Gem Sessions Podcast

We’re back with week 3 of the Dizzy Runs Pro Am , the premier summer pro league in the Midwest! This week we chopped it up with the co-founder of the Dizzy Runs, Dizzy himself! Aka: Derick Grant, the world-renowned mindset coach. We also had some special guest hosts, Djimon Henson & Kobe Webster, who caught up with Kolby King & Pierre Brooks II of Butler University.

We’re back with week 2 of the Dizzy Runs Pro Am, the premier summer pro league in the Midwest! This week we got the chance to chop it up with several more players, including Kyle Guy, Aaron Henry, Derek “Hawk” Hawthorne, Zac Owens and Jordan Walker. We even got a surprise on-the-fly interview with the founder of Hoosier Shooting Academy, Paul Swartz, and the Gem Sessions intern, Delaney Seaman. Ch...

The Gem Sessions Podcast is BACK! For Season 3, we're coming live each week from the Dizzy Runs Pro Am, the premier summer pro league in the Midwest, founded by Kyle Guy & Derrick Grant. Each week, we'll have short interviews with some of the players and content creators that come out to the Dizzy Runs. Week 1 was a blast, we caught up with former NBA player & current NBA coach, Ja...

Max Landis is a pro basketball player from Indianapolis, currently signed with FC Porto in Portugal through 2025. After a great high school career at Perry Meridian, Max decided to go to Gardner-Webb to start his college career. After 2 seasons there, he decided to transfer closer to home and finish his career at Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW at the time). The catch? He was going to be a walk-on at Purd...

Kelsey Barlow — aka Stambi — is much more than a pro basketball player. Growing up in Europe, Kelsey didn’t specialize in basketball — or sports — at a young age. First it was piano, then horse-back riding, then way down the line basketball eventually became his passion. And that passion has taken him back to Europe & all around the globe over the last decade+ of his pro career. Kelsey was a s...

Tony Hicks is currently in his 7th professional season, having played in countries like Hungary, Germany, Venezuela and more, but this basketball career wasn’t always a dream of his. Tony actually grew up in Chicago wanting to be the next great NFL quarterback, modeling his game after Chicago legend Donovan McNabb. Tony mentioned that this “late bloomer” timeline actually helped his basketball car...

In this solo episode, we're just taking a break from interviews to reflect on a year of podcasting! This is our 1-year anniversary and we're celebrating the growth, progress and evolution of the show. Host, Justin Ochoa, takes some time to share some Gem Sessions updates: The Gem Sessions Foundation , a 501c3 nonprofit organization we launched this year! Our mission is to empower young stu...

John Murry has never had it easy. Although he is currently the reigning league MVP in Morocco and accomplished a Cup Championship in his first season in the league, it was a long uphill climb to reach that level. John joins us to tell his story. He starts by detailing his unique high school to college transition. John was nearly an ineligible and un-recruitable high school senior due to fraudulent...

Today's episode features Natalie Achonwa, a multiple time Olympic athlete, WNBA vet and an executive member of the WNBPA. Natalie joins the show to discuss the WNBA expansion, how we can continue to elevate women’s basketball and how recently becoming a mother has impacted her on and off the court. We start off by reflecting on Nat’s unique basketball background, growing up in Canada and speci...

Today's episode features Djimon Henson, a current professional hooper for Salon Vilpas in the top division in Finland. Prior to his current team, Djimon spent time in the NBA G-League and played college basketball at Morehead State. Djimon shares the ups and downs of his career, including all of the stops between college and pro. He tells stories from the TBL, a semi-pro domestic league that h...

Today we’re joined by Stephanie Mavunga to discuss her WNBA and EuroLeague career, her collegiate career at two of the most historic universities in the world and her goals for the upcoming season coming off a severe shoulder surgery. Stephanie is originally from Zimbabwe, but moved to Indiana at a young age before she ultimately went on to win Indiana Miss Basketball, one of the most coveted hono...

Today we’re joined by Ty Harris of the Connecticut Sun to discuss her journey to the WNBA -- reflecting on her rookie season in The Wubble, her draft-day experience, the growth she’s had on and off the court and her professional goals as she becomes a “vet” in the WNBA. We start off with Ty’s background and highly decorated high school and college career, then transition into her life in the pros...

