The Bare's Den w/ Matt Bare

For this episode I'm joined by one of the best Minnesota boys high school basketball coaches to ever pace the sidelines.  John Oxton led the Lakeville North boys basketball program for 33 seasons, appearing in 12 state tournaments, capturing the 2014 class 4A state championship and finishing his career with 706 wins currently leaving him with the 6th most wins in state history. Prior to arriving in Lakeville, “Ox” was the head coach for Gardiner High School in Montana and led them to a state championship in 1989 and he also won a state title as a player for Fargo North High School in North Dakota.  We cover a number of topics including his two-year coaching sabbatical that he took at Lakeville to watch his daughter play high school basketball, JP Macura and the 2014 state title team and how so many Lakeville North players ended up at Wisconsin.  

Winning the first boys basketball state title in school history is nice but winning it with your son and nephew in your starting five is extra special.  That was the case for Alexandria head coach Forrest Witt as his Cardinals secured the first state title in program history. Forrest has the pleasure of coaching his son Mason and nephew Talan as well.  Along with those two the team was led by their biggest star Chase Thompson who was selected as Mr. Basketball in Minnesota and is headed to play for the Clemson Tigers.  Alexandira came out on top in Class 3A with a bracket that was absolutely loaded with top teams.  The other cool thing about this episode is hearing that one of your guests has listened to most of our podcast episode, so thank you to Forrest for that.

I really enjoy seeing teams or people do things that haven't been done before especially in the basketball world and that's exactly what happened at Concordia St. Paul this season with the Golden Bears men's basketball team and Coach Matt Fletcher. For the first time in school history the Golden Bears finished atop the NSIC conference in men's basketball, in fact it was the first time in their programs history that they finished above 3rd place.  Led by all world guard Antwan Kimmons and Marcus Skeete the Golden Bears also advanced to the division 2 national tournament.  Coach Fletcher shares what went into the success this season at a place he calls a “dream job”.

For this episode I'm joined by two MN boys high school basketball experts to help break down the upcoming MN boys state basketball tournament.  Ryan James from Prep Hoops and TC Hoops Czar are here to give us their insight into each bracket for the 4 classes, some of the top players to watch and who they think will win it all.   These guys do a great job sharing their insight into the 2025 tournament.

Rob Grace IV is used to being around a basketball court.  As a youngster he used to run around the gym at Minneapolis Southwest High School when his dad was the coach.  He was also present at Target Center for many NBA games as his father was creating excitement with fans as “hoop man” as those fans try to make a shot into basket hovering above his head. Now Rob is grown and is a senior at Macalester college and also shoots content for the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Rob had a great career at The Blake School where he was an all-conference player as well as a 1,000 point scorer.  He then went on to play college hoops locally for Macalester but it was a simple Instagram message that helped spark his career to where he is today filming content for an NBA team. 

For this episode, I'm joined by one of the most prolific brother/sister combos in Minnesota high school basketball history and they are Matt and Marissa Janning.  The Janning's grew up playing for Watertown-Mayer high school and put up some amazing numbers. The older of the two Matt graduated in 2006, and was somewhat of a late bloomer.  He played 3 years of varsity basketball, was an All-State player and left as the school's all-time leading score and 3-point maker.  His senior year he averaged a metro area best 31.8ppg and scored 954 points. Marissa graduated in 2012 and started playing varsity basketball as a 7th grader.  She ended her career scoring a school record 3,587 points and earned all Metro honors as well AP Player of the Year.  Her senior year she averaged 30ppg and was named Minnesota's Miss Basketball. As siblings they also have two of the more accomplished college careers as well.  Matt played collegiately in Boston, Massachusetts at Northeastern University where he led the Huskies in scoring his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.  He was voted all conference 3 times and graduated as the programs 4th leading scorer in school history.  He was inducted into the Northeastern athletics hall of fame in 2024. Marissa attended Creighton University and was the Missouri Valey Conference freshman of the year in her first season.  The next year when her school switched conferences and moved to the Big East she was awarded Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore.  She was a 3-time All Conference 1st team player and graduated as the schools 4th leading scorer all-time.  She was inducted into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

