Marching to Madness

Coach Monson was able to push The Beach back into a winning record after losing two of his top three scorers and then leading scorer Joel Murray was lost for the season with a wrist injury. LBSU led D-1 basketball by taking 48.2 two-point field goal attempts per game. Coach Monson also discusses key returnees plus his two seasons as head coach at Gonzaga in the late 1990s. Topics of discussion inc...

UMass head coach Frank Martin visits "Marching to Madness" as he will begin his second season with the Minutemen in the '23-24 season. Coach Martin led UMass to an 8-1 start last season before injuries derailed the team with six players out for nearly 40 games and that made the Minutemen struggle in the Atlantic 10. Although the injuries left them in peril, UMass returns with leading scorer Matt C...

Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May is back as his Owls flew into the Final Four in March. The Owls keep their players together for this upcoming season as Michael Forest was the only senior on the team. FAU won 35 games, the high for any D-1 team this season, and they return Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin, who are the team's top two scorers. Topics of discussion include: Care and loyalty keepi...

Coach Johnson is building the Lions into a major competitor in the WCC. This past season's wins over Wake Forest, Nevada, Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary's defined how far the team has come in his three years. We also chatted about his perceptions of summer workouts as well as coaches' meetings. Topics of discussion include: The 68-67 win at Gonzaga Cam Shelton's next move in his basketball career Kel...

Cal State Fullerton Titans head coach Dedrique Taylor is back as a guest on "Marching to Madness". Coach Taylor once again led CSF to the Big West championship game after winning 10 out of it's last 11 games to finish the season. He discusses the Titans' emergence as well into 44-22 record in the past two seasons as they won the tournament last year and made it to the NCAA Tournament, but lost to...

The Santa Clara Broncos finished third in the WCC this season as Coach Herb Sendek once again had a player bound for the NBA. Golden State made Brandin Podziemski the 19th pick in the first round as he led the Broncos with 19.9 points per game while making 48.3 percent of his field goals. Coach Sendek and his staff also turned Jalen Williams into a solid guard who averaged 30 minutes per game at O...

Coach Chris Beard is back on "Marching to Madness" as he takes over the program at Ole Miss. Coach Beard sports a 70.1 percent winning percentage at UALR, Texas Tech and Texas. In four of his seasons as a head coach, he has taken teams to NCAA Tournaments and in 2019, he had the Red Raiders in the national championship game where they dropped an 85-77 overtime matchup to Virginia. Topics of discus...

Coach Smith had the Cougars pick their games up this past season as they finished tied for 5th in the Pac-12 and moved back into an NIT berth once again. His Cougars had a 7-game winning streak late in the season, but they lost Justin Powell to the Miami Heat's Summer League squad as well as TJ Bamba's transfer to Villanova. This coming season, Coach Smith is going to have more depth in the post a...

Western Carolina Catamounts head coach Justin Gray was a phenomenal shooting guard at Wake Forest for the late Skip Prosser. He averaged 2.7 made three-pointers per game in his 120-game career. Coach Gray led Western Carolina to an 18-16 record and a CBI appearance this past season. He returns a strong backcourt of Tre Jackson and Vonterius Woolbright. Topics of discussion include: The correlation...

Coach Gillen once again is a guest on "Marching to Madness" where he discusses San Diego State and their run to the national title game where they eventually lost to UConn. Coach Gillen is an analyst for CBS Sports Network where he also focuses on the Mountain West as one of his conferences. He also discusses the Big East and Providence where the Friars went to the Elite Eight in 1997 before losin...

Coach Skinn checks in as he begins his first season as the head coach at George Mason. He played on coach Jim Larranaga's Final Four team at George Mason in 2006 as he played on the point and drove the Patriots by Michigan State, North Carolina, and UConn in that run. He takes over after assistant coaching stints at Maryland, Ohio State, Seton Hall and Louisiana Tech. Topics of discussion include:...

Coach Rodney Terry returns to "Marching to Madness" as he took the Texas Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight after they won their second Big 12 basketball title in the last three seasons. He took over the Longhorns in Game 9 as they finished 29-9, overall, and 22-8, in Coach Terry's tutelage. Texas keeps a solid experience level in Dillon Mitchell, Tyrese Hunter, Dylan Disu, and Brock C...

