Prep Athletics Podcast

Tom Espinoza is the head prep boys basketball coach at Putnam Science Academy. Tom won National Prep School Championships in 2018 and 2020. He has coached dozens of D1 players to include NBA player Hamadou Diallo. In this conversation we talk about starting a prep school program from scratch, what its like to coach a Top 100 player, his second team, the importance of the open gym recruiting period, coaching multiple 7 footers and more.

On this episode we interview Lee Academy’s Head Prep Basketball Coach Dan Haynes. Dan was a multisport athlete in high school and college before getting into coaching. He has been at Lee since 2016 and shares his insights on such topics as the remoteness of Lee Academy, playing in the NEPSAC AAA, his largely international roster, and more. Dan explains his pitch to players on why it’s a good thing to go to a prep school in Northern Maine, plus much more. Enjoy the interview!

Coach Damien Williams, Head Prep Basketball Coach at The Kiski School. Kiski is located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Coach Williams discusses recruiting against the New England prep schools, college recruiting, the advantage of prep school open gyms, how to email a college basketball coaching staff and much more.

In this episode we interview Coach Roger Cox who is the head boy’s basketball coach at the Rabun Gap School. Roger shares why not being in New England is not a disadvantage for his school, the league they play in that has included Zion Williamson and the Curry brothers, the benefits of a multi-cultural school, Rabun Gap’s circus program and more.

In this episode we are joined by Winchendon School’s Head Boys Basketball Coach Kevin Kehoe. Kevin has coached at multiple levels to include JUCO, D2 and prep school. Kevin has been placing players in colleges for decades and shares with us his insights on guards, recruiting, choosing a college, the benefits of prep schools and much more.

In this mini episode I discuss the three things I would tell my high school self to do if I could go back into a time machine.

Brady Bergeson is the head coach of Regis University in Denver, Colorado. He played at D3 Chapman University before coaching D1 at Sacramento State. He then became head coach at D2 Western Oregon before becoming the head coach at Regis in 2015. In this episode Brady will tell us about the benefits of playing at the D2 level, how scholarships work at all levels, the differences between each, and more.

Wilbraham and Monson Head Boys Basketball Coach, Mike Mannix has coached at the D2, D3 and NBA levels. He has been at Wilbraham and Monson since 2009. In this episode Mike talks about working for the Indiana Pacers as a video scout, being the director of basketball ops at Drexel, why the NEPSAC AA prep school league is so special, coaching current NBA player Wenyen Gabriel, and much more.

John Mahoney is a former D1 assistant coach at programs such as West Virginia University and Michigan. After coaching in college he took over the national post grad team at IMG Academy. Recently John started 212º Sports Academy. In this episode John talks about knowing what college coaches are looking for and how to develop his players so they will be attractive to coaches at the next level. Now as a founder of his own academy, he is taking all he learned and applying it to his program. We dig into the world of basketball academies and their advantages over a traditional brick and mortar prep school. I have been a vocal critic of basketball academies and having John on the podcast was very informative. Not all of these places are equal and John will share why his is different.

Adam Finkelstein is the founder of the New England Recruiting Report as well as a national high school scout for ESPN. Adam has experience coaching at the D3 (Western Connecticut State), D1 (University of Hartford), and prep school (Choate Rosemary Hall) levels. In 2012 I reached out with questions to Adam about the prep school world and he was kind enough to take the time to lead me in the right direction. In this episode Adam talks about scouting, going where the players are, his role with ESPN, and much more.