Ryan James from Prep Hoops joins the show to semi-preview the MN boys high school basketball season and will share some highlights from the Breakdown Boys Tip-Off Classic and the Granite City Classic which always bring in talented teams from all over the state.  RJ shares his thoughts on some of the top performers that he's seen along with his take on who the top teams are to watch in each of the 4 classes for MN boys basketball.  He also share some insight on the top players to be on the lookout for the Mr. Basketball award.

For this episode we welcome back a frequent guest to the show and he is Grant McGinnis from Prep Girls Hoops.  Grant joins the show to preview the MN girls high school basketball season and also recaps the Breakdown Girls Tip-Off Classic which always bring in talented teams from all over the state.  Grant shares his thoughts on some of the top performances from that event along with his take on who the top teams are to watch in each of the 4 classes for MN girls basketball. 

Detlef grew up in West Germany and left his senior year to be a foreign exchange student in Washington state.  He went on to play college ball for the University of Washington and was drafted to the NBA.  During his 16-year career he was voted NBA's Sixth Man of the Year twice and was the first European player to play in the All-Star game.  Detlef's steady game was an important piece to the successful and exciting Seattle Supersonic teams of the 1990's.  Detlef was on the forefront of European players to make it in the NBA and he has also forged a very successful career in his post-NBA days.

From a hog farm in a tiny southern Minnesota town to becoming to the states leading scorer that was the path of today's guest – Cody Schilling. Cody grew up in Ellsworth, MN with 21 kids in his graduating class but that close knit family and community raised him into a high school basketball superstar, a division two all-american and now head coach at his alma mater.  After graduating from high school as Minnesota's boys basketball's leading scorer and assist maker, Cody's path took him to Augustana University in South Dakota where he finished his career as that's schools all-time leading scorer. Recently he was just named head men's basketball coach for the Vikings and can't wait to get going.  

For only the second time ever and for the first time since 1984, the same school has won both the women's and men's basketball championship in division two.  That school is Minnesota State Mankato!  In this two part episode you will hear from the coach of each of those teams. In her 12th season as head coach Emilee Thiesse led the Mavericks to a 32 - 5 record this year, the NSIC regular season and tournament titles and of course the national championship.  Coach Thiesse's team is known for its uptempo and full court style of play and with that style forced their opponents into an average of 28 turnovers per game.  We chat about overcoming a slow start to the beginning of their season, getting on a roll in the regular season and capping it all off in a championship. Coach Matt Margenthaler has led the men's team for 23 seasons at Mankato and this year's team finished 35 - 2 and also won the NSIC regular season and tournament titles along with winning the national championship in dramatic fashion.  The son of a coach he has basketball in his blood along with a deep passion for Mavericks hoops.  We discuss what made this team special, playing on their home court in the regional playoffs and that memorable championship game.

For this episode I am joined by the head boys basketball coach of the Minnetonka Skippers – Bryce Tesdahl.   Bryce and his team just won the boys class 4A state championship capping off a fabulous season.  Coaching is not new to Bryce or his family.  He is the grandson of Bob McDonald who is the all-time winningest coach in MN boys basketball history.  While he is following in his grandfather's footsteps he is also blazing his own trail.  Bryce was also an outstanding player growing up in Crosby-Ironton and helped lead them to the state tournament and also went on to play collegiately at Bemidji State.  We chat about playing for a legendary high school coach, their championship season and overcoming a losing streak against a long time conference rival in the state final.

For this episode I'm joined by two MN boys high school basketball experts to help break down the upcoming MN boys state basketball tournament.  Ryan James from Prep Hoops and TC Hoops Czar are here to give us their insight into each bracket for the 4 classes, some of the top players to watch and who they think will win it all.   No one watches more high school basketball than these two and it will be fun to hear their thoughts.

