UMass head basketball coach Frank Martin led the Minutemen to a 20-11 record, finishing 11-7 in the Atlantic-10 and receiving a double-bye in the A-10 Tournament. The 2023-24 season was UMass’s first 20-win campaign since 2013-14 when they were 24-9 and this was also the last season the Minutemen made it to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Martin took South Carolina to it’s only Final Four and Elite Eight in 2017. He had a five-year run at Kansas State where the Wildcats were in the NCAA Tournament in five of those seasons. K-State went to the Elite Eight in 2010.

Topics of Discussion include:

• A 20-win season in Coach Martin’s second year in Amherst
• Transfer Portal Problems
• Returning point guard Rahsool Diggins
• Jayden Ndjigue rising to his sophomore season as a small forward

… And much more!!!

Legendary Coach Jim Harrick is back on “Marching to Madness” as he posted ‘W’s’ in 470 games in his career. We remember 1995 when he became the only UCLA coach since John Wooden to lead the Bruins to a national championship. Harrick took UCLA to the national championship in 1995 as he was the National Coach of the Year and the Pac-12 Coach of the Year during that season. He is still the second-winningest coach at UCLA behind Wooden with his 192 wins. He led the Bruins to three Sweet 16s and two Elite Eights.

Harrick started his head coaching career at Pepperdine, leading the Waves to five WCC titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances. Harrick also notched four WCC Coach of the Year awards as the Waves were 87-35 in the ACC in Harrick’s career. After coaching the Bruins for seven years, Harrick went to Rhode Island as the head coach in 1997 as he turned the Rams into a national competitor with his two NCAA Tournament appearance and a berth in the Elite Eight in 1999. Harrick moved into the SEC at Georgia where he took the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament twice.

Topics of Discussion include:

• Discussion about leading the UCLA Bruins to a national championship in 1995
• Coach Harrick thoughts on UConn and the Back-to-Back national championships
• A look at the descending of the Pac-12
• His thoughts on issues in college basketball

… And Much More!!

Coach Gillen does a stellar job as the college basketball analyst for CBSSN on predominantly Mountain West Conference. We discuss NC State as an upstart in winning 9 in a row to get to the Final Four where we also discussed UConn winning the first back-to-back title in 17 years. We had a good SEC/ACC discussion as well as some excellent thoughts about coaches from several different stops.

Topics of Discussion include:

• Discussion about this season’s Final Four
• Coach Gillen’s Elite Eight matchup as the Providence coach vs. Arizona in 1997
• A look at Mountain West and SEC/ACC Basketball
• Excellent job by Coach Kevin Keatts in getting NC State to the Final Four

… And Much More!!!

Coach Magpayo steered a young Highlanders team into a tough out from the middle to later part of the season. UCR ended up winning eight out of their last 11 games as they defeated a top UC Irvine Anteaters squad, 88-78, and made it to the semifinals of the Big West Tournament with a win over Cal State Bakersfield before losing to eventual champion Long Beach State. Barrington Hargress, Isaiah Moses, and Nate Pickens form a talented and complementary backcourt that should complement each other well.

Topics of Discussion include:

• The Highlanders’ solid finish in winning those 8 out of 11 games
• Barrington Hargress as the Big West Freshman of the Year
• Manufacturing many three-point attempts as nine Highlanders posted from 45 to 148 three-point attempts
• Idea to create shorter possessions with many of the abilities coming in transition off of turnovers

… And much more!!!

Coach Eran Ganot checks in after his Warriors finished the season with 10 wins in their last 14 games. The competitiveness gave them an opening night win in the Big West Tournament and put them in a position to face Cal-Davis in the semi-finals where they lost a tough 68-65 decision. Coach Ganot has led the Warriors to winning percentages in each of the last seven seasons as they posted their first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2014-2015.

Topics of Discussion include:

• The Warriors’ six seniors who provided them with a 20-win season
• Coach Ganot’s administration of a plan of attack on both ends of the floor
• The evaluation of how to use the transfer portal
• Tom Beattie and Ryan Rapp as two strong players on the 2024-25 roster

… And much more!!!

