Events

Charmin Smith

UC Berkeley Women’s Basketball Head Coach

Charmin Smith was named head coach of the Cal women’s basketball team on June 21, 2019, after spending 12 seasons as an assistant on the Cal women’s coaching staff. She began her coaching career in 2003 as an assistant coach at Boston College, where she spent one season before joining Tara Vanderveer’s coaching staff at Stanford. Her coaching portfolio also includes a short-term with the New York Liberty of the WNBA.
Charmin Smith attended Stanford University where she played for four years; Smith earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. Her WNBA playing career included the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, and Phoenix Mercury; she also played in Sweden for one year prior to her coaching career.

James Jones

Yale University Men’s Basketball Head Coach

James Jones the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach at Yale and one of the most successful coaches in Ivy League history, was named Yale’s head coach on April 27, 1999. Jones, the longest-tenured coach in the league, has guided the Bulldogs to five Ivy League championships – 2002, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 – four NCAA Tournament berths – 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 – and seven postseason appearances. He has mentored numerous players who have gone on to play professionally,
Jones has gained experience with USA Basketball in his time at Yale as well. He served as an assistant coach for the United States team that captured the gold medal at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup for men in Riga, Latvia. He also was as an assistant coach to Villanova’s Jay Wright for the 2007 USA Basketball Men’s Pan American Games.

Vaghelis Ziagkos

Youth National Teams of Greece Head Coach

Coach Ziagkos has vast experience in coaching basketball nationally as well as internationally. His coaching portfolio includes high school teams, youth clubs, Division 2 teams and top men’s professional teams in the 1st division of the men’s league (Iraklis, Panionios, Rethimno, AEK). Coach Ziagkos has also coached abroad, in Lebanon (led his team to the country’s championship and won the FIBA Asia Cup) and Hungary. He has also served as a technical director of many basketball camps through the years. Since 2022 he is the Head Coach of the Youth National Teams of Greece and the Director of Coaching Philosophy Program of the Greek Basketball Federation.

Christos Marmarinos

Basketball Coach / Sacramento Kings Int’l Scout

Dr. Christos Marmarinos is a basketball coach / statistics analyst with a lengthy experience in the sport of basketball. He has completed graduate work in Teachers College, Columbia University in the City of New York in the field of Applied Physiology. He has been a member of the coaching staff of Olympiacos for 14 seasons with two Euroleague championships and six Euroleague Final-4 appearances; he also won the Greek Championship three times. He is an international scout for the Sacramento Kings and is involved with the Kossovo Basketball federation. He runs a startup company, NewStats.eu, that specializes in providing Statistical Analyses to all basketball stakeholders (Basketball Teams, Media Groups, Agents, and the everyday Basketball fan).

Tara VanDerveer

Head Women’s Basketball Coach – Stanford University

Coach VanDerveer is the all-time winningest coach in women’s college basketball. She has been a member of both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2011) and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2002) and is considered one of the top coaches in the history of the sport. She is an icon not only in college but internationally as well as she has also coached the USA Basketball National team winning a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games with a remarkable run of 60 consecutive wins.

Coach VanDerveer’s numbers say it all! A five-time national coach of the year (1988, 1989, 1990, 2011, 2021) and 16-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, VanDerveer, who prior to coming to Stanford served as head coach for a combined seven seasons at Idaho (1978-80) and Ohio State (1980-85), has accumulated an impressive 1,125-255 (.815) record in her 42 years as a collegiate head coach and a 973-204 (.827) record over 35 seasons at Stanford. She has led the Stanford teams to three NCAA Championships (1990, 1992, 2021), one of four coaches in the history of the sport to win three titles; with 13 NCAA Final Four appearances, 23 Pac-12 regular-season titles, 14 Pac-12 Tournament crowns, and 32 trips to the NCAA Tournament, coach VanDerveer has built Stanford into a national powerhouse.

On December 15, 2021, she became the sport’s winningest coach, breaking Tennessee’s Pat Summitt’s mark of 1,098 wins. Stanford finished the year 31-2, winning both the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships, earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and claimed the national championship for the first time since 1992.

Overall, many of her players have earned collegiate awards, All American Honors, Player of the Year awards, and many of them have moved on successfully at the professional level. Stanford has had 30 players play in a regular-season WNBA game since the onset of the league, with 12 first-round draft picks out of its 27 all-time selections, including 2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike, and has had seven players win a total of eight WNBA titles.