For this episode we're trying something we've never done before and that's two guests in separate interviews put into one episode.  And these guests are legends in Minnesota girls high school basketball. First we have Alexandria head coach – Wendy Kohler.  Wendy is in her 39th season leading the Cardinals and has been quite the fixture on the sideline.  She recently coached in her 1,000th game and is nearing win number 700 for her career.  She sits as the winningest female coach in Minnesota basketball history and is number 3 overall for all girls basketball coaches.  She has led Alexandria to the state tournament 12 times capturing the state title in 1997.  Her team is red hot again this season and is currently ranked #3 in class AAA.   For part two of this episode we are joined by the winningest head basketball coach in MN state history girls OR boys and that is Mike Dreier from New London-Spicer.  Mike's team success and numbers speak for themselves over his 45 seasons as head coach.  He currently has 1,062 wins and boasts an amazing 84% career winning percentage.  He also ranks number 13 nationally for most wins in the history of girls high school basketball.  Mike has led the Wildcats to the state tournament a record 20 times and has two state championships winning it all in 1997 and 2002.  This year's squad is again ranked in the top 5 in class AA and is looking for another trip back to state.  

Ryan James from Prep Hoops joins the program again to chat all things MN boys high school basketball.  He recaps the Breakdown tip off classic, speaking on some of the great games and top performances.  He also dives into a preview for each of the four classes for the boys high school season and who he sees as some of the top contenders to win it all as well as some of the players to watch.  We also get into some Mr. Basketball talk and some Gopher men's hoops.

Back for his third appearance on the show - Grant McGinnis from Prep Girls Hoops joins the show to preview the MN girls high school basketball season and also recaps the recently completed Breakdown Girls Tip-Off Classic which brings in a good amount of the best teams and players to play on one weekend in the metro.  Grant shares his thoughts on some of the top performances from that event along with his take on who the top teams are to watch in each of the four classes for MN girls basketball.

In the MIAC conference there are two schools that you need to start paying attention to as an opponent or a basketball fan if you haven't before.  Both St. Mary's University and Macalester College have had tough seasons on the hardwood in the not so distant past but in the last 5 seasons have taken some steps to no longer be a pushover in their conference.  I am joined by the head coaches of each program – Joe Fano and Abe Woldeslassie to talk about their journeys.  Both coaches are entering their 6th season leading their schools. At St. Mary's – the season prior to Coach Fano arriving they finished 1 – 24 and in a short time Joe has the Cardinals headed in the right direction as they have had 3 appearances in the MIAC post-season tournament in his 5 years and also led the school to their first MIAC playoff win in school history! At Macalester – the Scots had won just 35 games in the 10 seasons prior to Coach Woldeslassie taking over and he also has had a positive influence on his program leading the Scots to the MIAC playoffs in back to back seasons, including the championship game in 2021-22 doing so as #6 seed which had never before happened in MIAC history. For both of them this is their first head coaching job at any level and we discuss what prepared them for their jobs, some of their most memorable moments at their schools so far and the keys to sustaining momentum.

For this episode the Bare's Den podcast producer (Dan Schultz) takes over the hosting duties and interviews two longtime pro sports executives.  The host of the Bare's Den - Matt Bare who has worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves for 20 years and the longest tenured employee for the Minnesota Timberwolves - Jeff Munneke who has been with the club for 35 years!They both share how they got their start in sports, what has kept them in sports for that long, what some of the challenges are and the things they enjoy most.  Enjoy this episode as it provides a little look behind the curtain of the sports life in the business office.