We’re back! Super excited to kick off Season 2 of the Gem Sessions Podcast – The Athlete’s Season. For the next several weeks, we’ll be catching up with basketball players all around the world, learning their unique journey & story, getting the behind-the-scenes look at the basketball lifestyle and getting to know these hoopers for the humans they are. In today’s episode, we have Jordan Walker...

Gem Sessions is BACK! We're back with Season 2 -- The Athlete's Season. Over the next few months, we'll be releasing podcast episodes with hoopers. We're talking basketball - on and off the court - with basketball players, learning about them as a humans and not just the talented athletes they are. Also, in this episode is a SPECIAL announcement about the Gem Sessions coaching app!...

In episode 24, I’m joined by the one & only Bobby Whyte! Bobby is the owner of HyPower Performance and the creator of Good Drills - delivering skill development & strength and conditioning training to hoopers all around the world. We start off the conversation by talking about his Good Drills program and how that has evolved over the years. Bobby’s goal with the program is to help athletes...

Episode 23 is truly packed with gems! This week, I’m joined by world-renowned speed coach, Lee Taft . Lee is known all around the globe at THE SPEED GUY, and has influenced a vast majority of the way I look at basketball speed, agility and movement. In this conversation we get to know a little bit about Lee’s coaching journey. From his athletic career, to his early coaching & teaching career a...

Episode 22, I’m joined by Coach Nick from BBallBreakdown ! Coach Nick built BBallBreakdown over a decade ago as a culmination of his all of his talents and interests both in the game of basketball and the world of media. Today, his brand reaches over ONE MILLION fans across social media and it continues to grow daily. Nick has coached, trained and consulted any every level of the game, and brings...

Episode 21 of the Gem Sessions Podcast is a re-share of my recent appearance on the High Performance Hoops Podcast w/ Julian Lo Casto. We have a great conversation about all things basketball training. We get into my journey into S&C + basketball skill development, then dive in on the X's and O's of complete basketball development and end it with some fun hot takes! I had a blast on th...

In episode 20, I chop it up with my friend & former athlete, DeMari Davis. DeMari and I trained together during his basketball career and now he’s pivoted into his new career in modeling and music. It was great to catch up with him and get some updates on how his career in entertainment is taking off so quickly after stepping away from basketball. DeMari is most known as a model, working with...

In episode 19, we’re breaking down the 2023 March Madness brackets with ACC Network / ESPN host, Taylor Tannebaum! Taylor the host of ACC PM on the ACC Network, after she spent the last several years here in Indy working sports for the local news channel WTHR. Taylor was a member at my gym during her time in Indy and continues to be a close friend to this day, so it was great to catch up at the be...

In episode 18, I chat with my friend & current professional basketball player, Brandon Wood. Brandon is currently with USC Rip City in the Australian NBL1 league after playing for the last decade in several different counties such as Greece, Italy, Hungary, Lithuania, Morocco and Austria just to name a few. Brandon has also had stints in the NBA G-League along his overseas journey and particip...

In episode 17, I caught up with my guy Tyler Neal of Run The Show . Run The Show is a full-service basketball development company offering training, coaching, events, clinics and recruiting worldwide with a physical location in Cranberry, PA — as well as local offering throughout Northeast Ohio & Western Pennsylvania. Tyler brings over a decade of coaching experience to the show with previous...

In episode 16, I caught up with Bjorn Broman, the co-founder & co-owner of the Broman Academ y . The Broman Academy works with basketball players from youth to pro, helping players develop on & off the court while being guided by Bjorn & his older brother, Anders, who both had amazing basketball careers & are now passing the torch to the next generation of hoopers. Bjorn grew up in...

In episode 15, I am joined by one of the most interesting minds in the performance world, Joel Smith. Joel, founder of Just Fly Sports , is someone that I’ve looked up to and learned from for years now, so it was an honor to get him on the show to talk jump training for hoopers. Aside from coaching and training, Joel is also a podcast host as well. His podcast, Just Fly Performance Podcast , is a...

In episode 14, I am re-sharing a recent podcast episode that I was fortunate enough to be a guest on! You may remember Justin Castelli from Episode 2 of Gem Sessions — he also has his own podcast called “On Our PRST,” named after his multimedia brand, PRST (pronounced pursuit). PRST is a multi-disciplinary collective founded by Justin Castelli connecting spirit, mind, body, and money in the pursui...