No Place I'd Rather Be …

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back! Today, we feature the voice of Johnnie sports over the last quarter century -- Mark Lewandowski -- who talked with the guys about his start in radio, his transition to St. John's and some of his observations as he's had a front row seat for some memorable moments over that past 25 years. Thanks Mark for sitting down and talking with the guys! ......

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back! Today, we have the pleasure of welcoming back Ryan Thissen, Blake Berg and Connor Schwob to the program to talk about their collective decision to return for a fifth year. Thanks guys for making the time!  ... Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by: - Sixth Man Enterprises - The Sexton Family Foundation - Bobbi and John Augustine - Maggie an...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back! Today, we focus on the tail end of Smitty’s incredible run as head coach of St. John's basketball and welcome the only other person to occupy the coach’s office since 1964 Head Coach Pat McKenzie. Which ties directly to the very first episode of this podcast. Some of this might sound familiar, but this time with some fresh perspective from longtime voi...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back! Today, we pulled from the archives to find some never before heard parts of our conversation with Smitty and longtime thorn in the Johnnies side, legendary St. Thomas coach Steve Fritz where they get into some of the finer points of their coaching philosophies, other coaches around the conference and some of the insights they gained while athletic directors...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back! Today, there’s a bit of a different bent in store as we shift the perspective from the court to carpet row as we welcome ‘71 grad Mike Dady, who played for coach smith during his student days and served as Board of Regents chair from 1992-1995 as well as President of the Alumni Association and is the founding partner of Dady and Gardner PA, along with Fr. R...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back! Today, senior manager Andrew Nerud joins the show to talk about his decision to come to St. John's, the transition from player to manager and some of the unique insights he has gained from seeing the game from a different perspective. Thanks Andrew for making the time! ... Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by: - Sixth Man Enterprises...

Send us Fan Mail Hello and welcome back! Today, we have one of the most successful teams in St. John's history in the same room to turn back the clock and reminisce about their time together. Usually reserved for later in the episodes, we’re going straight to the source for some context before we begin. From The Record, Thursday March 1, 2001, page 14. "Basketball Success Leads to Windfa...

Send us Fan Mail Hello! Today, we're back with Coach McKenzie for our mid-season update.  ... Thanks to Coach McKenzie for taking the time to talk with the guys.  Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by: - Sixth Man Enterprises - The Sexton Family Foundation - Bobbi and John Augustine - Maggie and Marty McCaslin - Steve Cummings at Nova Group - Matt Johnson - Rick DesLauriers -...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we welcome another J-Club Hall of Honor member. This 2001 grad is the third-most prolific scorer in St. John's history with 1,568 career points, trailing only '57 grad Dick Matchinksky and '79 grad Frank Wachlarowicz. He is one of a handful of players to crack the starting lineup as a freshman during Smitty’s five decades at the helm, earning MIAC all-rookie...

Send us Fan Mail Hello Johnnie basketball fans and welcome back to No Place I'd Rather Be, the podcast about St. John's University basketball and the legacy of Minnesota’s all-time collegiate wins leader Coach Jim Smith. Today, we’re back with our regularly scheduled programming as we continue to traverse the decades of Smitty’s 51-year career. But unlike our first two seasons, season th...

Send us Fan Mail This week we welcome assistant coach and former player Lucas Walford to the show. Lucas was nice enough to sit down and talk with the guys about his path through basketball, how he got to St. John's and his role with the team. Thanks, Lucas! The Johnnies wrapped up their trip to our nation's capital with a couple convincing wins, bringing their win total to 10 on the sea...

Send us Fan Mail This week for our On the Court feature we welcome junior Thomas Menk, who was nice enough to find some time to sit down and talk with the guys about some injury updates, his role with the team and what to grab at Kwik Trip for a solid late-night snack. Thanks for taking the time, Thomas! The Johnnies picked up two road wins against Minnesota-Morris and St. Mary's to move to 8...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we welcome Andrew Wagner, senior guard from Prospect Heights, Ill., to the show as he was kind enough to carve out some time Thursday morning following the Johnnies first conference game of the season ... a 75-60 win over St. Olaf to bring the win total to five (1-0 in conference play, 5-2 on the season) for your favorite basketball team. A big thanks goes out to Andrew...

