Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership

Our guest for this episode is Eugene Postolache. He is a basketball coach and ministry leader from Chișinău, Moldova. He previously served as an underage national team coach for Moldova. In 2018, he graduated from FIBA TIME-OUT Project. After spending 10 years with Admirals Basketball Academy, Eugene transitioned in May 2025 to a new role with DiscipleDaily, where he focuses on sports discipleship...

Erik Johnson is the head coach of the University of Denver women’s basketball program, returning to lead the Pioneers in 2026 after previously serving as head coach from 2008 to 2012. During his first stint, he guided Denver to a 72-52 record, four consecutive winning seasons, and the program’s first WNIT appearance. Johnson brings more than 30 years of collegiate coaching experience, including he...

Our guest for this episode is Ronnie Arrow. He is a retired college basketball coach best known for his success at the junior college and NCAA Division I levels, particularly with the University of South Alabama and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. A standout player at Southwest Texas State (now Texas State), Arrow earned All-Lone Star Conference honors before beginning a distinguished coaching caree...

Our guest for this episode is Sarah Boruta. Boruta just completed her 15th season (2025-26) as director of operations for Liberty University women’s basketball, overseeing daily program logistics including budget management, travel, scheduling, game-day operations, equipment, and recruiting support. She also directed the Lady Flames’ summer camps for 14 years, growing participation by 1,000 percen...

Our guest for this episode is Tom Mitchell, Ph. D. He is a Performance Coach and founder of Winning Spirit Coach, helping business leaders, athletes, and high-level performers discover their greatness within. As the former sport psychologist for the NBA's Golden State Warriors and co-author of an Amazon #1 Best Seller, " The Winning Spirit: 16 Timeless Principles That Drive Performance Ex...

Our guest for this first episode of 2026 is Greg Snow. He is the Director of Golf and Manager at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar, Minnesota. A PGA-affiliated professional, Snow brings decades of experience in golf operations, instruction, and community engagement. Prior to Eagle Creek, he spent more than a decade as Director of Golf and clubhouse manager at Olivia Golf Club, where he built strong...

Our guest for this episode is Daniel Nelson. Nelson has over 20 years of international basketball coaching experience. Beginning his career in Ireland with Templeogue, DCU St Vincent’s, Trinity College Dublin and Irish national youth programs, he quickly built a reputation for technical teaching and player development. Since 2011, Nelson has coached across Australia, Europe and beyond, including r...

Jeff Sherman is in his fourth year as Director of Athletics at Central Methodist University, following a remarkable 37-year Hall of Fame career as Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The winningest coach in CMU history, Sherman amassed 668 victories, ranking fourth among active National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) coaches at the time of his retirement and sixth all-time among Missouri...

Cory Holen is a seasoned staffing and search consultant with nearly 14 years of experience at Preference Employment Solutions in Fargo, North Dakota, where he leads the Professional Search Division and plays a key role on the leadership team. A proud University of Jamestown (ND) graduate and former Jimmies football player, Holen brings the discipline, competitiveness, and team-first mindset he dev...

Our guest for this episode is Gordon MacFarlane. He is a Performance Mindset Coach, best-selling author, and Human Behavior Specialist with more than four decades of experience in professional sales, business development, and elite athletic coaching. A Senior Master Trainer and certified DISC consultant, he has worked with NCAA, junior, and professional sports programs, guiding teams to multiple c...

Our guest for this episode is Tim McCarthy. He founded The McCarthy Consultancy in 2016 to offer confidential Executive Coaching, Business Consultancy, and Communication Coaching. His mission is to help individuals and organizations unlock their full potential and achieve lasting success. McCarthy brings a rare blend of experience from the executive, sports, and media worlds. He has held top leade...

For this special 55th birthday episode, we welcome Tony Rice, my twin brother and an extraordinary individual whose life and leadership have made a lasting impact. With 31 years of experience in the power line industry, Tony has spent over 15 of those years as a crew chief at Baldwin EMC, where he continues to mentor and guide the next generation of linemen. In 2006, Tony and his colleague Kenny F...

