Life on the Road - A Coach's Journey

Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Basketball
  • Updated Weekly

Life on the Road, A Coach’s Journey, hosted by Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage , is a basketball podcast featuring coaches at the high school, college, and professional levels. Each episode dives into coaching, recruiting, player development, leadership, and building winning programs. Hear real stories from the road, the grind, and the game. Season 2 brings bigger guests and deeper insight. Subscribe, share, and stay locked in on the journey.

  1. 6d ago

    Life on the Road - Guest Marty McGillan

    This week on Life on the Road, Coach Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage sit down with Marty McGillan, the Associate Head Coach at Eastern Michigan University and one of the most respected assistant coaches in college basketball. With more than three decades on the sidelines, Coach McGillan has built a career on loyalty, relationships, and a commitment to doing the work that most people never see. His story starts right here in North Carolina. A Winston-Salem native and Bishop McGuinness High School product, McGillan earned his degree in Therapeutic Recreation from UNC Wilmington in 1990, and he has been coaching ever since. He cut his teeth in the Southeast during the 1990s with stops at East Carolina, Coastal Carolina, The Citadel, and the College of Charleston. Those years were the classic young assistant grind: long nights on the recruiting trail, learning from different head coaches, and earning trust one job at a time. Then came the partnership that would shape his career. McGillan returned to his alma mater, UNC Wilmington, where he and fellow Seahawk Billy Donlon spent four seasons helping lead the program to two conference championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances. The pair then moved together to Wright State in 2006, where they helped the Raiders capture their first Horizon League regular season and tournament championships and punch a ticket to the Big Dance. From there, McGillan spent ten years at Winthrop, with a season at Kennesaw State in between, becoming a fixture in the Big South. In 2017, he took on a new challenge at the University of Minnesota, coaching on the women's side with the Gophers. In 2018, he landed at Longwood University, where he spent eight seasons and helped the Lancers reach two NCAA Tournaments in a five season span, historic runs for that program. Now, the story comes full circle. This season, McGillan reunites with Billy Donlon, now the head coach at Eastern Michigan, as Associate Head Coach of the Eagles. In this episode, we talk about what it takes to last more than 30 years in this business, and what it's like having a son in the business now. Whether you're a coach, a player, or a parent trying to understand what it really takes to build a career in this game, this one is for you. New episodes of Life on the Road: A Coach's Journey drop every Tuesday on Spotify. Subscribe, rate, and share the show, and tag a coach who needs to hear this one.

    Life on the Road - Guest Marty McGillan

  2. Sep 23

    Life on the Road 50th Episode - Guest Andre Gray

    On our 50th episode of the Life on the Road Podcast, Coach Andre Gray sits down with Coach Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage and sums up life in college basketball with "You gotta be a little crazy to stay in it." And after this conversation, you'll understand exactly why he says it with a smile. He opens up about the highs, the lows, and everything in between that comes with building a career on the sidelines. We start with a chapter of his journey that a lot of coaches never talk about publicly, stepping away from the bench. After transitioning out of his previous position, Coach Gray took a sabbatical, and instead of sitting still, he went to work. He watched games, sat in on practices, and took notes on what other programs were doing. For the first time in a long time, he got to experience basketball as a fan, and he calls that time eye opening. It gave him the space to recharge, sharpen his coaching philosophy, and reconnect with why he got into this business in the first place. One of the biggest takeaways from his time away is how much team culture shows up in the little things. According to Coach Gray, you can tell if a team is winning or losing just by listening to how they communicate. Winning teams talk, encourage, and hold each other accountable. Losing teams go quiet. That lesson now drives how he builds environments where players and staff feel supported and connected. He also breaks down what separates a good assistant coach from an average one. A good assistant doesn't just watch the ball, they see everything else happening on the floor. That awareness is what allows an assistant to truly support the head coach and make an impact on winning. Coach Gray also shares a story from his early days as a JV head coach, when part of his daily responsibility was making sure the varsity uniforms were perfectly folded before every practice. It sounds small, but it's a perfect example of the grind, humility, and attention to detail it takes to move up in this profession. Above all, Coach Gray is passionate about mentorship. He believes that if you love basketball and you're a good person, there's a place for you in this business, and he's committed to helping young coaches find it. His philosophy is simple: we just keep making the table bigger. Whether you're a young coach trying to break in, a veteran looking for perspective, or a fan who loves the stories behind the game, this episode is full of real talk, hard earned wisdom, and genuine love for basketball. In this episode:Stepping away from coaching and using the time to growWhy communication reveals a team's true cultureWhat great assistant coaches see that others missPaying your dues and the details that matterMentorship and building a stronger coaching community New episodes drop every Tuesday. Follow the show, leave a rating, and share this episode with a coach who needs to hear it. Visit lifeontheroadpodcast.com for more episodes and updates. #LifeOnTheRoad #CollegeBasketball #CoachingLife #BasketballPodcast #Mentorship

