Between the Game and Life

Many people go through life with a blah attitude! Basketball taught me how to approach life with gratitude and the fortitude to constantly improve!

This episode I am joined by my good friend Marcellus Barksdale. We get deep as we discuss playing high school basketball in Lexington, KY, dealing with tragedy, his college career and the ups and downs that came with it. We also touch on being young professionals and his passion to give back to the community through an annual week long event called Soul Feast. This conversation was a lot of fun! Enjoy!

Dennis Neumann is known professionally for working as the play by play announcer for the Orlando Magic for many years! We discuss his life and journey to working in professional sports, a little insight on the players he got the chance to see and his faith! I hope you enjoy!

Jerica Williams is someone I met through a post that someone liked on LinkedIn where she shared how she was terrible at 10 but fell in love with basketball and the game changed her life. She played at UCLA and SDSU, owns a business and is a coach for Windward in LA. During our conversation we discuss her work ethic, her commitment to UCLA, the struggles she experienced in college and gave up the game, how she was led back to the game through a job and then used the game to start a business and how she gives her life back to the ladies she coaches! This was an awesome conversation that is rich on work ethic, leadership, bouncing back from adversity and seizing opportunities. I hope you enjoy!

Jarrod Polson and I share our reactions to UK losing to Michigan State!

As an introduction to Season 2, I tell a story about how I was a selfish basketball player until I had a reality check my junior of college and how what I learned that year has given me the most benefit in my life!

Today's episode I speak with my college coach, Wil Shouse! My tenure with Coach Shouse started off rough but we developed a strong relationship and I consider him a brother, friend, and mentor! Enjoy!

Johnathan Davis is a former Kentucky basketball player. He played under Eddie Sutton and Rick Pitino. He had an up and down tenure at UK but focused on building a life after basketball. He is the founder and owner of JT Davis Asset Management and a Lexington Socialite, I hope you Enjoy this conversation!

If you know basketball then you know Steve Smith, the legendary coach from Oak Hill Academy. Under his leadership, Oak Hill was a National Champion 9 times, he coached 32 McDonald's All Americans, over 40 NBA players that either attended Oak Hill or graduated from Oak Hill (the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Rajon Rondo, Rod Strickland) and a National Coach of the Year 4 times. You may know the name but maybe not the story of how Oak Hill was built! I enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do as well!

Coach Larry Kihnley is a coach at PRP High School in Louisville, KY. He grew up, attended, played and has coached at the same school and area for over 50 years! He was the assistant for 38 years before becoming head coach in 2019. He could have taken Division 1 jobs but he chose to stay at PRP. He is highly regarded from his former players and is well-known in the community and the state of Kentucky! Enjoy our conversation about staying true to the mission, staying true to the community and staying true to the kids he has coached!

Phil Morrison is the founder of the successful skill development enterprise Hoops for Christ. We discuss his basketball career and how he actually quit basketball after his first season in college, found Christ then got back into basketball two and a half years later. He went on to become an NAIA All American, professional basketball player in the ABL in Asia and how leads Hoops for Christ where he recently hosted an event with world renowned trainers Phil Handy and Gannon Baker

My good friend who has 4 kids, called me out the blue one day and we had a great conversation on parenting and sports. It was so good we had to record an episode. On this episode we talk about things we wished we have known as players, balancing the emotional aspect of sports with parenting, not projecting the success we want on them, social media and helping them understand how sports can help them with their life beyond the game!

Coach Todd Franklin is a highly regarded Hall of Fame junior college coach. He is currently the head coach at Vincennes University, the school where he won a national championship in 2019. On this episode he details his career, starting from humble beginnings, building his coaching career, and the success he has had along the way. I guarantee your favorite college coach has spoken to him because of the number of players he has helped get to the next level!

This episode I discuss how I went from alcoholic to long distance runner, my new sport of running

Jarrod grew up 20 min from the University of Kentucky. He accomplished his dream of playing for the University of Kentucky and was part of 3 Final Four teams in 4 years. He tells his story like never before and also highlights how his faith sustained him in the whirlwind of what was UK basketball! This is a great listen!

Kyle Wiltjer was a top recruit from Oregon, McDonalds All American, UK Committ where he won a championship in 2012. Transferred to Gonzaga after his Junior year where he had a standout two years. Kyle played for a year in the NBA before carving out a stellar career overseas! We discuss his upbringing, falling in love with the game, basketball career going from college to the pros and lessons he has taken away from the game!

Darius Miller, former UK basketball player, NBA player and overseas champion joins to discuss his time at UK, going from Billy G to Coach Cal, NBA stint, overseas success and the lessons he learned along the way!

Shelvin is a long time friend and high school teammate! It has been amazing to see his career evolve and we discuss the game and lessons along the way!

My friend Jimmie and I discuss our love of the game, juco stories and how we carry the game with us as fathers!

A brief introduction of my podcast, my journey with basketball, my alcohol addiction, my connections with recovery and the game!