College  Basketball Coach?  Check College Baseball Coach?  Check High School Basketball Coach?  Check Travel Baseball Coach?  Check Fans, Ed Ward has done it all!  What a great guest for The Greatest Games Podcast!  Coach Ward tells us about his unique journey through sport and about a couple of epic games.  This episode really brings out the spirit of what sport is all about.  Thank you to Coach Ward for coming on the show!   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Rich Gatewood, the new Head Boys Basketball Coach at Moore Traditional School in Louisville, joins Kris and Brian in today’s episode of The Greatest Games Podcast.  Coach Gatewood has one of the most unique stories and journeys through high school basketball that he shares with us in this inspiring episode.  Hear his thoughts on traditional high schools as well as prep schools and how they both play a role in today’s basketball landscape.  Also learn about the value of having connections with college coaches and how that can help your kids at the high school level.  We can’t thank Coach Gatewood enough for coming on the show!   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Join us for today’s episode with 5 time state championship winning coach Chris Roche!  Learn all about how his Wilsonville HS team won back to back state championships in 2019 and 2022.  That’s correct and not a typo!  Coach Roche is an incredible man and has an amazing amount of clarity when it comes to how he coaches and what is shooting for each year.  This episode will challenge and inspire you!   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Coach Fred Hill joins Kris and Brian for the second time to discuss many topics including The Basketball Reunion coming up on April 4 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Team Hill Foundation and Compass Basketball Academy.     Learn more about about each of these ventures and the links below: www.thebasketballreunion.com www.teamhillfoundation.org www.compassbasketball.com   Coach Fred Hill has such infectious energy and we can’t thank him enough for coming back on the show!   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy.   Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

We are excited to bring you New York Times Best Selling Author Ian O’Connor in today’s episode of The Greatest Games Podcast.  He is the author of the brand new book The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski.  This is a MUST read as we witness the end of Coach K’s illustrious coaching career.     Ian shares about his process of writing the book, and about how it was 30 years in the making ever since he sat courtside at the Duke vs. UK 1992 East Regional at the Spectrum when Christian Laettner hit “The Shot.”    We can’t thank Ian O’Connor enough for coming on the show.  We encourage our listeners to check out his library of books here.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy.   Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Jeff Koehler returns to talk about a challenging topic:  Parents and their role in talking with coaches about playing time, etc.  This is a really thought-provoking episode and we can’t thank Coach Koehler for coming back to share some wisdom with us!   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

After a late night of work on The Bash Brian checks in to say hello and talk briefly about The Bash!

Corbin Landers, the head JV and Varsity Boys Basketball coach at Camden Military Academy, joins us for this week’s episode of The Greatest Games Podcast.  Coach Landers has a wide variety of experiences in basketball at a young age and has now landed his first head coaching opportunity in Camden, SC.  Hear his heart for his players and learn more about his “why” in this episode in addition to an incredible game between Charleston Southern and High Point from the mid 2010s.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate  You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Relationships are hard enough, but imagine preparing your team for a big game and, oh by the way, the other team is coached by your spouse!  Well, that’s what happened recently in the Bronx as Rutgers University-Newark, coached by Ashley Cieplicki,  visited The College of Mount Saint Vincent, coached by Phil Stern,  in what we believe is the very first college basketball matchup between spouses.  Hear all about how this game came about, and how special this game was for all who were involved.  Heck, even our very own Kris DeBlasio was able to watch this historic matchup.  We can't thank Ashley and Phil enough for sharing this story with us.   We would also like to shoutout SNARR (Special Needs Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation) as they were a part of the special night as well as the beneficiary of t-shirt sales and donations.  Learn more about this amazing organization at https://snarrnortheast.org/ and adopt Alfie before Brian does!   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate  You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy.   Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

