D1on1

Recent graduate from the UC Berkeley Men’s Gymnastics team Asad Jooma tells his story of growing up playing a not-so-traditional sport and competing for his country. He began his NCAA career at the University of Illinois at Chicago, but transferred to Cal after receiving the devastating news that his program was to be cut after his junior season. At Cal, his time competing was cut short due to covid-19, and he describes losing his senior season as very similar to that of having his program be cut. In this episode, hear his journey and how he remains positive despite the bad luck.

Elijah Mason, a thrower at the University of Washington, finished 7th at nationals as a freshman. In D1on1’s first virtual conversation, Elijah discusses his experience growing up without a father figure, the role coaches play in athletes’ lives, the recruiting process, his faith, and his experience as a black athlete on a predominantly white campus.

Colorado State distance runner and businessman, Jacob Brueckman sits down with D1on1 Founder Andrew Cooper to discuss how latching onto running while his family faced a divorce was his key to consistency. While divorce is unfortunately a common obstacle athletes in our community face, Jacob walks us through how leaning into passions and finding consistency in midst of chaos can lead you to brighter days.

Former Minnesota 2x Track and Field All American runner, Mitch Hechsel, sits down with D1on1 Founder, Andrew Cooper to discuss the beauty in the struggle of not knowing what’s next. He gives our community an insight on how the challenges he faced finding his identity in the process of hanging up the jersey, allowed him to seek what truly fueled his happiness. Mitch’s story is about the transformation from being known as the athletic kid in high school into a Big 10 Champion and receiving offers for a professional running career. This ultimately pushed him to trust his real passion within videography.

Mike Neal, a recently graduate football player from the University of Washington, started his career as an athlete playing into the jock stereotype. After battling injuries and being told he would never play a snap, he rewrote the narrative by excelling academically and professionally. He represented his athlete peers as a leader in the student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC), graduated from the honors college at UW, and earned an internship with Amazon AWS. He hopes his story will inspire others to know that they can succeed no matter the circumstances because we’re all capable of achieving and doing more than we thought possible.

Adam Saleh (Cal track) sits down with D1on1 Founder Andrew Cooper to discuss the various identities that ambitious athletes grapple between and the misconceptions and strategies athletes should use when networking. Adam is a captain and a short sprinter focusing on the 200m and 400m at Cal where he studies cognitive science with a focus on mechanical design.

Cal Football Captain Cam Bynum sits down with D1on1 Founder Andrew Cooper to discuss his framework for success, which is rooted in hard work and clarity of vision – how he hopes to use his platform with sport to inspire others – his perspective on leadership as a team captain – and the deep and lasting impact Kobe Bryant had on his life. Learn more about Cam's story at D1on1.com/Bynum. D1on1 Podcast available on Apple & Spotify Follow D1on1 on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn @D1on1Stories

Jake Curhan, a bay area native, didn’t start playing football until his junior year of high school. At the time, only one other athlete from his area became a division I football player. Jake had nearly no guidance on how to compete and attach sport at the highest level, so when he earned a scholarship to attend the University of California, Berkeley, he graduated high school a semester early to get a head start on his career as a college athlete. Jake enrolled early at Berkeley—but he came in anxious and afraid of what the future held. He lacked the confidence necessary to stay afloat in a Division I college football organization. By sacrificing his last semester of high school, he gave himself a shot. After a year and a half of training with 0 playing time, he successfully executed the transition between high school and college. Jake went on to start 38 games, becoming a captain and leader of the team. As a captain, Jake effortlessly seems to uphold a heavy standard of excellence for a historic and prestigious university — but also in all aspects of his life. He prides himself in being more than a football player, pursuing opportunities in student organizations, networking events, and real-estate. Furthermore, Curhan leverages his platform as a college athlete to inspire and help others pursue their dreams while he pursues his. He has a podcast called Sooo Stignacious! where he interviews experts in various fields to learn more from them. Although Curhan has deep and extensive knowledge around leadership, his framework for success is grounded in maintaining a humble and empty cup that he is constantly trying to fill with knowledge from others. Jake inspires me in this regard. He acknowledges and embraces the beginner mindset, even though he is an elite football player, leader, and person.

