Making an Athlete

Max Stassi, current catcher for the Major League Baseball Los Angeles Angels talks about his path to becoming a major league baseball player. Max was drafted in the fourth round by the Oakland Athletics in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft after his standout prep career at Yuba City High School, located in Northern California. Sporting News called Max the best available catcher of the 2009 draft class, and in that year, Max was presented with a choice to make: attend UCLA where he had committed or pursue a professional baseball career and forgo college.Stassi played for the Vancouver Canadians of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League,  Kane County Cougars of the Class A Midwest League,  Stockton Ports of the Class A-Advanced California League. On February 4, 2013, the Athletics traded Stassi to the Houston Astros with Brad Peacock and Chris Carter for Jed Lowrie and Fernando Rodriguez.  Playing for the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League in 2013, Stassi hit home runs in five consecutive games in July.  Stassi playing for the Oklahoma City RedHawks in 2014The Astros promoted Stassi to the majors on August 20, 2013, making his MLB debut that day, he recorded two hits.  In his second MLB game, Stassi was hit in the face by a 96 miles per hour (154 km/h) fastball, which resulted in his being placed on the disabled list.Since the bases were loaded at the time he was plunked, he earned his first major-league RBI. Stassi began the 2014 season with the Oklahoma City RedHawks of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL). Stassi was named to the Astros' Opening Day roster in 2018 as a backup to McCann. On July 31, 2019, the Astros traded Stassi to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for minor leaguers Rainier Rivas and Raider Uceta.

Mike Walker talks small town recruiting and his path to playing in the World Baseball Classic against some of the top teams and players in the world. Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 14th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft after his senior season for the Pacific Tigers baseball team, Mike went onto reach Double-A for the Brewers and play for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League, and for Team Australia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He spent time coaching for the Division One University of the Pacific Tigers, and as head coach of the California Summer Collegiate teams Redding Colt 45's and the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox. 

The California Kid, UFC Hall of Fame, Team Alpha Male founder, entrepreneur and widely regarded as one of MMA's pioneers, Urijah Faber dives into what it takes for young fighters to establish their own paths to achieving their “delusional” dreams of becoming a professional fighter. A two-time world champion, Urijah takes us through his path from an early age to becoming a champion and how he established the path for future fighters in his weight class. Faber had a passion for fighting and began learning wrestling while in 8th Grade. As a student at UC-Davis, he had qualified for the NCCA Wrestling championship in 2001 and 2002. He began his Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training after college. He obtained a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu –Jitsu trained under Fabio ‘Pateto’ Prado.He made his debut in MMA on November 12, 2003, taking part in the Gladiator Challenge (GC) Promotion and beat Jay Valencia by a guillotine choke. In 2006, he held three titles - World Extreme Cage-fighting (WEC) Featherweight Championship, King of the Cage Bantamweight Championship, and GC Bantamweight Championship.

Tredale Tolver, former division one football standout who played professionally both in the United and National Football Leagues, talks Convection and how that drove him to his ultimate goal of becoming a professional football player. Tredale provides us a step-by-step approach to the recruiting process and the unique “dance” colleges do with recruits.

A former three sport high school star who had full-ride scholarship offers from both division one basketball and football universities, Ryan Thornton, sits down and talks details around the enormous decision he made to surpass full ride offers for both football and basketball. Taking a big leap of faith in his raw baseball talent, he chose to pursue a career in baseball and quickly made a name for himself getting drafted in the 17th round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He talks through best practices in choosing an agent and what MLB teams are really proposing when they make an offer.

Brittany Oxley, fresh off her 4-year stint as a student-athlete swimming at University of South Carolina in one of the top division one conferences in the nation (SEC), discusses the roller coaster of emotions in her pursuit of making the olympic trial qualifiers and the transition from student-athlete into establishing her career post aquatics. A highly coveted, nationally ranked swimmer in her class, her state and national swim records provided her the opportunity to choose from top division one schools as she looked to continue pursuing her ultimate swimming goal of becoming an olympic swimmer.