As a basketball player George Selleck was selected as the California Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year, at Stanford he earned All-American honors and then went on to being elected to the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame and the Pac-12 Ring of Honor.  As a coach he was selected TWICE by the Los Angeles Times as the High School Coach of the Year.  But it is not these accomplishments that define George Selleck.  Through Lead2Play, an organization he founded, and the numerous books he has written Dr. Selleck has made it his life’s work to empower youth and to make sports fun for those involved.   In his new book, Kian and Me: Gifts from a Grandson, which is out now at Amazon and other fine retailers, Dr. Selleck walks readers through what Kian, his toddler grandson, is teaching him as his grandfather.  It is a book that we can’t recommend enough to our listeners and one containing endless lessons for adults as seen through the eyes of a toddler.  Pick up a copy today.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Podcast fans, we have taken the week off from a fresh podcast to bring you this gem from the great George Glymph.  We know high school seasons around the country will be starting soon, so what better way to celebrate that than bring you one of the greatest high school coaches of all time,   Coach Glymph has touched countless lives throughout his journey through the world of basketball.  He won 5 state championships at Eau Claire High School in Columbia, SC posting a record of 471-135.  He also won an AAU national championship in 1987.   More than a basketball coach, Coach Glymph earned Teacher of the Year honors twice throughout his career as a math teacher.  He even was an Olympic Torch bearer for the 1996 Summer Olympics!   Brian has this to say about Coach Glymph:  “I grew up idolizing Coach Glymph.  As a young coach working on my craft, I would take note after note every time I heard Coach speak somewhere.  I was blown away by his approach to the game, but more than that, I was blown away by his ability to connect with anyone around him.  To have him help coach our JV guys for a year while I coached Trent, his grandson, was an absolute dream come true.  I learned more about the game, coaching kids and about myself in that year than any year of my coaching career.  I am forever grateful to Coach Glymph for being honest with me, even the times that moved me to tears, because that was what I needed as a coach and as a man.”   Kris has this to say about Coach Glymph: “Having the opportunity to work alongside Coach Glymph was a pleasure I never imagined I would have. His willingness to share his vast depth of knowledge with Brian and I was a true blessing. The most impressive thing about Coach Glymph is his true humility in any situation. While helping us coach a JV basketball team he never once thought he was above us as a coach. As a man of faith he believes in service to others and his life is a reflection of that, and I am humbled to know him and call him a mentor.”    Listeners will hear the heart of Coach George Glymph shine through in this episode.  His love for the game, kids and coaches is infectious, and you’ll quickly hear why he has been so influential around the game of basketball in South Carolina and beyond.   We can’t thank Coach George Glymph enough for joining us on the show.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Rob Carcich is the new head boys basketball coach at Westwood High School in New Jersey.  In this episode hear Coach Carcich talk about his philosophies around teaching young men the game of basketball and life.  He tells a great story about a player that forgot his jacket and how he handles it in the moment.  He has a fascinating journey that began as a volunteer coach at Westwood and now to the head coach there.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Silvio Santander, Assistant Coach for the Argentina National Team AND Head Coach of the Venezuelan professional team Guaiqueríes de Margarita, joins us for this week’s episode of The Greatest Games Podcast.  Coach Santander comes from a basketball family and tells us about his journey from coaching youth basketball to being a professional coach travelling to 29 countries because of basketball.  It was incredible to hear about the similarities and differences amongst the players he has coached and American players.   His message to young coaches and players all over the world:  “Enjoy the game.”  Such great advice!   Thanks to Coach Santander for taking the time to talk with us.  This was a fascinating interview!   And in his honor, we will post these show notes in Spanish as well:   Silvio Santander, entrenador asistente de la selección argentina y entrenador en jefe del equipo profesional venezolano Guaiqueríes de Margarita, se une a nosotros para el episodio de esta semana del podcast de The Greatest Games. El entrenador Santander proviene de una familia del baloncesto y nos cuenta su trayectoria desde ser entrenador de baloncesto juvenil hasta ser un entrenador profesional que viaja a 29 países debido al baloncesto. Fue increíble escuchar acerca de las similitudes y diferencias entre los jugadores que ha entrenado y los jugadores estadounidenses.   Su mensaje a los jóvenes entrenadores y jugadores de todo el mundo: "Disfruten el juego". ¡Qué gran consejo!   Gracias al entrenador Santander por tomarse el tiempo de hablar con nosotros. ¡Fue una entrevista fascinante!   Su mensaje a los jóvenes entrenadores y jugadores de todo el mundo: "Disfruten el juego". ¡Qué gran consejo!   Gracias al entrenador Santander por tomarse el tiempo de hablar con nosotros. ¡Fue una entrevista fascinante!   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy.   Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