Mitch Henderson

Head Men’s Basketball Coach – Princeton University

Mitch Henderson is the third-winningest coach in the history of the Princeton University men’s basketball program. Under his coaching and guidance, ten Princeton alumni have gone on to professional careers, including Devin Cannady ’20 who played eight games for the Orlando Magic in the 2020-21 season and was the NBA G League MVP with the Lakeland Magic.

In 2017, Henderson led his team to the NCAA Tournament and a first-round near-upset of 14th-ranked and fifth-seeded Notre Dame. The 2017 season saw Henderson win Ivy League Coach of the Year honors for the first time in the third year of the award.

While maintaining Princeton’s place as an annual contender in the Ivy League, Henderson has challenged the team out-of-conference, playing teams such as against Duke, Syracuse, North Carolina State, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Maryland, Miami, USC, Arizona State, and Indiana.
Henderson returned to Princeton as the program’s head coach on April 20, 2011, following 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Northwestern under his former coach at Princeton, Bill Carmody.

As a player at Princeton Henderson has had many moments of success during his collegiate career and has earned many honors and awards.

Marshall Cho

Marshall Cho has worked the Nike Hoop Summit several times since 2012 and for the past ten years, he has been involved with the USA Basketball Youth and Sport programs, first as a volunteer and then as a staff member by being a court coach. He also worked the men’s junior national team U16/U17 trials and the 2022 Men’s Junior National Team April minicamp.

Cho also served as the director of basketball operations at the University of Portland from 2012 to 2014 and during his three years, he sent four players to the NBA (Victor Oladipo, Jerian Grant, Quinn Cook, Jerami Grant).

In addition, Cho is a part of the board at the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association and the Oregon Basketball Coaches Association. Cho has also served as the camp lead instructions director for the Yao Foundation Camp in China for four out of the past five summers.

While his knowledge and work apply to all ages of players, his “expertise” lies in the development of basketball skills at the youth age.

Dr. Nyree Dardarian

Director of the Center for Nutrition & Performance – Drexel University

Dr. Dardarian is a Professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University and Director of the Center for Nutrition & Performance (CNP). She is a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics.

Dr. Dardarian is also Director of Sports Nutrition professional sports teams, Philadelphia Union (Major League Soccer, MLS), winners of the Supporters Shield, 2021, and the Philadelphia Flyers (National Hockey League, NHL).

Dr. Dardanian’s work has been on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer twice, most notably for eating at McDonald’s for 30 days. She is a frequent contributor to local and national media including CBS Philly, WHYY, Prevention Magazine, and Women’s Health Magazine in topics ranging from nutrient content, weight management, sports nutrition, and nutrition for specialized populations.

She developed the formulation of Dragon Gels™, an In-sport fuel used exclusively by the teams she supports. Dragon Gels™ is produced, packaged, and distributed through the Metabolic Kitchen, Drexel University.

Her research projects focus on esports, collegiate and professional athlete knowledge and behavior change, resting metabolic rate, and nutrition-centered workplace wellness programs.

Argyris Pedoulakis

Former Head Coach at Peristeri BC – Men’s Team

Mr. Pedoulakis was a professional basketball player for 13 years at Peristeri B.C., Panathinaikos B.C., and the Greek national team.

After his career as a player, Mr. Argyris Pedoulakis was directly promoted as the assistant coach of Peristeri in 1995. In 1997, he became the Head Coach of Peristeri, with which he won the Greek championship in 2001. Mr. Pedoulakis was also named as the Greek League Coach of the year twice in 2001 & 2003.

Furthermore, he became the Head Coach of Makedonikos in 2004 and was a Euroleague finalist. In the years that followed, Mr. Pedoulakis coached various clubs in Greece, including PAOK, AEK, and Panathinaikos.

In 2010, Pedoulakis returned to Peristeri and managed to involve young and talented players in a well-trained professional team. After two years at Peristeri, he signed with Panathinaikos and won the Greek League in 2013 and the Greek Cup in 2013 and 2014. In the following years, Mr. Pedoulakis worked for various European and Greek clubs such as UNICS and Panathinaikos.

Rob Fodor

Shooting Coach at Miami Heat

Rob Fodor is currently the Shooting Coach of the Miami Heat in the NBA. Formerly, he was a coach for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA and the head coach of the Florida Pitbulls of the ABA. He has played college and professional basketball both in the US and abroad.

