No Playbook: Real Recruiting Stories

Guest: Annie Priest - Farragut Basketball Annie Priest is an outstanding basketball player at Farragut High School in Tennessee. She was a team captain as a sophomore, but has much bigger individual goals for the rest of her high school playing career. We talk about that and her recruiting process.  This podcast is sponsored by D1 Training and the RecruitMe App.  Follow the show on TikTok and Inst...

Guest: Chris Cook - Be Great Chris Cook was a college basketball player who had to fight through some major health issues as a young kid. He kept his focus on his goals, and now he’s changing lives with his BE GREAT BRAND.  Chris joins the podcast today to talk about his journey and as he puts it, it’s his goal to inspire someone with this episode. I also really enjoyed when we realized that he pl...

Guest: Steven Soles Jr. (Powell High School) It's a commitment ceremony! Listen as Steven Soles Jr. announces his college decision on the podcast.  Though Steven received lots of D1 offers, his final decision came down to four choices: Alabama Kentucky Miami Virginia Tech A full video recording of this commitment is available on youtube.  If you're an athlete (any sport) that would like...

Guests: Liv Stott (Bearden Soccer) and Sam Tummins (Bearden Football) This episode is a great one...especially for the Bearden community. I’ve got two outstanding athletes on the show today and they’re both rising seniors at Bearden High School in Knoxville, TN. Sam Tummins is a WR and defensive back on the football team, and he’s got a few nice offers to play at the next level – so we talk about...

Guest: Eli Owens (Alcoa Football) Eli Owens is an outstanding high school football player from Alcoa, Tennessee. Just to name a few, he's already got offers from Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and the list goes on and on! Since he's just a rising junior in high school, he's still got a lot to focus on before he can start his college football experience. That's what...

Guest: Chase Artopoeus - Chattanooga Mocs QB I really like this kid! Chase Artopoeus is on the show today. He is a QB that was at UCLA for four years and then he just transferred to Chattanooga this spring. Chase is definitely the presumed starter at this point for the Mocs.  Regardless, he’s got some great stories from his time at UCLA...like when they recently beat LSU...and we also talk about h...

Guest: Josh Shetler (rugby) I am admittedly not a big rugby guy. My sister played in high school and then some internationally, but I have never really learned a lot about the world of college rugby for the MLR…but my guest today was able to help me wrap my head around that world.  His name is Josh Shetler and he is an outstanding rugby player from the University of Tennessee. He was a part of the...

Guests: Powell Football Head Coach Matt Lowe, and rising senior Markus Jackson D1 will be partnering with Dick's House of Sport and Powell High School to put on a hype event for the Knoxville Classic 7v7 Football Tournament. The event will be July 12th at Dick's, and athletes from East TN will have the opportunity to compete in a 40 yard dash, broad jump, bench press, and a QB skills cha...

Guests: Josh Ward and Jayson Swain It's a bonus ep! These two host a radio show together in Knoxville called Josh and Swain. They talk local and national sports everyday on the air, but I wanted to have them on the podcast to learn more about their personalities, and even their own sports histories. You can learn more about their show here: Josh and Swain 12 to 3pm | WNML-AF (991thesportsanim...

Guests: Braylon Harmon (football) and Sydney Mains (basketball) - Knox Catholic High School This week, it’s another young athlete highlight…this time with a couple of stellar athletes from Knox Catholic High school.  Sydney Mains is a basketball player who has already committed to Florida Atlantic University, and she played a pivotal role in Catholic’s recent State Championship. She joins me on th...

Guests: Athletes from Knox County that won a state championship in '22 or '23. Also Mayor Glenn Jacobs (AKA Kane) This week’s episode is pretty different from the rest of my podcasts, but it’s my second year doing a show from this event. Knox County’s Mayor is Glenn Jacobs…if you’re a wrestling fan, you probably know him as KANE. Well the past two years, he has hosted an event called the...

Guest: Todd Kelly Jr.  We often feature athletes from the University of Tennessee on this show…and I really love it when those guests are actually from the area. They can always speak to their experience of growing up right down the road from campus…and then what it was like when they actually put on the orange and white and became a Vol.  So, Todd Kelly Jr. is one of those guys, and now he’s stil...

Guests: Norah Jacomen and Paul Fisher I really enjoy doing these young athlete highlights. I’ve been interviewing kids from East TN that have a really bright future in their sport. If you’d like to go back and check out some previous episodes, I’ve had athletes on from Johnson City, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Maryville, Gatlinburg…really all over the area.  Today I’ve got Norah Jacomen and Paul Fishe...

