one of five ACL injuries she would go through, significantly shortening her career at USC and almost ending her professional career.Instead of packing it in, however, Gemelos kept working and eventuall…

Just days removed from the national championship game, SW Oklahoma State head coach Kelsi Musick joins me to talk about her team's incredible season. We talk about her career journey and the difficulties of winning just three games in her first season as a head coach. Then, we talk through what led them to win the conference tournament in year thre…

Fresh off the program's second national championship in four years, Lubbock Christian head coach Steve Gomez joined me on the the pod.We discuss how being the child of an Air Force vet helped mold him (he lived in Indiana, South Dakota, and Germany, among other places) and how he stumbled into his current job.Also discussed was his team's undefeate…

James Madison head coach Sean O'Regan joins me two days before his team's big WNIT Final Four matchup.We talk about what makes JMU so special that after graduating from there, he has spent 12 years there as an assistant and head coach. We talk about the most difficult things he faced when taking over the head coaching spot from Kenny Brooks, how he…

While everyone waits for the D1 Sweet Sixteen to play out, there is already a NCAA champion at the D3 level, and I talk to their head coach. Jeff Hans, head coach of Thomas More University joined me to talk about his program's second national championship. We discuss all that went into the season, including being an independent team, something that…

Aaron Roussell, head coach of the 12-seed Bucknell Bison, joined me to talk about his program as they head to their 2nd NCAA tournament under his guidance. We discuss his coaching journey and how a move to D1 was never in the plans but led him to take the Bucknell job without his wife ever seeing the place. We also talk about the building of the pr…

NCAA tournament-bound for the fourth straight year as a program and second straight year under him, Belmont head coach Bart Brooks joins me to talk all about his stellar team.We talk about his introduction to the coaching side of the game, and how working camps led to him working for the legendary Doug Bruno for 11 years. Also, what led him to Belm…

Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell joined me to talk about his team's third straight trip to the NCAA tournament.We discuss the uniqueness of having a 30+ year career at only two schools, how his team approaches goal setting, and his side job when he first started coaching. *Note: due to an unfortunate technical issue, about half of the conversa…

Abilene Christian head coach Julie Goodenough joins me to talk about her coaching journey.Starting at the NAIA level, Coach went on to lead a program to four D3 tournaments, then took over at Oklahoma State. We discuss what went wrong in her three seasons there and how it helped her be successful down the road.After seven seasons at Charleston Sout…

New Mexico State head coach Brook Atkinson joined me to talk about her team's stellar season as they try to return to the NCAA tournament after making the WNIT last season.We discuss how she has grown from year one as the head coach to now in year two, the strangeness that is the WAC, and how her team has continued to improve as the season has gone…

As we continue our "Upset" series, coaches of programs who could break your bracket, Drexel head coach Denise Dillion joined me. We talk all about her 16 seasons at the Philly based school and how she turned a once dormant program into a consistent force atop the CAA.We also discuss her playing career at Villanova and how an injury led her into coa…

UT-Arlington head coach Krista Gerlich joined me to talk about how she has taken her program to levels it's never been before.We also talked about her playing career at Texas Tech that finished with a national championship her senior year and, eventually, her jersey hanging in the rafters. We also talk about how she has grown as a head coach since …

American head coach Megan Gebbia joined me today to talk about her program in another episode of our "Upset" series, a focus on teams that could bust your bracket come NCAA tournament time.We talk about her 10 years at Marist as an associate head coach and all she learned during her time there, plus what made her take the leap and accept the Americ…

Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri joins me for the third episode of the "Upset" series. Nearing the end of her 23rd season at Quinnipiac, we talk all about her playing career at Fairfield before entering the coaching ranks. We also discuss that while the program is humming along now, it wasn't always that way, and she nearly quit the job.We also …

The second episode in our "Upset" series, former Lady Vol great and current head coach at Missouri State Kellie Harper joined meBlake DuDonis

The first episode of our "Upset" series where I highlight programs that could bust some brackets come NCAA tournament time, Lamar University head coach Robin Harmony joined me this morning.A Miami (FL) Hall of Famer herself as a player, Harmony spent over 18 years coaching in Coral Gables before starting an NAIA program from scratch. After building…

High Point University head coach DeUnna Hendrix joined me on the pod today. We talked about her high school HOF career, how she has grown as a head coach over her seven years in charge of the Panthers, and why she has been able to be successful. We also talk about her missing a game this year to go to her mom's own Hall of Fame ceremony, her love o…

Cincinnati head coach Michelle Clark-Heard joined me on the pod to talk about her stellar coaching career. She tells me about her time as a player at Western Kentucky and the high levels of success her team had, and what eventually got her into college coaching after starting a career outside of sports.We then talk about the programs she built at K…

Towson head coach Diane Richardson joins me to talk all about her interesting journey.We discuss her college career, specifically her qualifying for the 1980 US Track and Field Olympic team but not getting to compete due to the US protesting the USSR hosted games. We also talk about her banking career and why she eventually sold her company to get …

Wright State head coach Katrina Merriweather joined me today to talk all about her program, one of the best mid-major programs in the country.We discuss her playing career at Cincinnati and how she always wanted to be a coach and the lessons she learned during her coaching career as an assistant, including the violation of some NCAA rules that led …

Appalachian State head coach Angel Elderkin joined me in one of the more emotional episodes to date.We discuss her coaching journey, from being an assistant to stepping back to being a GA for Pat Summitt, all leading to her head coaching job at App State.After her second season at App, Angel was diagnosed with cancer, a topic we really dove deep in…

A first-year head coach at her alma mater, Boston University head coach Marisa Moseley joined me to on the pod.We talk about her getting into coaching after it wasn't her original goal, but how she ended up as an assistant coach at UConn just a few years later. We discuss the success she had as a Huskie and how that has translated to BU.We also dis…

Houston head coach Ronald Hughey took some time out to talk to me about his story and his program on an early Sunday morning.We talk about his humble upbringings and how that affected the steps he took in his career, plus what he has learned from working for C. Vivian Stringer, Gail Goestenkors, and Sue Semrau.Hughey then tells me about his Houston…