During his three years with the Miami Heat, the team has set numerous individual and team-shooting career-highs, both on a percentage and volume basis.

Coach Fodor has coached/taught in Norway, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Slovenia, the ABA, the WNBA, and the NBA. By being a teacher and clinician for over 30 years, Coach Fodor has acquired experience in communicating and reaching players of different types and levels. He also explains that understanding how to reach learners of all types is critical to a teacher’s/coach’s, as well as, a player’s success.

Furthermore, Coach Fodor maintains and grows his own business named “The Shooting Guy”, a program that is geared towards teaching students the biomechanics and physics of movement in coordination with attaching the basketball in order to allow players to connect their athleticism to a high skill level. The main focus is to utilize a comprehensive approach to create dynamic balance and proper sequence. This sequencing is essential to an accurate and efficient shot, as well as great balance and explosive movement. The program takes into account every aspect and detail. The goal of “The Shooting Guy” is to provide the most biomechanically sound, physiologically, and psychologically beneficial program possible.

David Blatt

Former Head Coach Men’s Team – Olympiacos BC

Coach David Michael Blatt is a Euroleague Basketball Coach and a former Professional Basketball Player.

During his career as a player, Mr. David Blatt played as point guard for Princeton University from 1977 to 1981. He has also participated in the Maccabiah Games for the USA National team and won a gold medal in 1981. After his graduation, Mr. Blatt played professional basketball in Israel for nine out of the twelve years of his playing career.

As of now, he is one of the most successful American coaches in the European history of basketball. As a coach, Mr. Blatt has tremendous international coaching experience and has counted numerous successes such as the Russian Super League Coach of the Year (2005) and the EuroLeague Coach of the Year (2014). Coach Blatt has also won the 2007 Eurobasket with the Russian National Team in which he was the Head Coach for six consecutive years. In 2015, Mr. Blatt was named the Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach and led the team to the NBA Finals in his first season

Beth O’Boyle

Head Coach Women’s Team – Virginia Commonwealth University

Beth O’Boyle has been the head women’s basketball coach at VCU since 2014. During her career, O’Boyle’s teams have long been known for their defense as VCU ranks in the top five nationally in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, and 3-point field goal percentage defense.

Prior to joining VCU, O’Boyle served as the head coach at Stony Brook University where her teams ranked in the top 50 nationally in defense in each of her three seasons. While with the Seawolves, O’Boyle took a team that went 4-26 in her first season and guided them to a 26-4 record just two years later and an appearance in the WNIT.

Jessica Ogunnorin, a former player for ACS Athens, played for O’Boyle at both Stony Brook and at VCU. She was named to the America East All-Defensive Team under O’Boyle and helped both Stony Brook and VCU reach the WNIT.

O’Boyle has 11 years of head coaching experience in college basketball and more than 15 years overall as a collegiate coach.

Leonidas Christakidis

Strenght and Conditioning Coach

Leonidas Christakidis, a graduate of the Physical Education Department of the Athens University, has 10 years of experience in strength and conditioning training.  Over these years, he has earned a number of basketball championships with women’s teams as well as youth clubs (athletes of 15-18 years of age).  Leonidas’ expertise lies in working with young athletes.  He is the owner of a state-of-the-art gym in the Olympic complex at OAKA where he works with young and professional athletes.

David Arsenault Sr.

Former Head Coach at Grinnel College – Men’s Team

After 29 years at Grinnell College, Coach Arseneault has become nationally and internationally renowned for his innovative coaching techniques and offensive-minded basketball.
Known for full-court pressing and three-point shooting, his teams have led all playing levels in scoring and 3-point shooting for 20 of the past 24 seasons. He invented the Grinnell System (sometimes referred to as The System) a run-and-gun fast–tempo style game.  The Grinnell System relies on shooting three-point field goals, applying constant pressure with a full-court press, and substituting players frequently.

Arseneault was named MWC (Midwest Conference) Coach of the Year in 2014, 2013 and 2011.

Ron Sanchez

Head Coach at the University of North Carolina @ Charlotte – Men’s Team

Ron Sanchez was just named the Head Coach of the University o of North Carolina @ Charlotte; after nine years with the Virginia men’s basketball program, Sanchez will now be leading an institution that has great plans to rebuild. Sanchez served as an assistant coach for his first six seasons in Virginia and was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2015-16 season.