Coach Bruce Pearl is back on "Marching to Madness" as he continues his 72 percent winning percentage, overall, which includes a D-2 national championship in 1995 with the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles. He has one of the top winning percentages in the game when combined with his D-1 experience at Auburn, Tennessee, and Milwaukee. The Tigers return Johni Broome, Jaylin Williams, and Dylan Cardwe...

Coach Russell Turner returns to "Marching to Madness" as he discusses building the UC Irvine program when he came 14 seasons ago. He has 11 consecutive winning seasons and eight of those have encompassed 20 wins or more. Two that did not were in the COVID years. Coach Turner discusses losing DJ Davis and Dawson Baker in the transfer portal, but he has recruited at a high level again with solid dep...

Coach Pettway moved from Alabama where he was an assistant coach to Mark Gottfried, Avery Johnson, Anthony Grant, and Nate Oats over the past 15 seasons. He played guard for the Crimson Tide from 2001-2004 and he played with a high level of energy and was a player who made key plays in the clutch of close basketball games. He spent two years as an assistant at Jacksonville State before his run as...

Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew checks in as he has put together a 19-10 postseason record in Waco with a national championship in 2021 as well as the Final Four and two Elite Eight appearances. He discusses his returning players as well as additions via the transfer portal and recruiting the high school hardwood. Coach Drew also checks in on the NBA opportunities for guard Keyonte George, who...

Coach Mills take over the legendary Shockers program after he led ORU to two NCAA Tournaments in their last three seasons. Shockers big man Kenny Photo is the leading returning scorer after he started all 30 games and shot 49 percent from the floor. Coach Mills discusses his philosophy of prioritizing people and how that makes for the opportunity to help in the many ways he leads his program. Topi...

Coach Jans led the Bulldogs to their second NCAA appearance in the last 13 seasons as they lost a tough 60-59 decision to Pitt in the opener. Mississippi State will return its starting five which should give the 'Dogs an impactful group as Tolu Smith is a key inside performer beside of the athleticism of 6-7 DJ Jeffries. Cameron Matthews can also score in the paint and guards Shakeel Moore and Das...

Coach Todd Golden took over at Florida last season after three years at San Francisco where he brought the Dons to a 57-36 record and placed them into the NCAA Tournament in 2022 for the first time since 1998. Will Richard and Riley Kugel return from last season's team as they were the second and third leading scorers. The Gators' staff has added six transfers as five players left Gainesville via...

First-year USF Bulls head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim discusses last season's 26-9 finish for his Kennesaw State Owls as he led them to their first D-1 NCAA Tournament and the A-SUN regular season and tournament championships. He also discusses his system and how he looks to build USF within his philosophies and ideology. The Bulls return Selton Miguel, Sam Hines, and Corey Walker, Jr. from last season...

Coach Adam Fisher enters his first season as a head coach at Temple after he was an assistant at Villanova and Boston University before spending eight years at Miami and two at Penn State, his alma mater. Coach Fisher gives Miami coach Jim Larrañaga credit for helping him to solidify himself inside the game and learn many of the phases of coaching. He also credits Micah Shrewsberry, who was the he...

Coach Barnes discusses his role of being the chair of the NCAA Rules Committee and a couple of rules changes going into this upcoming season. He also talks about His Tennessee Volunteers, who made it to the Sweet 16 this past season, despite the loss of point guard Zakai Ziegler. He has posted 779 career wins at George Mason, Providence, Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee throughout his 36 seasons as a...

Coach Bobby Lutz was the head coach at Charlotte from 1999-2010 and he raised the 49ers to a high level of play where they went to six NCAA Tournaments as well as two NITs in that time period. During his 11-year run in Charlotte, Coach Lutz became the winningest coach in program history with 218 'Ws'. He then became an assistant at Iowa State, Nebraska, and Ole Miss and the associate head coach at...

Coach A.W. Hamilton makes his debut on MTM as the Colonels have set 49 program records in his five seasons at EKU. The coach talks about his friendship with NC State head coach Kevin Keatts, who has been a solid person throughout his career. Hamilton is a stellar offensive coach whose Colonels averaged 78.6 points per game this past season and they shot 34.3 percent from three. Topics of discussio...

Coach Tinkle discusses this third rebuild in his eight-year tenure as head coach of the Beavers. Oregon State picked up 11 wins this past season which is eight more than two years ago. OSU welcomed freshman point guard Jordan Pope after Georgia transfer Christian Wright was injured last season. Coach Tinkle also discusses ideas and philosophies throughout running the program. Topics of discussion...