Marching to Madness Blake Lovell

The Bruins tied for fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference and finished with the 5-seed in the tournament. Belmont lost five starters as the roster had two seniors but Ja’kobi Gillespie (Maryland), Cade Tyson (North Carolina), and Malik Dia (Ole Miss) all hit the transfer portal. The Bruins finished 8-3 in their last 11 games as Gillespie returned from injury and was a key in pushing the strong finish for the Bruins. Coach Alexander and I discuss the presence of the transfer portal and the passing of the great Bill Walton.
Topics of discussion include …
Former Bruins guard Ben Sheppard’s NBA playoffs appearance as an Indiana Pacer Losing Gillespie, Tyson, and Dia in the portal Win Miller, Isaiah Walker and Kyle Vanderjagt return and will be key players going forward into the 2024-25 season Maintaining the 20-win mantra in Belmont’s program

Coach Bruce Pearl returns to the “Marching to Madness” college basketball podcast as you see him live on the left screen and my background on the right is coach Pearl working a game on the sidelines. Auburn won its second SEC Tournament in the last five seasons with wins over NCAAT participants South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Florida. Auburn has seen five 20-win seasons in Pearl’s tenure while going 25-6 in the 2020 season that saw the tournaments interrupted by COVID. In addition, he took Tennessee to the NCAA Tournament in all six seasons he was there and had the Milwaukee Panthers on the NCAA brackets in two of his four years and he took them to the Sweet 16 in his fourth and final season before he came to Knoxville.
Topics include:
The Tigers cutting the nets in Nashville with that second NCAA Tournament title in five years Return of Johni Broome, Chad Baker-Mazara, Denver Jones, Dylan Cardwell Tigers in the transfer portal with 5-star Tahaad Pettiford as a key point guard The continual depth in SEC Basketball

Fresno State head coach Vance Walberg made his first trip into the “Marching to Madness” CBB podcast as he looks to push the Bulldogs back into a position where they are a solid challenger in the tough Mountain West Conference. Coach Walberg has coached the game for 40 years at all levels, including 697 wins and 16 league titles as a prep coach.
He has worked in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, and Denver Nuggets as well as two seasons as the head coach at Pepperdine and three as an assistant at UMass. He is a basketball scientist with his development of the dribble drive motion offense which is part of his own basketball culture. Arkansas head coach John Calipari is on board with Coach Walberg’s acumen as the two met for the first time when Coach Cal was at Memphis.
The discussion includes:
Coach Walberg’s development of the dribble drive offense Qualities to move the Bulldogs forward New signings for the Red Wave Growing the program inside of the tough Mountain West Conference … And much more!

Coach Jim Les just finished his 11th season at UC Davis where he led the Aggies to within one game of the NCAA Tournament while they finished the season second in the Big West basketball regular season. Coach Les discusses the campus as well as giving plenty of ideas in coaching and his thoughts and ideas inside the game. We discuss Big West Player of the Year Elijah Pepper who has moved on to the Australian Professional Basketball League as a member of the Perth Wildcats. Coach Les also talks about the ascension of the league and how it has become a solid stop along the course of the 32 NCAA basketball conferences.
Coach Les played seven seasons in the NBA for the Kings, Clippers, Jazz, and Hawks. He shot 39.6 percent from three-point range throughout his career.
Topics include:
According to kenpom.com, UC Davis posted a 20.9 percent forced turnover average per game The quality of Big West Player of the Year, Eli Pepper The return of Ty Johnson and his 17.8 points per game Coach Les’s defensive and three-point shooting philosophies

Coach Taylor just finished his 11th season at CSF as he worked on a rebuild in ’23-24. He posted back-to-back 20-win seasons in ’21-22 and ’22-23 and placed the Titans in two of their four NCAA appearances dating back to when the program was born in NCAA Division-1 hoops in 1975. He loses his top three scorers in DJ Brewton, Tory San Antonio, and Max Jones, but has five new players that will be able to figure in the rotation next season.
Topics of Discussion include:
How the Titans present their summer workouts and the subsequent drills Losing the those top three scorers Five new Titans as three came in the transfer portal and two committed to CSF out of high school Maintaining sustainability in a one-bid league

Coach Mike Jones drops by “Marching to Madness” once again as his talented Spartans finished tied for second with Chattanooga in the Southern Conference in 2023-24. Jones loses three of his top players as Mikeal Brown-Jones was the SoCon’s second-leading scorer with 18.9 ppg. Twins Keyshaun and Kobe Langley finished their fifth years at UNCG as they were two of the top defensive players in the league. Coach Jones also gives us a coaches clinic on his defensive philosophy as his teams are always atop their leagues on the defensive end of the floor.
Topics include:
Concepts and drills in coaching defense Mikeal Brown-Jones’ transfer to Ole Miss and Keyshaun and Kobe Brown finishing their fifth seasons in the program Donovan Atwell as the Spartans’ leading returning scorer Kenyon Giles and Michael Polite, III, coming to UNCG as transfers from Radford and George Mason, respectively