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Former Canadian national team member shares what it was like playing with Steve Nash, growing up Seventh-day Adventist in Toronto, and how he navigated the Sabbath throughout his university and professional career that took him around the globe. As one of the creators of SlamBall, Rob shares how that sport opened up opportunities in sports entertainment for him, and led to him represent players as an agent, which he still does today.
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The new head coach at Division 1 Grambling State University talks about his Adventist roots, from playing in Adventist church league in Takoma Park, Maryland, to Takoma Academy (TA), to La Sierra University, where he quickly got his first coaching opportunities while still a college student there. Patrick returned home to coach TA for a year before starting as assitant athletic director at then NCAA Division 2 Washington Adventist University (WAU), just down the street. He was quickly promoted to head athletic director and became the men’s head basketball coach, turning around a losing program through a culture shift where losing was not accepted as the standard.
In 2014 Patrick led WAU to a USCAA National Championship, and after transitioning to NAIA, later went on to beat two Division 1 schools and win their conference. He talks about just how good the level of competition is at the NAIA level after spending so many years coaching there. In the 2021-2022 season Patrick took a job at Saint Thomas University where he led them to the most wins in school history, and a conference title in 2023-2024.
That summer, at the invitation of his former TA and La Sierra teammate, Brian Wright, General Manager for the San Antonio Spurs, Patrick had the opportunity to be a guest coach for the Spurs during summer league. It was Victor Wembanyama's rookie year, so Patrick describes the hoopla surrounding the team and what it was like to sit on the first row of the bench as an NBA assistant for a game.
After the summer experience with the Spurs and taking Saint Thomas to the NAIA Sweet 16, Patrick got the call from Division 1 Florida A & M University (FAMU). He admits that he wanted the job so bad, he didn’t seek God’s guidance, because he didn’t want God to say “no.” Though he led FAMU to it’s first conference tournament win in school history, there were significant challenges, and after getting an opportunity at Grambaling State and consulting God, he made the transition to Louisiana for the 2025-2026 season.
Patrick talks about the biggest change going from NAIA to the Division 1 level, how he’s learned to handle the media, and how he’s developed as a coach without working much as an assistant all these years. He gives advice to Adventist kids to not let anyone determine your goals, how excited he was to watch the AdventistHoops All-American Weekend, and commits to being a part of the next All-American Weekend (pending any NCAA restrictions).
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The media team for the first-ever AdventistHoops All-American Weekend assembles to relive their experience behind the scenes of this historic event. From a fun media day, to filming highlights, to conducting interviews for a documentary film, Jason Meredith, Jared Gonzalez, Kwame Roberts II, and Eleazar Williams share their perspectives on how the experience impacted them. The guys discuss what it was like working as a team to make sure nothing was missed, how they not only captured media but edited that media quickly to be posted or viewed in-person, and how the characters of the forthcoming documentary represented Adventist basketball.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the All-American Saturday night all-star games, you can watch on the AdventistHoops YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/live/GDHO86CEs40?feature=share
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Recent graduate of Portland Adventist Academy, Dane Petersen, and incoming junior at Mile High Academy, Addy Dodds, join the show to talk about their experience at the first-ever AdventistHoops All-American Weekend. The group discusses their overall experience at the July 31-August 2 weekend, the specifics of the schedule on Thursday and Friday, and analyze the all-star festivities on Saturday night. The athletes share what it was like staying at La Sierra University, learning from our Adventist college coaches, uncovering strategies from sports psychologists, and playing with other high-level Adventist athletes. The two also talked about how important the event was to them personally and how supported they felt from the Adventist community during these historic national Adventist high school all-star games.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the All-American Saturday night, you can watch on the AdventistHoops YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/live/GDHO86CEs40?feature=share
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After seeing how his Sabbath observance was honored in high school in Canada, and the potential he saw in Adventist youth around him as an adult, Aldin and his wife started the Basketball Factory in Calgary, Alberta. Their club teams play in high level tournaments across the country, maintain an Adventist code of conduct, and don’t play on the Sabbath.