    Life on the Road 50th Episode - Guest Andre Gray

  3. Sep 16

    Life on the Road - Guest Drew Richards

    On this episode of Life on the Road, hosts Coach Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage sit down with Coach Drew Richards, head coach at UNC Pembroke, for a candid look at what it really takes to build a career in college basketball. Coach Richards traces his path from the junior college ranks all the way to the NCAA, and he does not hold back on the highs and the lows. He opens up about the 2023-2024 season, when his UNC Pembroke team won the regular season title and the conference tournament, punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament. Then he walks through the very next year, when a strong record was still not enough to get the team back to the big dance, a reminder that this game rarely lets anyone get comfortable. The conversation takes a wild turn when Coach Richards shares one of the most unbelievable stories you will hear on this podcast, a junior college mission that had him calling jail after jail trying to track down a recruit who vanished right before summer classes started. No social media, no shortcuts, just old fashioned persistence and a coach who refused to give up on his player. He also reflects on how the game has carried him around the world, including a trip to Italy that reshaped how he sees the sport and its place in his life, and gets real about the side of coaching nobody puts on a highlight reel, including a tense encounter with law enforcement while out recruiting in a rough area, a story that speaks to the risks coaches take that fans never see. Throughout the conversation, Coach Richards touches on adaptability, reading the mood of a locker room, learning from a season that falls short, and turning setbacks into fuel for the next run. He talks about what it took to climb from junior college ball to running his own program, what that championship season felt like next to the gut check that followed it, and what years on the road have taught him about bouncing back from a rough year. It all adds up to a conversation packed with lessons for coaches at every level, from the grassroots gym to the NCAA sideline. Whether you are a coach, a player, a parent, or simply someone who loves the game, this episode will remind you why the road matters as much as the destination. Tune in for stories of persistence, culture, resilience, and the relationships that make coaching worth every mile. Life on the Road is hosted by SB and Coach Alphonza Kee, a weekly show built for coaches and hoopers who want the real stories behind the game. New episodes every week. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this one with a coach who needs to hear it. #LifeOnTheRoad #CollegeBasketball #NCAA #CoachingPodcast #UNCPembroke #BasketballCoaching

    Life on the Road - Guest Drew Richards

  4. Sep 8

    Life on the Road - Guest Larry Dixon

    From Salisbury Roots to Morehouse Maroon Tigers: Coach Larry Dixon Returns He's back. Larry Dixon returns to Life on the Road for a conversation with Alphonza Kee & Scott Bollwage that spans two decades of college basketball, a hometown hall of fame induction, and a first season at Morehouse College that's already being called one of the best debuts in program history. Since his last appearance, Coach Dixon spent two seasons on the North Carolina State staff, helping the Wolfpack capture an ACC Tournament Championship and reach the 2023-24 NCAA Final Four. Then in May 2025, Dixon was named the 14th head coach in Morehouse basketball history, becoming the first coach outside the Arthur McAfee coaching tree to lead the program since 1965. He wasted no time making his mark, guiding the Maroon Tigers to a 22-10 record in year one, a SIAC East Division title, and Morehouse's first SIAC Tournament Championship since 2003, punching the program's first ticket to the NCAA Division II Tournament since 2018. This spring, he added the HBCU All-Stars Co-National Coach of the Year honor and a coaching role with Team Bob Dandridge at the 2026 HBCU All-Star Game Experience. This week we get into all of it, we talk about the winning mindset that turned a rebuild into a championship in year one, and what it actually took to win the SIAC that fast at a new program. Dixon opens up about the education of athletics, and what he wants his players to walk away with beyond basketball. We share some stories in new segments called "Recruiting trip gone wrong", and "Mission Impossible" as well as some more new segments you won't want to miss. It's a conversation about legacy, development, and building something built to last, from a coach who's spent his whole career doing exactly that. Tune in for another episode of Life on the Road: A Coach's Journey, where the road never really ends, it just leads to the next chapter.