Sanchez was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Washington State University for three years before coming to UVA.

In the summer of 2013, Sanchez served as an assistant coach for the Dominican Republic National Team, which placed fourth at the FIBA Americas Championship and qualified for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for the first time since 1978.

Brenda Frese

Head Coach Women’s Team – the University of Maryland

Brenda Frese is the Head Coach for the University of Maryland Women’s team.  As a head coach she has 18 years of experience in three universities:  Ball State, Minnesota, and University of Maryland; she has had 14 NCAA tournament appearances, two consecutive final four appearances (2014 & 2015), and one national championship (2006).  She holds an impressive record of 474 wins and 143 losses (.768).

Coach Frese is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Big Ten Coach of the Year (2002-2015) and ACC coach of the year (2013).

Colin Castellaw

Shot Mechanics

Colin Castellaw has been involved in basketball for many years in a variety of capacities. In 2011, he founded and is now the CEO of Shot Mechanics, a company that provides personalized basketball coaching to players all the way from elementary school to the NBA. He focuses on the skill development of players. He has a talent for developing young players and a remarkable eye for correcting jump shots. He has consulted for NBA players Donald Sloan and John Jenkins.

Slobodan Subotic

Men’s Basketball Coach & Retired Basketball player

Slobodan (Lefteris Subotic) is a retired basketball player and coach with a great deal of experience in the professional scene. Having coached a number of professional league teams in Greece (12 seasons), Italy, Croatia, Lebanon, and Slovenia, Subotic has an impressive record of accomplishments!  As a coach, he has won 2 Greek League championships, 1 Greek Cup title, 2 Championships in Lebanon, and has won the FIBA Corac Cup.  For two consecutive years, he was named “Coach of the year” in the Greek League. Subotic was also the Coach of the National team of Slovenia in the 2003 Eurobasket. As a player, a shooting guard / small forward, Subotic left his “mark” with the club Aris Thessaloniki where he helped the team qualify for the Euroleague’s Final four three consecutive years and has been a 5-time Greek League Champion and 5 times Greek Cup Champion.

Henry Barrera

Strength & Conditioning Coach Men’s Team – Liberty University

Henry Barrera is the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Liberty University for the second year. He comes to Liberty from the state of Oregon, where he was a Performance Training Specialist at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton (8 years). While at Nike he was instrumental in designing training content for multiple projects. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Barrera played one season of professional basketball in Sweden before beginning his coaching and performance training career 14 years ago.  Barerra has built a strong reputation for his relentless pursuit to improve human performance, specifically for basketball players, and is considered a basketball-specific strength and conditioning specialist.

June Daugherty

Former Head Coach at Washington State University – Women’s Team

June Daugherty, former Coach at Washington State University, came to us with 28 years of coaching experience. It was her 10^th year at Washington State and before that she was at the University of Washington for 11 years and Boise State for seven years. Prior to her head coaching positions, she served as an assistant coach at Stanford under head coach Tara Vanderveer. She has coached more than 800 games with an overall record of 425 wins – 401 losses and has 8 NCAA post-season appearances. She has many years of experience working with WNBA-caliber talent; Daugherty is a member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and is a former member of its Board of Directors

Greg Kamansky

Head Coach at Cal Poly Pomona (California State Polytechnic University) Men’s Team

With his 16th season at the helm of the Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball program in 2015-16, head coach Greg Kamansky has embodied philosophies of dedication, hard work, and talent in his coaching style.

During his entire tenure, Kamansky and the Broncos have accomplished unprecedented feats in the program’s 65-year history:

• Won the 2010 NCAA title (division2)
• Played in consecutive NCAA Championship games
• Nine NCAA Tournament berths
• Four Elite Eight appearances
• Four NCAA West Region titles
• More NCAA Elite Eight appearances (four) in the last 10 years than any other program in the country and more.

Coach Kamansky was named the 2010 National Coach of the Year (NABC and Division II Bulletin); he was also four-time CCAA Coach of the Year and three-time NABC West Region Coach of the Year (2008-09, 2009-10, and 2012-13).

Before coming to Cal Poly Pomona, Kamansky was an assistant men’s coach and assistant athletic director at Fresno Pacific from 1993-98 and prior to that, he was an assistant coach at the University of San Diego.  As a player, he was a member of the University of California at San Diego men’s team for four years.