Aldin talks about the logistics of running traveling teams, the openness of tournament organizers to schedule games around the Sabbath, and the opportunities he’s seen to witness. He explains the club’s annual schedule, and many Adventist families’ concern that playing basketball will eventually lead to compromising on the Sabbath. Aldin opens up about his university career, explaining why he ended up playing on the Sabbath, and why he quit basketball because of it after his second season. Now he encourages Adventist youth to give God the chance to honor their Sabbath decision.
The guys speculate on what it would be like for an Adventist to play in the NBA and how an Adventist Division 1 college would manage playing around the Sabbath. Aldin leaves listeners with advice on how more people could start their own Adventist clubs.
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Pastor Willis shares how he was inspired to create the Northeast Stingers basketball club through his church in North Carolina, and how it’s grown to include multiple age groups and out-of-state tournaments. Head Coach Reggie Todd shares how they fill their schedule, some of the challegnges of coaching a club, and how the experience has benefitted the kids as athletes and young men. They share their 2025 experience at the Newmyer Classic at Andrews University, how they’ve secured funding for their travels, and advice for others out there who see a need to give Adventist kids more experience.
Reggie also shares his experience as a top prospect in South Carolina as a Sabbath-observing Adventist. He went on to play Division 1 basketball for East Tennessee State University, in a program that was supportive of his beliefs.
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Carla shares her basketball journey, from her early days in Maryland playing at Beltsville Adventist School, to a storied high school career at Mesa Grande Academy in California, followed by a challenging college campaign at Pacific Union College. She recounts the horrific, seemingly random shooting she fell victim to while living in Florida that resulted in a spinal cord injury, leaving her in a wheelchair. She describes the feeling of loss, how her life changed, and her journey back to the court as an assistant for the Forest Lake Academy girls. She talks about the practical realities of coaching in a wheelchair, like teaching with words only, instead of being able to physically demonstrate skills. Carla concludes by talking about the 2024-2025 Forest Lake team that made it to the championship game of the Andrews tournament, including some of their leaders.
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The founder of a new company called “Advent Sports” talks about his basketball journey from a small Adventist school in Oregon to playing college ball at Union College (now Union Adventist University), coaching at Campion Academy in Colorado, and eventually serving as an assistant for the women’s team at Walla Walla University (WWU). The guys discuss the ideal number of weekly basketball activities for high school players and how that differs in college, and Caleb talks about how a growing number of Adventist colleges are prioritizing athletics by finding outside money and gaining community support. He explains how his love for Adventist basketball ties back to the common foundation of faith that allows us to have such unique experiences like our Adventist tournaments, and reflects on the leadership and mentorship of WWU head coach Tony Nakashima.
Caleb recalls the origins of Advent Sports, and the goal of equipping Adventist youth with more skill and providing connections to Adventist college coaches. The guys talk about how taking action in starting something can show people what is possible, how the denomination could invest in Adventist sports to grow our reach and brand, and how Adventist youth are demanding change by shooting for higher athletic achievement than past generations.
Check out Advent Sports at www.advent-sports.com.
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La Sierra University’s men’s head coach shares his college basketball coaching journey, which began at the age of 22 under the guidance of his dad at a community college in Southern California. He later joined the staff at Hope International, a top-ranked NAIA program where we worked for five years before getting the opportunity at LSU. Ethan talks about the lasting coaching wisdom from his father, his team's historic conference run in only his second year, and the value he puts on playing NCAA competition (at the time of this recording, LSU had played five D1 opponents in the 24-25 season).
Ethan also explains why he likes to put the decision-making in the players’ hands and allows them to play freely if they’ve proven themselves. He highlights some of the leaders on his roster, why LSU is moving to a new conference next season, and as a non-Adventist, what he has come to appreciate about the Seventh-day Adventist faith. He describes why he looks for maturity above all else in high school prospects, his 3-5 year goal for the program, and why he wears a suit to games when the basketball world is becoming more casually dressed.
Check out Advent Sports at https://www.advent-sports.com/
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Lucio is the athletic director and girls head coach at Loma Linda Academy in California, the largest Seventh-day Adventist school in North America. His career in education began at now-closed San Pasqual Academy, where he started their sports program. He spent 15 years at Mesa Grande Academy, and Loma Linda until today.
Lucio talks about the challenges of building a program at a boarding academy where kids leave for extended spans of time, and how he has supported and mentored his coaches throughout his career until today. The guys discuss some of the Mesa Grande Academy girls championship teams from the 2000s and 2010s, and Lucio breaks down things he’s been able to do at a large school like LLA that he always wanted to do at his previous stops.