Our guest for this episode is former Perham High School boys basketball head coach and newly hired M State Community College head men's coach - Dave Cresap.  Coach Cresap has coached the last 37 seasons of high school basketball, including the last 28 seasons in Perham.  Dave got that program going in the right direction taking the helm in 1995 and finishes his high school career with a record of 666 – 298, good for a 69% career winning percentage and sits at #8 all time in MN boys history for number of wins.  Dave led the Yellow Jackets to five state tournament appearances including a state championship in 2011.  We dive into that 2011 season, the secret to all of the success he's had at Perham and why now was time to step out of high school coaching and into college coaching.

Mandy just finished her 8th season as head coach of the Bulldogs and what a season it was!  Led by Division 2 player of the Year – Brooke Olson, UMD made it all the way to the national championship game for the first time in school history.  Mandy did not set out to become a basketball coach but is glad to find herself in that profession.  She started out at Division 3 – St. Mary's in Winona where she directed that program to an amazing turnaround including the best single season record in school history.  She has continued that success in Duluth where her team has won 4 NSIC championships.  I really enjoyed hearing from Mandy about their exciting run to the Final Four this year and how special it was for their team.

Bryan is fresh off leading his team to the Minnesota boys basketball class 4A state title.  This is Bryan's second title in three seasons with the Trojans and he has built a very successful program, but it wasn't always that way as the school had a 58 year drought between state tournament appearances.  Not only is does Bryan coach at a high level but he played at a high level as well as he still holds a couple of 3-point shooting records in the MIAC from his days at St. Thomas.  We chat about his playing days, getting a head coaching job at the age of 23 and how Wayzata has built such a strong program. 

We bring back Ryan James from the Breakdown and Prep Hoops to preview the upcoming Minnesota boys high school state basketball tournament.  Ryan runs us through each class, gives us some the top players and picks his winner for each class.  We also cover the Mr. Basketball finalists.

Jake Sullivan is one of the greatest shooters to every lace them up in a Minnesota gym.  Jake starred for Tartan high school graduating in the year 2000 but not before he put up some massive statistics.  Jake amassed over 3,000 points in his high school career and led Tartan to the Class 4A state title in his senior season.  From there he went on to have a great career at Iowa St. including being selected as Big 12 freshman of the year.  Injuries cut his post college career short but he'll always be remembered as one of the best in the metro.

For this episode we bring back our mini-series on Minnesota basketball legends as we are joined by Jordan Taylor.  Jordan was a standout player at Benilde-St. Margaret's High School.  He led the Red Knights to the state championship in 2008 along with fellow star player Armond Battle.  Jordan graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer and also won the Mr. Basketball award his senior season.  Following high school Jordan went on to play for the University of Wisconsin where he helped guide the Badgers to the NCAA tournament in all 4 years he was there.  He received All-American honors and was recently inducted into the Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame.  He is currently playing basketball in England and is on year 11 playing overseas.

For this episode we connect with Mountain Iron-Buhl girls varsity basketball head coach – Jeff Buffetta.  Jeff has led the MIB girls program for the past 20+ seasons and has established that program as one of best in the state at the Class 1A level having reached the state tournament 11 of the last 12 seasons.  Oh and by the way Jeff is also the head boys varsity coach at MIB where he has now led the boys program for 4 seasons.  Jeff is one of less than 5 coaches in the country that is coaching both a girls and boys varsity program at the same time.  We chat about why he decided to take on both roles, how he balances both and the craziest week he's had coaching both teams.  

This episode is a dive into the Minnesota boys high school basketball season with Ryan James from Prep Hoops and Breakdown Sports.  Ryan recaps the recently completed Breakdown Tipoff Classic and share his thoughts on some of the exciting games and big performances that came from that event.  He also gives a nice preview for each class of MN basketball this season from 1A to 4A and highlights the top players in each class.  And finally Ryan shares some of the names to watch for as favorites for Mr. Basketball. 

