MVP Cast with Mark Woods

Mark Woods is joined by four of the home stars prepping for 3x3 basketball at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Scotland women's Claire Paxton, England men's Kayne Henry, England women's Chantelle Handy tell us about their journey to Brum while Scotland men's player-coach Gareth Murray reveals that this is his last stop. More at mvp247.com

Newly-retired Janice Monakana joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about the emotions in playing her final game in Sevenoaks Suns' defeat in the WBBL Playoff final and why the inadequate salaries in British basketball contributed to her decision to call time and plot a radical career change. We look back on her journey and how the death of her father when she was 14 shaped her in deciding her...

We preview the 2022 BBL and WBBL Playoff Finals on the MVP Cast. Mark Woods is joined by Leicester Riders head coach Rob Paternostro and London Lions boss Nikhil Lawry to look ahead to their duel at London's The 02 Arena - and Lions' Kennedy Leonard and Sevenoaks Suns' Cat Carr give us their insights on Sunday's WBBL finale. More at mvp247.com

Leicester Riders' newly-crowned BBL Player of the Year Geno Crandall joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods the secret behind his team's success this term and the decision process that will determine whether he stays or moves on. We explore the different dynamic between his time at North Dakota and NCAA powerhouse Gonzaga University and how it's shaped him as a player. And he reveals why his upbr...

Loughborough's Carl Ntifo joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about opting to tell his story as an openly gay basketballer and the differences he wants to see to make the sport a safer place for the LGBT community. We talk about his experiences on both sides of the Atlantic, his aspirations now he's ending his student days - and what, as a teccie, his dream app to build would be. More at mvp24...

London Lions guard Shanice Beckford-Norton joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about the culture of the WBBL leaders as they chase a domestic clean sweep and her relentless drive for self-improvement. The Great Britain international reveals the importance of family influences amid her journey through basketball and talks about her role as a coach and the impact it has. More at mvp247.com

Surrey Scorchers guard Caylin Raftopoulos joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about his dual identity as a Zimbabwean-Brit and the complications he found in trying his luck in the USA as a teen. He reveals his plans to retire from playing to focus fully on building a basketball academy and dealing with Surrey's struggles in the BBL this season. And he talks us through how he dealt with depress...

Ex-BBL player turned Sky Sports analyst Anthony Rowe joins the MVP Cast. He tells us about his transition from title-winning player at Leicester Riders to broadcasting, and now a career as a wealth management consultant and preparing to make a successful switch when injuries began to mount. He details his love of hometown club Plymouth Raiders and why he'd love one last call at the Pavilions. Plus...

Gloucester City Queens guard Claire Abbott joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about life, basketball and work in Yukon, the remotest part of Canada where her alternative mission was to address society's problems there as a social worker. Claire reveals why she had an itch to scratch to play pro hoops, being part of a WBBL start-up ... and how she wants to read minds. More at MVP247.com.

Great Britain forward Carl Wheatle joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about how he was forced to grow up early after the death of his father and moving to Italy but how choosing to make his life abroad gave him a head start. He reveals the secrets of success of the Italian system, his feelings about being tabbed as a future GB captain, and what it would take to lure him home to the BBL. More...

Conor Meany joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about his new book - Hoops Across The Ocean: The Rise and Fall of the Irish basketball team - which chronicles the era where Ireland was transformed by the arrival of Irish-Americans and NBA-calibre talent but conflicted by the impact it had on homegrown players. We assess the long-term implications that transpired, the pitch of hoops to today's...

Caledonia Pride guard Maud Ranger joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about opting out of the French basketball system and testing herself in a smaller college in the USA, being inspired by the successes of her compatriots, her entrepreneurial streak and wanting to make it big in the music industry -  and pushing for improvement in the WBBL. More at mvp247.com

Manchester Giants guard Josh Steel joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about just why he created a video to look at solutions to the problems in British basketball and how to use social media to promote his brand - and that of the sport. We talk about his choices in quitting college early in the USA to pursue a pro career in Europe, how he plans his next move and improving his game. And we loo...

Durham Palatinates forward Abby Lowe joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about growing up in France and a journey that's led her from Britain to the USA and to parts in between. She describes the mental health issues that came from an unhappy collegiate spell, re-discovering her love for basketball in the WBBL, her 3x3 experiences and those with GB, and the reasons behind her switch from Newc...

Plymouth City Patriots guard Joe Hart joins the MVP Cast. He talks to Mark Woods about his famous namesake, his international basketball days, the twists and turns of building a career in Europe after passing up US colleges, and how he is planning to bed down in the BBL. More at mvp247.com

Bristol Flyers centre Shane Walker joins the MVP Cast. He tells about his first forays into coaching, how it fits into his drive to gives kids positive role models and a sense of well-being - and why he's bought land in Ghana as part of a long-term project there. We discuss the joy and pain of trying to make it big in the USA, playing with Kevin Durant and against other NBAers, the magical formula...

Oaklands Wolves player-coach Lauren Milligan joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about becoming the youngest playcaller in the Women's British Basketball League and nurturing wins with developing young talent at Oaklands Basketball Academy on and off the court. We explore her route through the sport, the mentors who have helped her, her ambitions for the future - and food. More at MVP247.com.

Surrey Scorchers forward Tayo Ogedengbe joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about honest conversations about racism with his three young sons and how the BBL's Players Voice initiative has a role to play in addressing issues. We chat about the concept of a players union and how the British Basketball League might develop, his own pathway in the UK and abroad, his side gig in modelling and how...

Great Britain guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about being a child of London, and of France, and the cross-capital switches that took him to Bristol, then college, and then the pros. We talk about social media in the world of basketball, dealing with injuries, and GB's forthcoming FIBA World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Turkey. More at MVP247.com. Sponsore...

Sheffield Sharks centre Bennett Koch joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about the ebbs and flows of his three years in the British Basketball League, the family brotherhood that propelled him and his siblings onto the court, trash talking, playing overseas and how he likes to unwind .... with a hike. More at MVP247.com.   Sponsored by TeamSportz ( www.teamsportz.pro )

Tech guru Francisco Baptista joins the MVP Cast. The founder and CEO of Team Sports talks to us about how AI and data are transforming sports at grassroots and pro levels, how his new App aims to alter the way players and coaches are able to develop their basketball game, where the next step in tech will be, and how he was inspired by his upbringing in Angola before ending up in Hemel. More at mvp...

Sheffield Hatters forward Helen Naylor joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about pairing basketball with having her first child last year and the physical and logistical challenges presented by pregnancy and parenting. We explore the role of her basketball-playing family, the flatlining and resurrection of the Hatters and her succession of great teams in the WBBL and elsewhere. More at MVP247...

Leicester Riders guard Kimbal Mackenzie joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about hooping it as a kid in Canada, looking to make it in the NBA and dealing with the loss of that dream. He recounts his switch to Spain, his ambitions to make it big off the court - and getting paid in Bitcoin. More at MVP247.com Sponsored by TeamSportz - www.teamsportz.pro

Glasgow Rocks centre Boban Jacdonmi joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about playing catch-up following his late, late start in basketball, how he accelerated his development with a former Harlem Globetrotter in Stoke, his path to the USA through junior college to Division One of the NCAA, his international ambitions, and how he sees his career panning out with the Rocks, and beyond. More at...

London Lions guard Josh Ward Hibbert joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about his transition to basketball from tennis, his alternative sporting career as a junior Grand Slam champion and the transition from one to the other. We talk about his development as a basketballer and the influences that shaped him, and his role on a Lions team starting its bid in the FIBA Europe Cup. More at MVP247....