Dustin asks Lucio his thoughts about the right balance between playing some Adventist schools versus playing an exclusively non-Adventist schedule, and Lucio talks about how the Adventist Church could become more cohesive and active in corporately evaluating Adventist athletics. The guys preview the 2024-2025 LLA girls team and how their style of play will change with losing a lot of size from last season.
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As a first-year head coach for Andrews University, Jared talks about his vision for the program, which he acknowledges has struggled recently. He talks about his experience with shifting culture and mentality at his prior stops at a Michigan junior college and high school. His father coached at Andrews as a kid, and Jared played for the Cardinals for one season in college, so taking this position is a full circle moment for him.
He talks about the differences of coaching at a junior college versus a four-year university, the challenges of recruiting for a rebuilding program without scholarships, and how he sees AU being a destination for the kids who fall through the cracks in the national recruiting process. He talks about this upcoming 2024-2025 season and who he’s looking to lead on his roster.
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Why don’t Adventist colleges offer full athletic scholarships? How can we compete with other schools that do? What kind of return on investment do our university administrators need to see to invest more heavily in athletic scholarships? This episode features our first-ever panel as we discuss a topic that many people think about, but may not have the context to fully understand the realities that our colleges deal with. To help us in this discussion, Dustin is joined by Javier Krumm, Athletic Director at La Sierra University, Joy Hirdler, Vice President of Financial Administration at Pacific Union College, and Brandon Broome, Head Men’s Coach at Walla Walla University.
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Currently living in Madagascar, Tim played for a local professional club there, and owns a social business called "Tour One Planet" that connects tourists directly to local businesses. He describes his start in basketball as a freshman at Pine Tree Academy in Maine, gaining motivation as he saw individual success at the since-closed Atlantic Union College tournament. He gained experience as a practice player at Washington Adventist University before transferring to Andrews and playing two years. His last season at Andrews he enrolled in a masters program, which in his words, was the least expensive at AU and allowed him to continue playing. The program culminated in a study tour in Madagascar, resulting in Tim’s eventual relocation to the country.
Tim describes what it’s like living and playing in a country that experiences significant poverty, including what his training, practices, and facilities looked like, as there is only one indoor court in the entire country. He describes the adjustments to FIBA rules and the uptempo pace of the game in Madagascar. Finally, Tim shares about his business designed to help local vendors get the most out of tourism opportunities. Check out the business at https://touroneplanet.com/
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Kelvin Green is a lifelong Seventh-day Adventist who played 1.5 seasons for Division 1 Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland, during which time, he did not have to play on the Sabbath. Kelvin talks about the blessings of his time there, and the tensions that grew because of his Sabbath agreement. Ultimately as Kelvin saw more success, he ended up on ESPN’s Cold Pizza morning show, talking about his Sabbath observance and the team dynamics at play with that unique situation. After this, Kelvin transferred to Division 2 California University of Pennsylvania to finish his playing career.
Kelvin reflects on his recruiting process as a high schooler and how the Sabbath affected the offers he received. He also gives advice to current prospects who are dealing with the Sabbath dilemma, and the guys discuss a number of topics related to Sabbath conviction and basketball.
Kelvin acknowledges that life after his playing career was tough at times. He watched friends continue on to play professionally, wishing he could get an opportunity while still observing the Sabbath. Recently, he was impressed to turn a new page in pursuing ministry, and now attends the Andrews University Theological Seminary in Michigan, where he’s entering his first year as an assistant coach for the men’s team at Andrews.
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The new men's and women’s head coach at Pacific Union College talks about his basketball journey from Takoma Academy (TA), all the way across the country to his current job in Angwin. Along the way he’s played and coached at Southwestern Adventist University, and coached at the high school level at TA and public schools in Arizona.
Landon shares his plan for building a foundation for the program at PUC, talks about the challenges he’ll face in coaching two collegiate teams at once, and what his first orders of business have been. Being hired late into the summer, he takes us inside the mind of a coach who is trying to recruit for a fast-approaching season, including his pitch for players to come to PUC and the emphasis he’s putting on recruiting Adventist players.