Grant McGinnis from Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota is back as a guest to preview the Minnesota high school girls basketball season and I could not think of a better person to have on than him to give his insight.  Grant shares his thoughts from the Breakdown Girls Tip-Off Classic that was held recently at Hopkins and highlights some of the big games and performances he witnessed.  We also get into discussing the girls season and hear his thoughts on some of top teams and players in each class.   

Coach Tauer is back as a guest as we discuss their school's unprecedented jump from Division 3 to Division 1.  We chat about last season for his team as it was their first year as a division one program as a member of the Summit League.  They played with basically the same roster as their previous season which was made up of players recruited to play at the D-3 level.  They had a nice first year winning 10 games including 4 in conference.  We look at the recruits they are bringing in and chat about the early start to this season as they play in year two as a D-1 program.  

This episodes guest is professional golfer – Erik Compton.  Erik has an unbelievable story both on and off the golf course and is someone that many around the country admire.  Erik is a two-time heart transplant recipient who received his first transplant when he was just 12 years old.  In his 20's Erik had a heart attack while driving and ended up needing a second heart transplant.  Erik has been on the pro golf circuit for 22 years now and growing up he was the #1 ranked junior golfer in the country and then attended the University of Georgia.  One of the biggest moments of his career came in 2014 when he finished second at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.  I've been wanting to have Erik on since I started this show and the reason for that is my family has a connection to him that I had no idea about until a day watching golf on the TV with my wife in 2014.  Erik is a big supporter and spokesman within the transplant community and started the Erik Compton Foundation to support organ donation research and education.

University of Minnesota head men's basketball coach – Ben Johnson joins for this episode.  Ben is entering his second season leading the Gophers program and is also a former Gopher player himself.  Ben was also a star locally at DeLaSalle high school where he helped lead them to 2 state championships.  For this episode we discuss Coach Johnson's first season as head coach, building a program on the fly and for the future, his DeLaSalle days and how much he enjoyed football and which college coach he's been around that has the most colorful language. We also chat about having his former high school coach (Dave Thorson) on his staff, how good Jamison Battle can be and where the Denzel Washington Twitter graphic idea came from for when the team announces a new recruit on social media.

For this episode I am joined by a former girls varsity basketball coach, current social studies teacher and author – Carl Pierson.  Carl spent 17 seasons as head coach at 4 different high schools and is also the executive director of the MN girls basketball coaches association.  He is also the author of two books – “The Politics of Coaching” and “The Other Side of Glory”.  Carl and I chat about his head coaching days, how basketball helped shape him as a person, AAU basketball, his favorite Twitter account and his current bout with cancer.

Our guests for this episode are two former University of Minnesota basketball teammates – Jim Shikenjanski and Richard Coffey.  Jim and Richard were apart of the same recruiting class playing from 1986 - 1990 and were also a part of the team in Coach Clem Haskins first year as coach.  Their team had struggles at first but found success as they reached the Sweet 16 in their junior season and the Elite 8 as seniors.  We discuss those Gopher teams and what made it so memorable to be a part of them.  Both Jim and Richard also have their own kids that happen to have pursued basketball at a high level.  Jim's son Max is a soon to be senior at Stillwater HS and stars on the football field and the basketball court.  Richard has had three kids play D-1 college basketball including his son Amir who followed in his footsteps at the U of M and is now in the NBA.  We hear from them on what it's like to see their own kids go down the path of a college athlete as a former athlete, how they've handled the struggles and what advice they share with their kids. 

Joining me for this episode are two newly retired MN boys high school basketball coaches – Kris Fadness from Austin and Dana Kallman from Chaska.  Between the two of them they were in the head coaching role for 47 seasons and have combined for nearly 800 wins.  Both have coached their team in the state tournament, won numerous conference titles and were passionate about coaching the kids in their communities.  They are also stepping aside at a time where they are both in their 50's and arguably have a lot left in the “coaching tank”.  In this episode we discuss what life is like for a high school varsity head coach and the year-long grind it has become, why they retired and where they see high school basketball in 15 years.  Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Kris Fadness and Dana Kallman.