Joel Brown, the 2019 Canadian National Player of the Year and a member of the Cal Men’s Basketball team, sits down with Andrew Cooper in Berkeley, CA to discuss his story, the impact of Kobe Bryant & LeBron James, and the death of his brother. Though a freshman in college, Brown holds wisdom beyond his years as he learned how to embrace the adversity of death to preserve and grow. Brown, a Toronto native, spent his entire high school basketball career away from home to chase his dreams. He started his freshman year of high school in Phoenix until the program moved to Kansas, at which point he transferred to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.Entering his Junior year at Brewster, his team was ranked #1 in the country. Midway through the season, as the team prepared to play their rival, Brown’s brother passes away suddenly. Brown and his team go on to win the national championship. Following the victory, Brown was awarded the 2019 Canadian National Player of the Year award, which was presented by RJ Barrett (the previous recipient of the award). Joel’s motivation is rooted in serving others. When he thinks about his brother or other loved one’s he’s lost, he hopes that his resilience through the adversity will inspire others to keep believing in themselves and their dreams while encouraging them to reach out and ask for help.

Christina Chenault & Andrew Cooper sit down on campus at UCLA to share her story, destigmatize mental health, and address the misconceptions of being a college athlete. Christina is a visionary entrepreneur unafraid to stand up for what is right, especially for those who need it most. While competing as a Division I college athlete, studying both psychology and African-American studies, Christina founded Top Five Media to reclaim the narrative of college sports. She also founded the UCLA undergraduate Sports Business Association to foster a community of students interested in pursuing a career in the sports industry. Christina hopes to leverage her passion for storytelling to create unity, social change, and equity through the world of sport.

Jen Moser is on the basketball team at the University of Washington where her career began as a practice player. After climbing through the ranks, she would eventually earn a full-ride. This growth as an athlete is unbelievable and inspiring. Jen's optimism and enthusiasm is infectious and likely played a key role in her success, not only as an athlete, but as a leader.

Trevor Danielson is one of the best javelin throwers in the country. He finished 6th at NCAA's and 10th at the USATF National Championships last year (2018). His journey is crazy though. As a native of Oregon, he was highly recruited out of high school and committed to Stanford University. He struggled and then quit the team, made it back on, scored at NCAA's, graduated, and is now finishing his eligibility as a graduate student-athlete at the University of Texas.

Jenna is a volleyball player at Pepperdine University where she plays both indoor and beach volleyball. Jenna's story is one of adversity, perseverance, and grit. In her time at Pepperdine, Jenna has suffered three major injuries, each requiring surgery. Despite these circumstances, Jenna maintains the most positive and enthusiastic attitude imaginable. She's inspired me to look at adversity as an opportunity. Her brother plays for the Arizona Diamond Backs in the minor league and we talk about the role that he's played in shaping her character. We also talk about her faith and how that has guided her journey. I hope you love this conversation as much as I did!

Maggie Ewen is a 4xNCAA Champion, 11x Pac-12 Champion, and 15x NCAA All-American. Ewen also holds 2 NCAA records. She is arguably the greatest NCAA thrower of all time. In this conversation Maggie talks about how she trained in Minnesota during the winter, how the perception of throwers having a certain body-type deters young girls trying to enter the sport, and she breaks down her mentality, which has enabled her to become one of the best throwers, not only in the NCAA, but in the world. This conversation was an absolute blast and I hope you love it as much as I did!

Mason is a high jumper and recently turned long jumper at Arizona State University. I first met Mason at the PAC12 SAAC Conference and we talk about what that is and why it's important not only in our lives, but for student-athletes across the country. In this conversation, Mason shares his journey to becoming a D1 and Pac 12 student-athlete and it's absolutely incredible. He started out as a basketball player on the developmental team of a D2 school and then trys out and walks on to the track team at ASU and is now on scholarship. He tells us all about that journey and we also really dig deep into whether student-athletes should be paid or not. This conversation is absolutely awesome and I hope you love it as much as Mason and I did.

Madison is on the Women's Golf team at Arizona State University. Last year, she and her team won NCAAs! She tells us the story of how they came from behind to beat Stanford in the semifinals and then dominate Northwestern in the finals. Madison breaks down how tournaments work and also describes the unique challenges that make golf difficult. She also breaks down the attitude and mentality that has allowed her to be a successful golfer. The discipline and mentality required to play golf at the Division 1 level is fascinating, let alone playing on the best team in the country. Talking with Madison was a blast. I really hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

This conversation is with Abu Kamara. Abu runs the 110m hurdles at WSU and is also the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which is the group that bridges the gap between student-athletes and administration. I've gotten much closer to Abu this past year, but I’ve always been really impressed by his ability to help others get the best out of themselves. He's like the best person you'd possibly want in a group project, hard-working, well-spoken, and he's a strong leader. Something that you'll notice about him is that he speaks very softly and he does that intentionally to get people to listen. Abu moved to America from Sierra Leone when he was nine and we talk about how that shaped his character, the values that are important to him, and how he learned to not let other people control his emotions. We also dive deep into racism. I mean, we dive really deep and it's powerful. Abu has been influential in helping me become a better person and I hope this conversation can have a powerful impact on you too.