Our guest on the Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership podcast is Samba Johnson, the Associate Head Coach for the women’s basketball program at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. Since joining the staff in 2022, he has played a key role in revitalizing the team, tripling their win total in his first season...

Our guest is Professor Adam Nicholls, a leading expert in sport psychology whose research focuses on doping behaviors in youth athletes, coping and emotions in sport, and whistleblowing in the face of wrongdoing. He is based at the University of Hull in Hull, UK. With over £1.5 million in research funding, more than 85 published articles, and three books- including  Psychology for Coaches , transl...

Dave Niland is our guest for this episode. He is the head men's basketball coach at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Penn State Behrend in Erie, PA. He just completed his 30th season guiding the Behrend Lions program. He comes from a family of legendary Buffalo (NY) sports leaders. Niland has produced 29 winning seasons in the last 30 years to rank 20th among NCAA D...

Todd James is our guest for this episode. He has been a sports missionary in Ireland for over 40 years. He is a Southern California native who coached and taught in that area for 10 years before leaving for the mission field. He and his wife Celesta have planted churches and helped to develop sports ministry as a tool for churches to do evangelism throughout the country. Discipleship and evangelis...

Ken Crenshaw is our guest for this episode. He is entering his eighth season as the Director of Sports Medicine and Performance after serving 12 years as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Crenshaw was the head athletic trainer for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 2003 to 2005 and served as the assistant athletic trainer for the Rays from 1998-2002. While with the Rays, Crenshaw...

Our guest for this episode of the Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership podcast is Rendell Jackson, Ed. S., CMAA. He is the Program Manager for Middle School Athletics for Atlanta (GA) Public Schools (APS). Jackson is part of a team that organizes athletic programing for 15 APS middle schools 11 high schools, and 2 charter schools. It is his specialization in community development that led to...

Our guest for this episode of the Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership podcast is Bubba Schweigert. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Jamestown College (now University of Jamestown), in 1988. After 15 seasons as an assistant at the University of North Dakota (UND), he became defensive coordinator in 1997, helping lead UND to its first National Collegiate Athletic Association (N...

Dr. Mallard (Mal) Owen is our guest for this episode of the Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership podcast. Owen has over 30 years of senior leadership experience having launched new businesses, nurtured startups, guided non-profits, and transformed struggling organizations. Central to his success has been building strong teams, creating winning strategic alliances, providing an outstanding wo...

Our guest for this episode of the Holding the Ladder in Sport and Leadership podcast is Brad Vaught. He is in his fifth season as the head coach of the NIACC women's basketball team, having built a NIACC career record of 68-45. In the 2023-24 season, Vaught's Trojans achieved their highest win total under his leadership, finishing with a 23-8 record and advancing to the NJCAA Region 11-B t...

Brian Mistro is our guest for this episode. Mistro just completed his sixth season as the head football coach at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II member University of Jamestown in Jamestown, North Dakota. The Gilbert, Arizona native came to Jamestown as a football student-athlete in 2005 and played his first three seasons for Coach Tom Dosch and his senior season for Coa...

In this first episode back after a 2 year hiatus, podcast host Dr. Tim Rice provides an overview of the Holding the Ladder concept that he and his late wife Dr. Candy Rice envisioned and use to this day to impact others.

The host of the Holding the Ladder in Sport and leadership podcast, Dr. Tim Rice is the Lead Faculty for the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program, as well as a Lead Faculty Member in the Sport and Performance Psychology specialization in PsyD program at University of Arizona Global Campus. He came to the University of Arizona Global Campus after serving in a similar role at University of the Rockie...

Dr. Marty Durden has nearly five decades of athletic leadership experience. He is currently the athletic director at Calvary Christian School in Columbus, Georgia. Durden earned his Doctor of Education degree in sports management from the U.S. Sports Academy in 2016 and has written extensively about the “servant-leader” model of coaching, including in a 2019 Sport Digest piece titled "The Call for...