In this episode we explore the world of Junior College Basketball.  I think it's slightly misunderstood and is an important area in the collegiate basketball landscape.  Joining me are two legendary Minnesota coaches that were both successful coaches in the JUCO world.  Jay Pivec has over 600 wins and a good majority of those came from his time as head coach at Minneapolis Community College.  Jay was recognized as national junior college coach of the year in 2009 and was inducted into the national junior college hall of fame in 2010.  And the second guest- Ron Larson just retired as the head coach at Anoka-Ramsey Community College.  Ron amassed over 700 wins as coach at ARCC and St. Francis high school and is in the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.Ron and Jay explain the differences in the three divisions of JUCO basketball, where most players that go the JUCO route play at the next level and why JUCO basketball is important.  This episode is a must listen for those wanting to learn more about junior college basketball or are looking to play at that level.

Timberwolves radio play-by-play voice Alan Horton joins for this episode to chat about his path in broadcasting and the Timberwolves.  Alan's career has brought him to San Diego, Seattle and then to Minnesota.  He was the play-by-play voice for the Minnesota Lynx during their championship seasons of 2011 and 2013 and has now been the voice of the Timberwolves for 15 seasons.  Alan shares what it's like to broadcast solo all of these years, what goes into his preparation and then we dive into the upcoming 1st round series of the Wolves & Grizzlies.  Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Alan Horton.

This episode newly crowned Minnesota class 4A boys state champion head coach James Ware of Park Center high school joins the show.  James led the Pirates to a 31-1 and record this season and the first boys basketball state title in school history.  James was also  a decorated player himself starring at Hopkins high school and playing in college for both Colorado St. and Texas Tech.  Hear about his path as a player, becoming a coach and the magical season for Park Center this year.  Check it out!

We brought back Ryan James from Prep Hoops, North Star Hoops and Breakdown Sports to preview the 2022 Minnesota boys state high school basketball tournament.Ryan gives his thoughts on some of the top teams and players and gives his prediction on a winner for each class.  We also touch on some MN Mr. Basketball and Gopher men's hoops as well.

The mini-series on Minnesota basketball legends continues as we are joined by Randy Breuer.  Randy was a dominating big man in Lake City who was 6 foot 8 as an 8th grader and grew to reach 7 foot 3.  Randy helped lead Lake City to back to back to state championships in 1978 and 1979 where they finished the 79 season undefeated.  He was also the Minnesota Mr. Basketball co-winner in 1979.  He then went on to play for the hometown University of Minnesota Golden Gophers where he led the team in scoring and rebounding his last three years.  He was also a big part of that Gopher team that won the 1982 Big Ten regular season title.  Big Bru was drafted in the 1st round by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1983.  He played 11 seasons in the NBA including three with the Minnesota Timberwolves.  We are joined in this conversation by fellow Lake City alum Jeff Munneke.  We discuss Randy's career, how a slab of cement by the hog barn helped hone his skills and how the Gophers won their 1982 Big Ten championship.  Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Randy Breuer.

Basketball is in the family to say the least for Isaiah Dahlman.  His grandfather (John Kundla) was the first coach for the Minneapolis Lakers and also coached at the University of Minnesota.  His brother Noah and sister Rebekah were also prep stars that went on to play collegiately at the D1 level.Isaiah was one of the best players in the entire state in the early 2000's at Braham High School and led an amazing three year run for their school winning 3 straight class 2A state basketball championships.  Isaiah finished his high school career as the state's all-time leading scorer with 3,366 points and was also voted Mr. Basketball in 2006.  From Braham he took his skills to Michigan St in the Big 10.  Although he ended up not having a huge role on those successful Michigan St teams hear how Isaiah still felt his career was a success and why Coach Izzo called him the “ultimate Spartan”.  