Guest: Monica Abbott Our guest on today's episode is one of the most decorated Lady Vols athletes of all time. She threw an amazing 23 no-hitters and six perfect games during her Tennessee career. Through four seasons at Tennessee, she posted 112 shutouts, 2,440 strikeouts and 125 games with 10 or more strikeouts. She also became the first pitcher in NCAA Division I history to record 500 stri...

Guests: Megan Burleson (ETSU/Science Hill) & Dayne Davis (Tennessee Football) Meg Burleson joins the podcast to talk about her high school playing experience at Science Hill in Johnson City, and also what her past few months have been like as she’s already enrolled and started training with the ETSU soccer team. It’s cool to hear from an athlete that can speak to the differences in a high scho...

Guest: Squirrel White (Tennessee Football)  If you follow Tennessee football, you got to see Freshman WR Squirrel White go off in the Orange Bowl. He developed a really tight on-field relationship with QB Joe Milton. So, I had Squirrel White on to talk about what we can expect from that relationship next season, and he talks about his recruiting process, and why he chose the Vols over in-state Ala...

Guests: Nya Burns and Ty Glasper Both guests on this episode play basketball at Gatlinburg Pittman High School in Tennessee. They're underclassmen, but have already received a lot of interest from D1 schools.  Nya and Ty have been working out at D1 Training in Sevierville, so they talk about how that speed/agility/quickness training has improved their game. They also talk about what they like...

Guest: Jakob Johnson (NFL)  Jakob Johnson currently plays for the Las Vegas Raiders, and he played his college football at Tennessee. He grew up in Germany, but moved to the states when he started getting noticed as a stand-out football player.  His story is a fascinating one, as he explains his journey from Germany to the NFL.  This podcast is brought to you by D1 Training. With area facilities i...

Guests: Lukas Buckner (Farragut Baseball) & Amanda Mack (Maryville Volleyball) Lukas Buckner is an outstanding baseball player from Farragut High School who has committed to play ball at UCF.  Amanda Mack is an All-State Volleyball player from Maryville High School. She's committed to play in college at Bradley University in Illinois.  Both of these athletes have worked out at D1 Training...

Guest: Joshua Dobbs (VFL and current Cleveland Browns QB) Great episode today – it’s one of my favorite guys to talk with – Joshua Dobbs – he and Devin actually talk golf for a little while, but then we talk about his upcoming youth football camp that will be May 27th, he talks about his crazy NFL experience last season that led to him starting at the end of the year for the Titans, and we even ta...

Guests: McClendon Curtis (Chattanooga Mocs - NFL Draft Prospect) Devin Driscoll joins me as a co-host for this one as we talk with McClendon Curtis of the Chattanooga Mocs. McClendon is a highly rated draft prospect as an interior offensive lineman.  Listen as we talk with McClendon about the NFL Combine and his entire pre-draft process. We also talk about his life in Chattanooga, his friendship w...

NO PLAYBOOK is Powered by D1 Guests: Tennessee Vols - RB Jabari Small and TE Jacob Warren Repurposing recent interviews with Jabari and Jacob, as we talk about life as a D1 football player. Hear them talk about their teammates and what the competition level is like in the SEC.  What are your thoughts on how to handle spring games in the future? Hugh Freeze suggests adding a more competitive elemen...

Guests: Brooks Wright (Tennessee Baseball) & Brinley Murphy (South Carolina Soccer) Today on the show, I’ve got two area athletes that have already committed to playing for SEC schools in college.  Brinley Murphy is a soccer player that was named National Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year for the State of TN. She is a South Carolina commit and she also trains young kids at D1...

Guests: Olivier Nkamhous & Uros Plavsic BONUS EPISODE!! Listen as I repurpose some short interviews with two Tennessee Basketball Players.  Olivier and Uros are both international athletes who traveled to the states to chase their basketball dreams. They've given their all for Tennessee, and considering the distance they traveled...that's quite a bit!  Listen as they talk about their...

Guests: Mike Meyer & Laban DeFriese (865 Alliance coaches) Last summer was a big one for soccer fans in East TN, and this one will be even bigger, if LOCAL flavor is what you like.  This summer, we’ve got a new NPSL team…which is basically parallel to the USL 2…and this team features almost all local players. Kids from Hardin Valley, Farragut, Maryville, Alcoa, Bearden and so on. It’s the new...