AdventistHoops

The boys head coach and athletic director at San Gabriel Academy in southern California gives context to the success his team has experienced in the California Interscholastic Federation in Division 2. Kevin talks about how he grew the program from the lower divisions into a perennial contender at higher divisions. He shares his perspective on playing at the Southwestern Adventist University tourn...

Oakwood University's men's head coach started his basketball journey with OU as a student in the 1980's playing on a touring team that visited churches and conferences, playing host teams as a recruiting tool. From his days with that original Ambassadors team to becoming an assistant and eventually head coach of the men's team in 2015, Simon has sought to keep the spiritual and personal developmen...

North Tampa Christian Academy’s athletic director talks about his experience joining a brand new school in 2019 with a blank slate on which to build an athletic program. Over the past several years, NTCA has become the best overall Adventist basketball program in the country; in the 2023-2024 AdventistHoops post-season rankings, the boys were ranked #1 and the girls were #3 for Adventist teams. Se...

Southwestern Adventist University’s men’s head coach talks about playing in the NCCAA, success at an Adventist round-robin tournament at Union College this year, and why he takes his team to play a division one NCAA school every year. The guys discuss how difficult it is to try to coach more than one team in a season, as Tyler did early in his career, and what it’s like organizing the largest Adve...

Walla Walla University junior guard Andrew Vaughan came out of the proud tradition at Portland Adventist Academy, but also emphasizes how important his experiences outside of Adventist basketball were to get him to where he's at today. Without compromising his Sabbath beliefs, he found ways to participate in AAU and The Grind Session (an elite prep basketball circuit), which helped him to make the...

Brothers Blake and Braden Essex play for Union College ("Union Adventist University" starting in May 2024) in Nebraska. Their basketball journey has gone from playing together in Colorado at Mile High Academy, to living apart when Blake started college at Union and Braden moved to Texas, to being reunited on the court again this season at Union. The Essex boys talk about their basketball influence...

Washington Adventist University Shock third-year guard Michael Brown shares his experience growing up in the DMV and attending both Spencerville and Takoma Academies in Maryland. He shares his favorite high school accomplishments, including playing alongside his older brother for two years, and attending the Southwestern Adventist University Hoops Classic five years in a row. Mike reflects on why...

KiAndre Gaddy currently plays for NCAA Division 1 Tarleton State University in Texas. Previously he played at Walla Walla University after finishing his high school career at North Dallas Adventist Academy. In 10th grade, everything changed for KiAndre when he went from playing middle linebacker in New Jersey, to moving across the country to Dallas, Texas, and playing organized basketball for the...

Kevin Mitchell has coached at numerous levels of basketball, and has extensive experience in skill development as a trainer. He’s worked with youth players all the way up to NBA players like Jayson Tatum and Joel Embiid through “Pure Sweat” and trainer Drew Hanlen, one of the top NBA trainers in the game. Kevin was the California Pacific Conference Coach of the Year in 2020, when he led the La Sie...

Jered Lyons' journey has come full circle. Born at Washington Adventist Hospital, he grew up Seventh-day Adventist while playing high school and college ball at non-Adventist schools that were accommodating of the Sabbath. He now serves at Washington Adventist University's athletic director and women's head coach, where he's been since 2014. With a background in communications and design, Jered br...

Brandon Broome joins the podcast to share his basketball journey that has led him to become the men's basketball head coach at Walla Walla University. Brandon won a USCAA national championship as a player in 2008 for Oakwood University, and talks about the challenges of transitioning to coaching after playing at a high level. Brandon discusses some of the hurdles that prevent Adventist colleges fr...

Jerry McFarland joins the podcast to talk about his basketball journey that finds him as men's basketball head coach at Washington Adventist University. Jerry has more than 30 years of experience, including coaching future NBA players in AAU and four years as head coach at Takoma Academy in Maryland, among other stops. Jerry reflects on how the game has changed from when he played, and touches on...

Union College men's basketball head coach Drew Mekelburg joins Dustin Comm to talk about recruiting, traditional basketball skill instruction that is changing, and the challenges of serving as both a basketball coach and athletic director. Drew is going into his fifth year as head coach in Lincoln, and shares his goals of building up young people in the form of legendary Union basketball figure, R...

Walla Walla University women's head coach Tony Nakashima joins Dustin Comm to share his coaching journey, from winning a NAIA National Championship with University of Montana Western to serving as a video coordinator at the University of Kentucky, and how those experiences have formed him as he now leads the WWU Wolves. Tony reflects on how he's matured as a coach, how we can close the skill/exper...

Andrews University's first-year women's head coach, Kia Williams, joins Dustin Comm to talk about expectations heading into her first season at her alma mater. Williams played for the Cardinals for four years, was an assistant coach for two years, and now takes the reins at the helm. Williams talks about the strongest quality she looks for in prospective recruits, why one of her top priorities in...