    Life on the Road - Guest Larry Dixon

  5. Sep 1

    Life on the Road - Guest Tierra Terry

    This week on Life on the Road, Coach Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage sit down with Tierra Terry, head women's basketball coach at Winston-Salem State University. Coach Terry just wrapped a historic debut season leading her alma mater, guiding the Lady Rams to a 28-4 record, a CIAA Tournament championship and the program's first appearance in the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, with the team finishing the year ranked No. 13 nationally and third in the Atlantic Region. That run earned her CIAA Coach of the Year honors, and the university has since announced a two-year contract extension recognizing not just the season, but the culture she's building for the long haul. In this conversation, Terry opens up about what it means to coach at the school she once played for, and what it's really like to be a coach's daughter growing up around the game before ever stepping onto the sideline herself. She talks through her year one mindset, the mental approach to walking into a program and immediately setting a new standard, and what it took to build a team-first culture that translated into a championship. The guys also get into some of the lighter, more human moments of the job, including babysitting on the job and a memorable drive to Canada that turned into one of those only in coaching stories. Coach Terry's path back to Winston-Salem State included stops at Virginia Union and several other collegiate programs before she returned home in 2025 as the program's 12th head coach. Since then, she's leaned into discipline, defense and accountability, and it shows, with multiple Lady Rams earning postseason recognition this year, including a CIAA Rookie of the Year and multiple All-Conference selections. Whether you're a coach, a player, a parent or just someone who loves a good comeback story, this episode is packed with insight on leadership, resilience and what it takes to build something meaningful from the ground up. Tune in for an honest, entertaining conversation with one of the rising names in college basketball coaching. New episodes of Life on the Road drop every Tuesday. Follow along @CoachAKSB on Instagram and X, and @LifeOnTheRoadPodcast on YouTube.

    Life on the Road - Guest Tierra Terry

  6. Aug 26

    Life on the Road - Guest Greg Young

    This week on Life on the Road, Coach Alphonza Kee and Coach Scott Bollwage sit down with Coach Greg Young, he is currently the Special Assistant to Buzz Williams at the University of Maryland.Coach Young began coaching in 1986 as an assistant at Texas Wesleyan, then returned to his hometown of Cleburne, Texas, for a season as an assistant at Cleburne High School. From there he moved to Eastern New Mexico, where as an assistant he helped the Greyhounds reach the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen, the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Coach Young landed his first head coaching job at Lamar Community College in Colorado, then moved to Hill College, before joining Southwest Texas State as an assistant and recruiting coordinator under Dennis Nutt. He went on to lead Jacksonville College, where his 2008 to 09 squad went 21 and 10, one of the best seasons in school history, earning him Region XIV Coach of the Year. Across his three junior college head coaching stops, Coach Young compiled a career record of 168 and 139. In 2009, Scott Cross hired Coach Young as an assistant at UT Arlington, where he spent over 13 years building one of the most consistent runs in program history. The Mavericks advanced to the postseason four times under his watch, the 2012 NIT, the 2013 and 2016 CIT, and the 2017 NIT, and won conference titles in the Southland and the Sun Belt along the way. He was voted the top assistant coach in the Sun Belt Conference prior to the 2020 to 21 season. When Chris Ogden departed for Texas, UT Arlington promoted Greg to head coach in April of 2021, the ninth head coach in program history. After his run at UT Arlington, Coach Young joined Troy as associate head coach in August of 2023, helping the Trojans post a 20 and 12 season followed by a 23 and 11 campaign that included a Sun Belt regular season and tournament title. All told, across every program he's coached at, from junior colleges to a Power Four sideline, Coach Young has been part of over 550 team wins. In this conversation, Coach Young and the hosts dig into what it takes to stay in coaching for four decades, the lessons learned from junior college gyms to a Power Four program, and what it means to finally land at Maryland alongside a coach he's known for years. It's a story about patience, loyalty, and the long road so many coaches travel before they get their moment. Tune in for a raw, insightful look at a coaching journey built one stop at a time, from Cleburne to College Park.

