The Rising Coaches Podcast Rising Coaches

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with the former Grand Canyon University and recently appointed assistant Coach at Ohio State University, Coach Jamall Walker. Coach Walker has nearly 25 years of coaching experience at a wide range of stops. Following his playing career at Saint Louis University, coach Walker took a position as an assistant at Alton High School, which helped lead into spots at F. L. Schlagle High School, Redlands Community College, Ball State, Saint Louis, Murray State, Ohio University, Illinois University and Grand Canyon University, where he helped GCU win their first ever NCAA tournament game this past season. Congratulations to Coach Walker who was recently appointed the assistant coaching position at Ohio State University following our conversation.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix with two coaches on the Buffalo Women’s basketball staff, including a pivotal member in the Rising Coaches community, Erin Sinnott. Coach Sinnott and her story are familiar with the Rising Coaches podcast as we have had the opportunity to learn from her individually in a previous episode. Alongside Erin is the current Associate Head Coach at Buffalo, Coach Jacey Brooks. Coach Brooks has a great coaching history helping programs excel such as Canisius College, Bowling Green, SUNY Cortland and currently Buffalo, where they both helped lead the program to the conference championship this past year.

David Richards is the current head coach at Chatham University. Richards comes from a strong background in the basketball industry as he has held a variety of positions at schools such as Robert Morris University, West Virginia Wesleyan, Merrimack College and where he now stands as the head coach at Chatham University. Coach Richards just finished his 6th season at Chatham and holds the conference's highest win percentage with an overall record of 79-42 with 2 NCAA appearances, 2 Conference Championships and a conference coach of the year award.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix, with a father-son duo in Pat and Matt Ambrose. Matt Ambrose is a recent graduate from Calvin University and was a pivotal player for the men's basketball team's successes with a 25-5 record this past season. Pat Ambrose is a former head coach of Stevenson High School and Hall of Fame coach who has excelled the Stevenson program for the past 24 years while holding an overall record of 505-191 with 4 state trophies and coaching former and current NBA players and a wide range of kids into various colleges, including current NBA All Star, Jalen Brunson. We are excited to get to learn from a current Hall of Fame coach and another one on the rise.

Bruce Weber is a former stand out Head Coach at Kansas State. Coach Weber started his coaching career as a GA at Western Kentucky, leading him into an assistant role with Purdue and starting his head coaching career at Southern Illinois, Illinois, and then most recently Kansas State. Coach Weber has posted a 497-302 record in his stint as a head coach winning 2 championships in the MVC, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences each, on top of his extensive collection of Coach of the Year awards. Weber is now working with the Big 10 network as an analyst.

We sit down at the Final Four in Phoenix, with the current Senior Director of Wasserman Basketball, Coach Tony Ronzone. Coach Ronzone has a ton of experience including his professional playing career overseas while beginning his coaching career as the youngest Head Coach in New Zealand history, while also leading the Saudi Arabian, Chinese and United Arab Emirates national teams. Ronzone held a variety of positions in the NBA including stints with the Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. Ronzone was the General Manager of the Timberwolves and most recently was responsible for the preparation and organization of the NBA draft for the Dallas Mavericks.