We catch back up with Oregon State head basketball coach Wayne Tinkle as his Beavers were a freshman/sophomore-oriented team that lost nine games by eight points or less during the season. Coach Tinkle finished his 18th season as a head coach as he finished his 10th season at Oregon State after eight years at Montana. Next season, Oregon State and Washington State will play in the WCC as the Beavers and Cougars who are the two returning Pac-12 teams.

Topics of Discussion include:

• Oregon State’s 23-24 campaign with such a young roster
• The movement of Beavers’ hoops into the Pac-12 for next season
• Thoughts on the transfer portal and NIL
• Looking at this weekend’s Final Four

Coach Cantu checks back in on “Marching to Madness” as he and I discuss the tournament from lots of angles, including our thoughts on the misses the NCAA made in seeding and placing teams. We also went around the country and discussed the Big 12 and SEC as well as teams we thought could pull upsets. Coach Cantu also named his Final Four and national champion.

Topics of Discussion Include:

• Big 12 and SEC Invitees to the Tournament
• Basketball discussions dealing with the reputations of different teams
• Teams that could crash the Tournament’s party
• Thoughts on players on teams that could make a difference

… And much more!

Coach Jones is no stranger to basketball in Florida as he was an assistant at Florida for 11 years and built teams at Marshall and UCF as head coaches at both schools. He came into DeLand, Fla. five years ago and led the Stetson Hatters to 22 wins this season.  They finished second in the Atlantic Sun and won the tournament on Sunday with a 94-91 victory over a tough Austin Peay Governors squad. In addition, the NCAA Tournament bid will be the first in Stetson basketball history. Jalen Blackmon was phenomenal in the title game as the Hatters leading scorer netted 43 points for the win.

Topics of Discussion include:

• The Hatters’ ASUN championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament
• The play and style of Jalen Bridges
• Building Stetson into a solid basketball program
• College Basketball in the Sunshine State
• Much more!

Coach Penders returns to MTM as we talk Big 12 and how Houston made the trek into the conference from the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars didn’t miss a beat behind Coach Kelvin Sampson as they won by two games over Iowa State. Coach Penders also chats about his life as a coach at 7 different schools where he was at seven stops and won a total of 649 games. He took Rhode Island, Texas, George Washington, and Houston and built those programs as he took the Cougars on the rebuild. Coach Penders turned all of these into NCAA Tournament teams and he not only made the tournament, but he took them deep into the brackets on several occasions.

Coach Penders played basketball and baseball at UConn and was the 116th pick in the eighth round of the 1968 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians.

Topics of discussion include:

• The Houston Cougars winning the Big 12 in their first season in the league
• Basketball philosophies that Coach Penders has developed through his career
• Texas guard Max Abmas
• The approach to playing and being successful in the NCAA Tournament

Coach Kerns led the Mountaineers to the best conference record in school history at 16-2 in the rigorous Sun Belt Conference. The 26 wins were the most in a regular season in App history as well. The Mountaineers won a pair of tight four and six-point victories over James Madison as they finished one fame ahead of the Dukes for the regular season title.

Topics of discussion include:

• The defensive characterization inside the on-court attack
• Only averaging 13 fouls per game
• The balance in scoring between the top seven players in the rotation
• The dynamics of Donovan Gregory, Terence Harcum, and  Tre’Von Spillers
• Much more!

Coach Hodge steps onto the hardwood at “Marching to Madness” as he is in his first season as the North Texas Mean Green head coach. He discusses his team’s defensive philosophy as he spent six seasons as coach Grant McCasland’s assistant in Denton, Texas. Coach Hodge coached at the junior college level as he rolled up a 146-24 record at Paris JC and Midland College.

Topics of discussion include:

• Coach Hodge’s coaching career
• The defensive mindset of the Mean Green
• Jason Edwards’ averaging 18.6 points and 14.2 shots per game
• “The Mastermind of the North Texas Defense”
• Much more!