  7. Aug 18

    Life on the Road - Guest Bobby Collins

    This week on Life on the Road, Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage sit down with Bobby Collins, a coach whose resume spans over 30 years and touches nearly every level of college basketball. Coach Collins broke into coaching at Old Dominion before spending eleven seasons at Hampton University, where he helped the Pirates capture three MEAC Championships, including the program's back to back titles in 2001 and 2002 and one of the most memorable NCAA Tournament upsets in history, a 15 seed knocking off second seeded Iowa State. From there, Collins took over as head coach at Winston Salem State, guiding the Rams through their transition from Division II to Division I and back again, a journey he can speak to firsthand. His 2010 to 2014 stretch with WSSU included three trips to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament, a CIAA Southern Division Championship, and a CIAA Title, with a 2012 to 13 squad that climbed as high as No. 7 in the country. In 2014, Collins took the reins at Maryland Eastern Shore, where his first season produced the program's best winning percentage in 41 years. That turnaround earned him MEAC Coach of the Year, the Ben Jobe Award for National Coach of the Year, and a finalist nod for the Hugh Durham Award. After stints at South Carolina State as an assistant, Collins went through rebuilding another program as head coach at Shaw University, turning a 5 win team into a winning CIAA contender. In this episode, Bobby breaks down what actually goes into the perfect scouting report, the real challenges of moving a program between D II and D I, and how he approaches coaching with purpose no matter the roster he inherits. He and the guys talk rebuilding programs from the ground up, staying grounded through the wins and the tough years, and what it means to be the best at your role, whether that's as a head coach, an assistant, or a mentor to your players. With 275+ career wins and four NCAA Tournament appearances behind him, Bobby brings perspective that only three decades on the sidelines can give you. New episodes of Life on the Road, A Coach's Journey drop every Tuesday. Follow along on Instagram and X at CoachAKSB and on YouTube at LifeOnTheRoadPodcast. Link in bio. #LifeOnTheRoad #BasketballCoach#CollegeBasketball #BasketballPodcast

    Life on the Road - Guest Bobby Collins

  8. Aug 11

    Life on the Road - Guest Tom Palombo

    This week Tom Palombo joins Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage on Life on the Road for a conversation with thirty four years of head coaching wisdom behind it. Palombo built one of the most decorated resumes in Division III basketball during his twenty two seasons as head coach at Guilford College. He led the program to all eight of its NCAA Tournament appearances and all five of its ODAC titles, advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals five times, and reached the semifinals on three occasions, including back to back trips to the Final Four. This past season alone, he guided Guilford to the ODAC championship, a win that also stood as his four hundred twentieth as the program's head coach. Palombo was named ODAC Coach of the Year four times and South Region Coach of the Year three times, and he closed out his Guilford tenure with a twenty and eight record across eight NCAA Tournament trips. Across his full head coaching career, spanning stops at Virginia Wesleyan, Defiance College, where he coached both the women's and men's programs, and Guilford, Palombo holds an overall record of six hundred fifty eight wins and two hundred seventy six losses. He earned his bachelor's degree in communications and journalism from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1989, and later completed a master's degree in education with an emphasis in sport management from Old Dominion University. He also brings experience with Revolution Academy, adding another layer to a coaching journey built on player development at every level. In this episode, Palombo talks through what it looked like to find his own voice as a assistant after being a head coach, the process of building and sustaining back to back Final Four runs, and the discipline required to maintain success year after year in a demanding conference. Whether you are a coach looking to sharpen your own approach, a player chasing your next level, or simply a fan of the game who appreciates a career built on consistency and championship standards, this conversation offers a rare look inside the mind of one of the most successful head coaches in Division III history. Life on the Road, A Coach's Journey, brings you real conversations with coaches from across the basketball world. New episodes every Tuesday. #LifeOnTheRoad, #CoachesJourney, #BasketballPodcast

    Life on the Road - Guest Tom Palombo
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Life on the Road, A Coach’s Journey, hosted by Alphonza Kee and Scott Bollwage , is a basketball podcast featuring coaches at the high school, college, and professional levels. Each episode dives into coaching, recruiting, player development, leadership, and building winning programs. Hear real stories from the road, the grind, and the game. Season 2 brings bigger guests and deeper insight. Subscribe, share, and stay locked in on the journey.

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