Send us Fan Mail First of all, we hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We’re back today with Head Basketball Coach Pat McKenzie as he was kind enough to talk with the guys first thing Monday morning after the team’s second consecutive weekend on the road, going 2-0 in Iowa and 1-1 at last weekend’s great lakes invitational in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  As always, we are very appreciative of Coach...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to "No Place I’d Rather Be," the podcast about Johnnie basketball and the legacy of Minnesota’s all-time collegiate wins leader coach Jim Smith. We have a very special episode of the show to bring you today. While we’re hard at work getting the rest of season 3 of the podcast ready to go, the basketball season starts Saturday with a 5 p.m. tip against UW Osh...

Send us Fan Mail Hey Johnnie Basketball fans! While we're hard at work getting season 3 of "No Place I'd Rather Be" all ready to go we didn't want you to miss out on the chance to get together with current players, Head Coach Pat McKenzie and his staff, reconnect with old teammates and meet some new Johnnie alums at the Johnnie Basketball 2024-25 Season Tip-Off Party from...

Send us Fan Mail 45 years ago today, "Norma Rae" was just released and number one at the box office, Rod Stewart’s "Do Ya Think I’m Sexy" topped the charts of the Billboard Hot 100, and the St. John’s University basketball team was on its way to Mankato for what we have already established as one of the greatest contests in St. John's athletic history. Today we bring it to...

Send us Fan Mail This week, as the johnnies wrap up the regular season, we welcome Luke Budzyn and Griffin Rushin to the program to talk with the guys about the recruitment process, their approach off the bench, some housing plans for senior year, and Gary’s Pizza takes one from the top rope on our weekly late night food debate.  ... And that was Luke Budzyn and Griffin Rushin. Thanks guys for tak...

Send us Fan Mail We are very excited to bring you today's program as we close out season two with '94 grad Travis Weiss along with the last minute addition of our very special guest Bob Alpers, who aside from being athletic director and a hall of fame golf coach was an assistant basketball coach for 20 years and had a front row seat to just how humble and team-oriented Weiss was. They ch...

Send us Fan Mail This week senior manager Ethan Youso took a few minutes before Monday's game to talk to the guys about his plans after graduation, why he came to St. John's and his role with the team.  ... Thanks Ethan for taking the time. The Johnnies put on a show Saturday for all those in attendance for alumni/senior day. with a record-setting performance from behind the arc in a win...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we step off the court and welcome one of the staunchest and longest-tenured supporters of St. John's basketball, ‘58 grad Jim Bassett, who is the 2024 recipient of the Father Walter Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award, which recognizes outstanding service to the Saint John's community and is the highest honor given by the Alumni Association. And, as we’ll hear all a...

Send us Fan Mail This week sophomore Kyle Johnson and junior Luke Healy were kind enough to take some time to talk with the guys about game prep, their approach as they come off the bench as well as how they got to St. John’s in the first place. And the late night food debate rages on as we elicit a spirited defense of Gary's Pizza. ... This season of "No Place I'd Rather Be ...&quo...

Send us Fan Mail Today we get to the conclusion of our conversation with ‘87 grad Phil Johnson and ‘84 grad John Wiehoff. Both of whom played key roles in making the ‘80s one of the most successful decades in Johnnie basketball history. With a couple more timely interjections from one of our hosts, Tom Connell, ‘84, whose no slouch himself. But that’s for another time. And this being part two, as...

Send us Fan Mail This week we circle back with head basketball coach Pat McKenzie as he joins the guys from the road for a mid-season check-in.  ... This season of "No Place I'd Rather Be ..." is sponsored by the Sexton Family Foundation, helping usher in the next generation of leaders. And Sixth Man Enterprises, creating a state of readiness. Thank you for making this project possi...

Send us Fan Mail On today’s episode we are lucky enough to have Phil Johnson and John Wiehoff. Two seminal figures in SJU basketball history during what was one of the most sustained stretches of on-court success seen in Collegeville. From 1976 to 1988 the Johnnies appeared in the national tournament 10 of those 12 years. Wiehoff and Johnson were right in the middle of that run through the ‘80s. J...