The Bare's Den w/ Matt Bare

Two Minnesota boys basketball experts join me for this episode to preview the upcoming MN boys basketball state tournament.  Ryan James from Prep Hoops and TC Hoops Czar are here to give us their insight into each bracket for the 4 classes, some of the top players to watch and who they think will win it all.  Surprisingly they agree on 3 picks.

Ryan James from Prep Hoops is back to preview the MN boys high school basketball season.  RJ shares his thoughts on who the top teams are to watch in each of the four classes for Minnesota boys basketball and highlights the top players to keep an eye on.  He also gives an overview of the University of Minnesota Men’s basketball team under the new leadership of Niko Medved.

Grant McGinnis from Prep Girls Hoops is back to preview the 2025-26 Minnesota Girls High School Basketball season.  No one knows the girls basketball landscape in MN like Grant and he gives us his thoughts on the favorites in each of the four classes and tells about the players to keep an eye out for.  He also gives a recap of the recently completed Girls Breakdown Tip-Off Classic.  To up your kno...

For this episode I’m joined by one of the best Minnesota boys high school basketball coaches to ever pace the sidelines.  John Oxton led the Lakeville North boys basketball program for 33 seasons, appearing in 12 state tournaments, capturing the 2014 class 4A state championship and finishing his career with 706 wins currently leaving him with the 6th most wins in state history.   Prior to arriving...

Winning the first boys basketball state title in school history is nice but winning it with your son and nephew in your starting five is extra special.  That was the case for Alexandria head coach Forrest Witt as his Cardinals secured the first state title in program history.   Forrest has the pleasure of coaching his son Mason and nephew Talan as well.  Along with those two the team was led by th...

I really enjoy seeing teams or people do things that haven’t been done before especially in the basketball world and that’s exactly what happened at Concordia St. Paul this season with the Golden Bears men’s basketball team and Coach Matt Fletcher.   For the first time in school history the Golden Bears finished atop the NSIC conference in men’s basketball, in fact it was the first time in their p...

For this episode I’m joined by two MN boys high school basketball experts to help break down the upcoming MN boys state basketball tournament.  Ryan James from Prep Hoops and TC Hoops Czar are here to give us their insight into each bracket for the 4 classes, some of the top players to watch and who they think will win it all.   These guys do a great job sharing their insight into the 2025 tournam...

Rob Grace IV is used to being around a basketball court.  As a youngster he used to run around the gym at Minneapolis Southwest High School when his dad was the coach.  He was also present at Target Center for many NBA games as his father was creating excitement with fans as “hoop man” as those fans try to make a shot into basket hovering above his head.   Now Rob is grown and is a senior at Macal...

For this episode, I’m joined by one of the most prolific brother/sister combos in Minnesota high school basketball history and they are Matt and Marissa Janning.  The Janning’s grew up playing for Watertown-Mayer high school and put up some amazing numbers.   The older of the two Matt graduated in 2006, and was somewhat of a late bloomer.  He played 3 years of varsity basketball, was an All-State...

Ryan James from Prep Hoops joins the show to semi-preview the MN boys high school basketball season and will share some highlights from the Breakdown Boys Tip-Off Classic and the Granite City Classic which always bring in talented teams from all over the state.  RJ shares his thoughts on some of the top performers that he’s seen along with his take on who the top teams are to watch in each of the...

For this episode we welcome back a frequent guest to the show and he is Grant McGinnis from Prep Girls Hoops.  Grant joins the show to preview the MN girls high school basketball season and also recaps the Breakdown Girls Tip-Off Classic which always bring in talented teams from all over the state.  Grant shares his thoughts on some of the top performances from that event along with his take on wh...

Detlef grew up in West Germany and left his senior year to be a foreign exchange student in Washington state.  He went on to play college ball for the University of Washington and was drafted to the NBA.  During his 16-year career he was voted NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year twice and was the first European player to play in the All-Star game.  Detlef’s steady game was an important piece to the succes...

