Shootin' the Breeze with Max Hooper Max Hooper

Today I have a very special guest, Sir’Dominic Pointer, or just Dom Pointer as most know him. This past season Dom played professionally in Israel with Ironi Kiryat Ata. He spent his first professional season with the Canton Charge in the NBA D League. He and I played college basketball together at St. John’s. On this episode Dom and I will discuss quite a few funny stories that happened during our time at St. John’s. We also talk about his specialty on the defensive end, the chase down block, his development as a player, as well as anything that Dom felt like adding into our conversation.

Today I have a very special guest, Travis Bader currently playing for Basket Recanati in Italy. Travis is the all time NCAA record holder for most 3 pointers made in a career with 504. He played at Oakland University for 4 years under Greg Kampe. Coach Kampe always has a high volume 3 point shooter on his roster so after Travis graduated he recruited me. During our conversation, we talk about what it takes to become a great shooter, what goes into getting yourself open on the court, the mindset of a shooter, along with many other things.

Today I have a very special guest, the current point guard for the Oklahoma City Blue D league team Alex Caruso. I first met Alex last summer in Los Angeles during the NBA pre-draft process. He played 4 years of college basketball at Texas A&M. He attended training camp with the Oklahoma City Thunder prior to the season this year. Today Alex and I will talk about what makes someone a great defender, what it’s like to play in the NBA D League, his job on the floor as a point guard, and much more!

Today I have a very special guest, the current director of scouting and recruiting innovations at Oakland University, Alex Varlan. I first met Alex when I first arrived at Oakland University in 2014. That was when he began his first year working at Oakland. Prior to Oakland he worked at Tennessee on the women’s side of things under pat summit for 4 years while also spending a year working for the Philadelphia 76ers in the front office. He may not get a lot of the credit for the work he does, but it helps the players and coaching staff a lot. He and I began a routine with my roommate Martez Walker where the day before a game in the hotel room he would bring both Martez and me about 8-10 clips of ourselves from the last game. Some would be the things we did well and some would be what we can do better. They all focused on small details and subtleties that Coach Kampe may not have the time to address with each individual player. He adds a lot of value to the Oakland University basketball program that goes unnoticed by many.

Today I have a very special guest, assistant coach at Oakland University Drew Valentine. I have known Drew for quite some time now as he was playing at Oakland when Coach Kampe first started recruiting me. After his college career at Oakland University he was a graduate assistant at Michigan State for 2 seasons under coach Tom Izzo. He is currently in his second year as an assistant coach at Oakland University. Te basketball world sure is small and after getting to know him initially in my own recruiting process, I had the opportunity to play under Drew during my senior year at Oakland. He and I will go further in detail on his playing and coaching journey to date, what leadership means to him, and what it’s like to work for Coach Kampe, along with much more.

Today I have a very special guest, head coach of Brewster Academy Jason Smith. I played for Coach Smith at Brewster Academy for one year for my post graduate year of high school. He is in his 17th season as the head coach at Brewster Academy this year. His teams consistently send 10 or more players to division 1 schools on scholarship, while Brewster has also had 10 NBA players since Coach Smith began coaching. He recruited me to Brewster and I am incredibly thankful that he did. Although I was only there for 1 year, I am incredibly thankful for the experience that I had at Brewster. Today Coach Smtih and I will talk about how he assembles his teams, the daily life of a student athlete in prep school, the college recruiting process, and much more.