Starting with this episode we are going to bring back the mini-series on MN basketball legends.  Last season's guests were some of our most popular episodes where we had on Barry Wohler, Janet Karvonen, Blaine Joerger, Coach John Carlson and his son Alex and Khalid El-Amin.  This season I'm excited to speak with a few more players that were standouts on the hardwood here in Minnesota.  Dusty Rychart is our first guest and I couldn't be more excited to share this episode with you.  Dusty was a true grinder growing up on the iron range in Grand Rapids, MN.  Dusty has an amazing story of hard work and perseverance that led him to the University of Minnesota as a walk-on and ultimately to professional basketball in Australia.  Here how Dusty constantly kept betting on himself,  relying on his hard work and used the fuel from his doubters to help reach his goals and become a very consistent – reliable layer wherever he played.Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Dusty Rychart.

The 24th Winter Olympic Games are about to begin and who better to have on as a guest than an Olympic gold medalist.  John Shuster from Chisholm, MN will be the skipper for the US men's Olympic curling team again this year and will be participating in his 5th Olympic games.  John and his US squad won the first ever curling Olympic gold medal for the United States back in 2018 and he is looking forward to defending their title in Beijing.  Also joining for this episode is my friend Jared Carver who joined for a couple of earlier episodes around the Summer Olympics. We chat with John about what type of shape his gold medal is in, if he likes being mic'd up on the ice for a match and how the popularity of the sport of curling has taken off since they won the gold medal.

Gerald Kingbird from Red Lake joins the program for this episode.  He shares how important the game of basketball is to those on the reservation in his area and beyond.  We're also approaching the 25th anniversary of one of the most memorable Minnesota state tournament games of all time, where Gerald's Red Lake team took on Wabasso.  As a sophomore in that game Gerald helped lead his team all the way back from 19-point 4th quarter deficit to send the game to overtime.  They lost in OT 117 - 113,, but put on quite a show and there are still a few records from that game in 1997 that still stand today.  We also found out how many points he needed to score in a high school game to get his first kiss from his girlfriend (who is now his wife).  Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Gerald Kingbird.

There can't be many media members in the local market or nationwide for that matter that work as hard or are as involved in many ventures as Justin Gaard.  Justin is very prevalent on KFAN and is best known as the producer for the popular "Bumper to Bumper" show with Dan Barreiro.  "JG" or "Gaardsy" as he is affectionately known is also the sideline reporter for Golden Gopher football and is the new play by play voice for Gopher women's basketball.Gaardsy joins the Bare's Den to talk about his early days at KFAN, gives us a Gopher football bowl preview and recaps the Gopher women's hoops season to this point.  Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Justin Gaard.

Ryan James from Prep Hoops is back as our guest this episode to preview the Minnesota boys high school basketball season.  Ryan gives us his prediction of a state champion for each class.  We also spend time discussing one of Minnesota's biggest prep basketball events in the Breakdown Tipoff Class which is taking place this weekend.  Finally the show wraps up discussing the Minnesota Gopher men's basketball team and their hot start.

The Minnesota boys and girls high school basketball seasons will be tipping off very soon and this weeks guest has a lot to look forward to.  Tara Seifert is the head girls basketball coach at Chaska high school. She led her team to the class 4A state championship last season capping off an undefeated run finishing 18-0 and securing the school's first ever girls title.  A highlight of their state tournament run was ending Hopkins High School's state record tying 78-game winning streak in the semi-finals.Her squad has a good returning core of players highlighted by University of Minnesota commit - Mallory Heyer and hopes to pull off a repeat championship.  We also get into Tara's collegiate playing days at Iowa St.Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Tara Seifert.

This episodes guest is Mounds View head football coach Aaron Moberg.  Aaron played high school football at Mounds View and then played collegiately for Bethel.  Aaron has been both the head girls hockey coach and football coach at Mounds View, and has led both teams to a state tournament appearance.  I had heard a lot of good things about Aaron as a coach and how he engages the community to build his football program.  We discuss their mission and values as a program and I found it very educational.  Like it is for many coach's out there, it's about more than wins and losses for Aaron in how he leads his young men.Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Aaron Moberg.