From a hog farm in a tiny southern Minnesota town to becoming to the states leading scorer that was the path of today’s guest – Cody Schilling.   Cody grew up in Ellsworth, MN with 21 kids in his graduating class but that close knit family and community raised him into a high school basketball superstar, a division two all-american and now head coach at his alma mater.  After graduating from high...

For only the second time ever and for the first time since 1984, the same school has won both the women’s and men’s basketball championship in division two.  That school is Minnesota State Mankato!  In this two part episode you will hear from the coach of each of those teams.   In her 12th season as head coach Emilee Thiesse led the Mavericks to a 32 - 5 record this year, the NSIC regular season a...

For this episode I am joined by the head boys basketball coach of the Minnetonka Skippers – Bryce Tesdahl.   Bryce and his team just won the boys class 4A state championship capping off a fabulous season.  Coaching is not new to Bryce or his family.  He is the grandson of Bob McDonald who is the all-time winningest coach in MN boys basketball history.  While he is following in his grandfather’s fo...

For this episode I’m joined by two MN boys high school basketball experts to help break down the upcoming MN boys state basketball tournament.  Ryan James from Prep Hoops and TC Hoops Czar are here to give us their insight into each bracket for the 4 classes, some of the top players to watch and who they think will win it all.   No one watches more high school basketball than these two and it will...

For this episode we’re trying something we’ve never done before and that’s two guests in separate interviews put into one episode.  And these guests are legends in Minnesota girls high school basketball.   First we have Alexandria head coach – Wendy Kohler.  Wendy is in her 39th season leading the Cardinals and has been quite the fixture on the sideline.  She recently coached in her 1,000th game a...

Ryan James from Prep Hoops joins the program again to chat all things MN boys high school basketball.  He recaps the Breakdown tip off classic, speaking on some of the great games and top performances.  He also dives into a preview for each of the four classes for the boys high school season and who he sees as some of the top contenders to win it all as well as some of the players to watch.  We al...

Back for his third appearance on the show - Grant McGinnis from Prep Girls Hoops joins the show to preview the MN girls high school basketball season and also recaps the recently completed Breakdown Girls Tip-Off Classic which brings in a good amount of the best teams and players to play on one weekend in the metro.  Grant shares his thoughts on some of the top performances from that event along w...

In the MIAC conference there are two schools that you need to start paying attention to as an opponent or a basketball fan if you haven’t before.  Both St. Mary’s University and Macalester College have had tough seasons on the hardwood in the not so distant past but in the last 5 seasons have taken some steps to no longer be a pushover in their conference.  I am joined by the head coaches of each...

For this episode the Bare's Den podcast producer (Dan Schultz) takes over the hosting duties and interviews two longtime pro sports executives.  The host of the Bare's Den - Matt Bare who has worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves for 20 years and the longest tenured employee for the Minnesota Timberwolves - Jeff Munneke who has been with the club for 35 years! They both share how they go...

Our guest for this episode is former Perham High School boys basketball head coach and newly hired M State Community College head men's coach - Dave Cresap.  Coach Cresap has coached the last 37 seasons of high school basketball, including the last 28 seasons in Perham.  Dave got that program going in the right direction taking the helm in 1995 and finishes his high school career with a recor...

Mandy just finished her 8th season as head coach of the Bulldogs and what a season it was!  Led by Division 2 player of the Year – Brooke Olson, UMD made it all the way to the national championship game for the first time in school history.  Mandy did not set out to become a basketball coach but is glad to find herself in that profession.  She started out at Division 3 – St. Mary’s in Winona where...

Bryan is fresh off leading his team to the Minnesota boys basketball class 4A state title.  This is Bryan’s second title in three seasons with the Trojans and he has built a very successful program, but it wasn’t always that way as the school had a 58 year drought between state tournament appearances.  Not only is does Bryan coach at a high level but he played at a high level as well as he still h...

We bring back Ryan James from the Breakdown and Prep Hoops to preview the upcoming Minnesota boys high school state basketball tournament.  Ryan runs us through each class, gives us some the top players and picks his winner for each class.  We also cover the Mr. Basketball finalists.