Landon breaks down his teams’ deficiencies an his most pressing personnel needs for the upcoming season, and comments on just how helpful athletic scholarships can be in helping to shape a program.
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Sacramento Adventist Academy’s athletic director and girls head coach talks about how he got into coaching as a student missionary in Micronesia, and how he’s built one of the best Adventist girls basketball programs in the country. The guys discuss the proud tradition of SAA basketball, including joining the state athletic association in 2001, and what the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoff structure looks like now.
Kenny reflects on his team’s section championship run in 2023-2024, including a regional final four appearance, and the long-term goal-setting and milestones that have been a part of his plan to build a program since taking the head coaching position. He breaks down the calendar year for basketball activities, from summer practices to summer leagues to weightlifting. He also explains how crucial it is for a coach's support system, like family, and the school administration and parents, to be behind them when committing to build a program.
Kenny talks about incoming senior captain Victoria Fowler, his love/hate relationship with AAU as a high school coach, and why he never complains to the officials anymore.
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The vice principal and interim athletic director at Takoma Academy in Maryland shares some of the rich history of TA basketball, going back to a 1964 game with Pine Forge Academy. Eventually because of concerns about competition, TA got away from playing other Adventist schools and instead began to play non-Adventist schools. Keith credits Coach Bob Paulson with building a strong interscholastic basketball program in the 1980’s that set a foundation for the future. Influential in establishing that culture was Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wooten’s annual camp, hosted at Takoma Academy, where TA students got to attend and work the camp, playing with some of the best players in the area.
Keith lists off his greatest TA teams and players of all time, and the coaching tree that has come out of the school. He talks about the wealth of talent in the greater DMV area, and how TA’s proximity to other great programs has provided opportunities for non-Adventist players to enroll at Takoma over the years. He shares why they continue to return to the Southwestern Adventist University Hoops Classic each year, and how the girls and boys teams are looking for this next season.
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This daughter-father duo from Chisholm Trail Academy in Texas talk about their team’s success the past couple of seasons, culminating in championships this season at the Southwestern Adventist University Hoops Classic and their state playoffs. Ally reflects on the dynamics of playing for her dad, Dennis gives advice to parents on interacting with their kids in a healthy way, and they talk about Ally’s cousin, Chloe Griswell, who led the Lady Blazers in scoring this past season as a freshman. Ally shares her experience as a Dallas Mavericks ball kid, what she is working on over the summer as she makes the jump to college basketball at Walla Walla University, and what her recruiting process was like.
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A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Tamir grew up as an Orthodox Jew. He fell in love with the game of basketball and excelled to the point where he was the #25 high school prospect in the country as a 17-year-old. His story became a national headline in places like Time Magazine, 60 minutes, and Sports Illustrated, where he was dubbed the “Jewish Jordan.” This budding fame and media attention led his Jewish school to ask him to play elsewhere for his senior year because it was becoming a distraction. As a devout Jew, his options were limited because of Shabbat observance. Takoma Academy reached out and explained there would be no Sabbath conflicts as an Adventist school, and he transferred. He received a scholarship offer from the University of Maryland with accommodations for Shabbat, but later was told he’d have to play on Sabbath, and eventually signed with Towson University. After a successful freshman year, his coach was fired, and the new coach was not accommodating of Sabbath. Tamir took the opportunity to move to Israel where he played professionally for seven years and still lives to this day.
Tamir talks about the difference between Israeli and American players, how the clubs in Europe are preparing more well-rounded players, and his various entrepreneurial ventures. He also shares how the October 7 attacks impacted his family and community, and how basketball helped to provide a little normalcy for families in his area in the aftermath.
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After 19 years at Orangewood Academy as one of the most successful Seventh-day Adventist basketball coaches in the game, Leslie resigned from his position as athletic director and head girls coach on March 22, 2024. Many in the community felt he was unjustly pushed out, resulting in more than a thousand signatures on an online petition in support of the school retaining him. Leslie shares his background growing up in the Church, attending Orangewood as a student, and how he built up such a successful athletic program over the years. He reflects on some of the accomplishments he’s most proud of, from baptisms, to college student athletes, to the successes and rankings his teams have achieved.
Leslie also delves into some of the philosophical differences and specific grievances that he feels ultimately led to his departure.
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