JP Nerbun is a former Division I basketball player at The University of South Carolina winning an NIT championship in 2006.  He then moved to Ireland and began his coaching career.  In this episode learn about his journey from a coach that was a “yeller and screamer” to transformational coach and how he started TOC Consulting.  Coaches of all levels will benefit from what JP has to share in this episode as well as the resources he provides on his website and on his very own podcast. Learn more about TOC Consulting at ThriveOnChallenge.com. Catch JP and co-host Nate Sanderson on the Coaching Culture Podcast where they interview leaders and coaches across many different industries.  He even had one of our favorite authors, James Clear, on his show.    We highly recommend reaching out to JP if you are a coach that is ready to do things differently and impact youth long term. Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC. Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time. Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.  

In this week’s episode of The Greatest Games Podcast we visit with Fort Lee’s (NJ) Head Coach, Adam Shrager.  Coach Shrager has had an interesting journey across this great country of ours and has landed in New Jersey where he is an incredibly thoughtful, caring and successful head coach.  This is yet another episode that left us encouraged about the state of basketball and high school sports.     Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

We have heard a lot of great stories throughout 130 episodes of The Greatest Games Podcast, but the story told by Jimmy Kinard easily lands in the top 5 of EPIC greatest games story.   Learn about an enormous rivalry game and how the lights WENT OUT before the final seconds.  Stories like these are why we love sports and especially high school sports.  Click here to read a little more about this amazing story told by Jimmy Kinard.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Larry Davis was named Mr. Basketball in South Carolina, was recruited to UNC, transferred to The University of South Carolina and scored over 1000 points in two years in a Gamecock uniform.  He followed that up with a long and successful career playing overseas.  Needless to say, Larry Davis was a great player.  Here in this episode how he has become a great coach with various stops along the way at high schools and colleges.   Click here to read a story about Lewisville’s state championship under Coach Larry Davis.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

We’re taking a little bit of a diversion from our normal basketball content today and we talk with the great Andrew Kitick.  Andrew is a former Sports Information Director for the University of South Carolina.  He tells us about some incredible Gamecock games as well as the leadership characteristics of Coach Ray Tanner.   Andrew works for the Evans Scholars Foundations.  The Western Golf Association conducts championships for professional and amateur golfers, promotes the use of youth caddies and supports the Evans Scholars Foundation's efforts to award full tuition and housing college scholarships to high-achieving caddies with limited financial means.  Here is their website in order to get involved in a great cause.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Coach James Pulliate has had a fascinating journey from through college and high school basketball to now being an assistant coach at Emerson HS with the great John Ziemba.  This episode takes a deep dive into the idea of a team truly being a family.  Thanks Coach Pulliate for being an awesome guest!   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.

Coach Brian Dunn of Northern Valley Old Tappan joins us for this week’s episode of The Greatest Games Podcast!  Coach Dunn is both the head coach of the girls basketball and football teams there and has led them both to multiple sectional titles.   Coach tells us about an incredible sectional game in 2018 vs. Pascack Valley and the great Jeff Jasper (episode 115 of The Greatest Games Podcast).   Click for an awesome article about the game and see a video from the longest 13 seconds in the history.   Before going any further, please make a donation here to Coach Tacauma Lettsome’s GoFundMe page and help this former basketball coach in his fight against ALS:   https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-tacauma-fight-als/donate   You can learn more about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) here at ALS.org.  Hear more about Coach Lettsome’s story in this link from WLTX TV in Columbia, SC.   Visit TeachHoops.com/816basketball for incredible basketball coaching content and resources from Coach Steve Collins.  Sign up for the two week free trial, learn and grow as a coach and support the show all at the same time.   Share, subscribe and leave us a 5 star review if you enjoy. Follow us on Twitter at @816Basketball.