This conversation is with Rory Linkletter. Rory runs cross country and track at BYU. He has had absolutely tremendous success as a runner. He is the blue jeans mile world recorder holder where he ran a full mile in 4 minutes and 16 seconds at altitude which converts to a 4:11. His PRs include a 13:49 5k and a 28:58 10k. Those are fast times, but his greatest achievement so far is his second place finish at nationals in the 10k. Now, that might change in just a few days because he and his team have a great shot at winning the NCAA Cross Country title this year. We recorded this conversation right before the start of the cross country season. It’s been really really cool to learn how he thinks and works and then to see that translate to athletic success throughout this whole season, not just for himself, but for his team. I'm extremely excited for him, his team, and my team to compete this weekend. Like I said earlier, Rory is fast. He's considered to be one of the best collegiate runners in the country, but It wasn't always like that for him. He struggled to make the transition to college because he had a stress fracture that sidelined him for several months. His story is one of true perseverance and hard work. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Renee Kemp is on the rowing team at Washington State University. This was a really fun conversation because I knew absolutely nothing about rowing, other than the fact that it hurts just like running. Renee is from New Zealand and it was really interesting to talk about what its like to live in America after you've spent your whole life on the other side of the world.

This conversation is with Ben Rosario! Ben is the head coach for Northern Arizona Elite, which is a professional running team based out of Flagstaff, Arizona and sponsored by Hoka One One. Ben has had tremendous success in running, business, and coaching. He used to run professionally for the Hanson’s Brooks Project. Then he built up a running store from nothing to 2 million in sales. In 2014, he created the professional running team that he coaches today, NAZ Elite. This is a special episode to me because this is actually the first podcast episode I ever recorded. This conversation is the first time I sat down with someone and recorded anything longer than 10 seconds. We recorded this all the way back in early August of 2017. When we recorded this, several of his athletes were gearing up for the Frankfurt marathon. Scott Smith, Matt Llano, and Scott Fauble, who has never run a marathon, were set to compete at Frankfurt in Late October. Llano ran 2:13:42, Fauble 2:12:35, and Smith 2:12:21. Huge congratulations to all of them, especially Scott Fauble who ran the 12th fastest American debut, tied with Meb Keflezghi. If you know anything about running, you know Meb. He’s an absolute legend. This episode is also special because Ben is not a student-athlete, but the topics we discussed can be helpful to anyone wanting to be good at athletics or anything in their life. He works with some of the best athletes in the world to help them get the best out of themselves and I hope he can help you too! Thank you so much for listening! If you have the time, please leave a rating and review! It would mean the world to me!

This conversation is with Jeff Pollard. Jeff is a starter on the basketball team at Washington State University where he is a center. Jeff doesn't take himself too seriously when he's not on the court and it definitely comes out in this conversation. Jeff and I crack a lot of jokes and we talk about his first dunk, the conspiracy that Shaq is able to fit into a Buick, and why basketball players should wear short shorts again. Editing this conversation was tough because I was laughing the whole time. In all seriousness though, Jeff's ability to enjoy life is very special. This conversation is a reminder to take life one step at a time and also not to take yourself too seriously so that you can be happy.

This conversation is with C.J. Allen. C.J. Is a 400 m hurdler. He is a two-time PAC-12 champion and a U.S. Olympic trials qualifier. In 2017 he was 13th at the US Championship and has a PR of 49.40. He's currently working to become a professional runner while he chases his Olympic dream. In this conversation C.J. talks about the effect that religion has had on his attitude and perspective. He also talks about failure. His ability to embrace failure is fascinating to me. He could have an Olympic medal and still consider himself a failure. He also talks about, "not dabbling in mediocrity and complacency". C.J. is the hardest worker I know and he might come off as egotistical, but I'm convinced that it's the necessary attitude for him to achieve his absolute full potential and trust me when I say hes incredibly compassionate and wants the best for everybody around him. I really loved this conversation and I hope you do too.

Casey Schoenlein is an outside hitter on the volleyball team at Washington State University. In this conversation, Casey talks about her recruiting process, specific training techniques, and the values that she lives her life by. Casey is an incredibly nice person, but she's also a vicious competitor. I was fascinated by the core values of her team and how she has implemented them into her life, not just as a volleyball player, but as a person.

Chelsea Harkins is a midfielder on the soccer team at Washington State University. In this conversation, Chelsea talks about her favorite drills, the "lottery ticket" to becoming a D1 Student-Athlete, and the importance of a positive attitude. When Chelsea first started high school, her father was diagnosed with cancer and passed away soon after. Her ability to spread positivity and attack life is absolutely incredible. This conversation is a powerful reminder to make the most of every opportunity you have, especially the opportunity to be alive.