After a little time in between episodes we are back and Matt connects with Chad Hartman for a discussion on his time with KFAN, his Timberwolves broadcasting days and the one-year anniversary of the passing of his father - Sid Hartman.  They also get into some fun back and forth with Chad on a segment of overrated/underrated/properly rated that he uses on his own show at WCCO.  Chad has been in the business for 30 years and counting and is a broadcasting great.   Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Chad Hartman.

Basketball shoes and sneaker culture are a fascinating and popular topic for many, whether it be the original Jordan's to the collaboration of sneaker releases with pop culture stars like Travis Scott.  Basketball shoes that were once worn just on the basketball court are now popular with men and women off the court and even accepted as appropriate with business casual attire.  Who better to discuss this topic with than someone who lived that world for over two decades.  Archie McEachern was a successful Nike executive for 28 years including 9 of those years working specifically in basketball.  In this episode we discuss the evolution and history of basketball shoes, how athletes get recruited to companies like Nike, the popularity of the game and sneaker culture in Asia and what it was like working with stars like Kobe Bryant. Following his lengthy tenure at Nike Archie is still involved in the basketball world with a new venture that he is passionate about called 360 Hoops, which is company that came up with an exciting new product for the game of basketball that is a 3-backboard design that offers a unique approach to 3 on 3 basketball and also training development.   Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Archie McEachern

Our discussion around the upcoming Summer Olympics continues and who better to join us for this chat, than someone who actually competed in the Olympics themselves.  Carrie Tollefson was standout runner at Dawson-Boyd high school here in MN where she was a 13-time state champion.  She has been inducted into both the Minnesota high school hall of fame as well as the national high school hall of fame.  Carrie attended Villanova University where she was a 5-time NCAA champion and the 1998 NCAA Indoor Track athlete of the year.  In her post collegiate career she was a three time national champion and after winning the 1500m trials in 2004 she competed in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens. Carrie now spends here time doing some on air work for running events for various networks, has her own podcast and is a married mom to three children.  My friend Jared Carver joins me again for this episode as we talk with Carrie about the stress of making the Olympics, what her Olympic experience was like and walking into the opening ceremonies with men's basketball team and LeBron James.

For this episode I connect with my friend Jared Carver to chat some Duke basketball and the upcoming summer Olympics.  Jared is a sports encyclopedia and two topics that he knows a tremendous amount about are Duke hoops and the Olympics.  We share our thoughts on how we met at a Duke game a few years ago, the final upcoming season for Coach K at Duke and our favorite Duke player.  In looking at the upcoming summer Olympics we explore the topics of these games being the first without three huge stars, Minnesota athletes to keep an eye on and other storylines to watch for.  Throughout this episode I also test Jared on his knowledge of college mascots as he knows virtually all of the 353 D1 schools that play college basketball.

The movie Hoosiers is universally adored among sports fans, especially hoops junkies.  It is loosely based on a magical season from 1954 of a small Indiana school called Milan, who made it all the way to the Indiana state championship where their small school, which had an enrollment of 160 took down much larger Muncie Central whose school size was 1,600.  In the movie the winning shot in the state title game was made by a sharp-shooter named Jimmy Chitwood.  Back in 1954 that game-winning shot was made by a young man named Bobby Plump.  Bobby is now 84 years old and still lives in Indiana.  I connected with Bobby to talk about that magical season where Milan made history, how much of the movie Hoosiers is accurate based on what happened with their team and his thoughts on the Indiana state basketball tournament switching to a multi-class system.  I can't imagine what it was like to make a basket for your team to win a state tourney in a major upset, let alone have that moment made into a movie.  Bobby does a great job going back in time to share those details with me.