Tyger Pederson, current St. Louis Cardinals Double-A Hitting coach, breaks down the baseball recruiting process and how colleges approach potential prospects. Tyger was a three-year starter at University of the Pacific, and drafted in the 33rd round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has a long resume of high level coaching that includes MLB’s International Elite Camp in Taiwan, Collegiately at Cal Poly and Hawaii Pacific, and lead the Duluth Huskies to a championship in coveted premiere collegiate baseball Northern summer league. His family has a long history In the MLB as Tyger's brother, Joc Pederson, currently plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers and his father, Stu, formerly played for the Dodgers as well.

Lance Morrison, state high school champion coach, talks Water Polo and how student-athletes can best position themselves to play at the collegiate level. Lance is a former division one and professional water polo player who has played professionally in countries across the world like Germany, Australia and the United States. Currently he is the head coach of the previously Northern California State Champs Miramontes High School Women’s Water Polo team and working at the world renowned UC Berkeley.

Parris Hodges, former Division 1 track & field stand-out talks work ethic and using junior college as a stepping stone to get a full-ride scholarship to a division one school. Within her first year of starting Junior College, Parris quickly started fielding division one scholarships and ultimately chose to run at Southern Miss University. She speaks on mental toughness and overcoming physical and emotional setbacks as an athlete.

Michael Plank, recruiting coordinator for the Washington State Men’s Basketball discusses the differences in division one, two and three collegiate athletics and the importance of putting yourself in the best position to gain visibility from visiting coaches. Recruited out of high school as a football player, he went on to play both football and basketball at the collegiate level. His coaching experience extends from top national AAU basketball teams, junior college basketball teams including City College of San Francisco and Casper College, Division three Willamette and Division one Portland State, NBA training camps and as a coach for the Costa Rican National Basketball team.

Educated and experienced in a wide variety of sports, Sam Gay brings perspective from the time he spent with the NFL San Francisco 49ers, Utah State, University of the Pacific and now Washington State University. Professional Athletic Trainer Sam talks the importance of injury rehab, both physically and mentally.

Tony Sandoval, who’s spent over 15 years as a professional strength and conditioning coach at the University of Kentucky, University of Colorado and University of the Pacific where he was Director of all Athletic Performance, discusses strength training expectations as student-athletes transition to the collegiate level. He has since become one of the top specialized strength and conditioning coaches focused solely on equestrian athletes.

Jordan Ferrell, current Head Coach of the semi-professional Oakland Roots Football Club discusses youth soccer in the United States and the importance soccer culture fit plays in the recruiting process and a team’s success. Ferrell is the former head coach of MLS-bound Sacramento Republic’s U-17 and U-19 Academy teams and former assistant coach for the division one University of the Pacific’s Men’s Soccer team. Ferrell previously played professionally in Germany before moving into his coaching career.

Current Head Women’s Volleyball coach at CSU Stanislaus Mallori Gibson-Rossi talks collegiate volleyball recruiting. Mallori had a standout career as a NCAA Division I student-athlete, starting her collegiate playing career at the University of Colorado before transferring to the University of the Pacific, where she was a two-time first-team All-Big West Conference outside hitter. She previously played professionally in the Premier Volleyball League and oversees in Greece, leading the Olympiacos in capturing the Greek Cup Gold Medal. Prior to her current head coaching position at Stan State, Mallori was regarded as one of the most respected assistant coaches in the Mountain West Conference during her four seasons with Fresno State.

Making an Athlete podcast sources the stories of past successful athletes and current collegiate/pro coaches. Through their stories, they bring to light a greater understanding of making the best decisions for today’s youth athlete looking for a successful athletic career. Here you hear the stories of athletes that have gone through the process and been where young athlete's are today. They highlight the good and the bad of the decisions they made, and provide lessons learned as they reflect back on the paths of their athletic careers. Collegiate and professional coaches provide insight on the who and what they are looking for as they recruit/draft for their teams, and how to better position yourself to maximize exposure. Making an Athlete looks to help further understand the process, so you can have more trust in the process.