Eleni Kapogianni

Former Head Coach of Olympiacos BC – Women’s Team

Eleni Kapogianni has had a long career in basketball in Greece. As a player, Eleni has won 6 Greek Championships and 5 Greek Cups with the legendary team of Sporting Club.  She also participated in one Final four of the European Championships as well as in the Liliana Ronchetti cup with the team of Aghia Paraskevi and Liosia.  She was also a member of the Greek National team.

Her coaching career began in 2006 and since then she has been the assistant coach of a number of women’s teams as well as the head coach for division 1 women’s clubs.  She has won 2 national championships and 2 National cups with the team of Elliniko for the Greek Women’s A1 League.

Since 2006, Eleni has been involved with the National Association of Basketball coaches and since 2014 she was elected on their Board.

Hernando Planells

Former Associate Head Coach at Duke University – Women’s Team

Hernando Planells was the assistant coach of the Women’s Basketball program at Duke University.  He coached the guards and was also the recruiting coordinator for the Duke Blue Devils.

Planells has one of the most diverse backgrounds in basketball (both coaching and player development), leadership training, and film production. He has coached at every level including time with the Boston Celtics NBA Development League team the Maine Red Claws.  As an assistant coach, he was in charge of player development, scouting and did on-court coaching.  He helped develop Boston Celtics No. 1 draft pick Avery Bradley and NBA D-League Rookie of the Year DeShawn Sims. Planells has also coached professionally and worked with programs all over the United States and in countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Switzerland, and Taiwan. In 2011, he founded ELITE athlete training, which specialized in personal training and consulting services for athletes. Through his work with ELITE, he trained and assisted over 100 athletes to reach their goal of gaining a college scholarship or playing professionally.

For a number of years (2005-10) Planells served as an NBA scout for Marty Blake, who is the Director of Scouting for the NBA.  Planells also runs Always Be Contagious, an organization that provides leadership, communication, and culture training and support for sports programs, businesses, and individuals all around the country.  His work on the court led him to the “big screen” where he choreographed and consulted on the basketball scenes and training the actors on movies such as “Coach Carter”, “The Longest Yard”, “Rebound”, “Spider-Man 3”, “Semi-Pro” and others.

Chris Daleo

Former Head Coach at Rochester Razorsharks

Chris Daleo is in his first year with the Rochester Razorsharks with an extensive career in the pre-NBA professional leagues as well as the international basketball scene. He has been described as a “basketball genius” by a journalist and it is quite a surprise that he has not moved up to the NBA league by now.

He has been the Head coach of the Champaign Swarm, the Minot Skyrockets, and the Rockford Lightning.  He was named CBA Coach of the year a number of times and has a remarkable winning game record.  His international experience is also noteworthy: involved with the El Salvador League, the Korean Basketball League, Head Coach of one of eight teams in the Treviso Summer League, Treviso, in Italy (2006), Head Coach of U.S. team on a tour of China (2004, 2005 and 2006). In addition, Chris Daleo held management positions (General Manager, Deputy Commissioner of the CBA, College Athletic Director) throughout his coaching years.

Coach Daleo has successfully worked with young players, from the college scene all the way to the professional leagues.

Jim Engles

Former Head Coach at the New Jersey Institute of Technology

Jim Engles is a college basketball coach who started his career in 1991. Coach Eagles has been the Head or the Assistant Coach in numerous universities such as Wagner College, Rider University in Lawrenceville & Columbia University prior to his career at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. While in NJIT, Coach Engles reached the CIT semifinals twice, in both 2015 and 2016.

Mike Brennan

Head Coach at American University – Men’s Team

Mike Brennan has been the head coach of American University since 2013 with a 20-13 record. From 1995 until 2013, coach Brennan was the assistant coach in Columbia, Princeton, American University, and Georgetown.

As a player, he played for Princeton University.

In 2014, he was the Patriot League Coach of the Year.

Danny Manning

Former Head Coach Men’s Team – Wake Forest / Former NBA player

Danny Manning is in his first year as the Head Coach of Wake Forest. Prior to this position, he was at the University of Tulsa for two years and six seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas.  He has been involved in coaching since 2003.  Throughout his life, as a player and coach, Danny Manning has earned quite a few honors.  He won an NCAA championship as a player and as a coach; he was the first draft pick of the Los Angeles Clippers in 1988, has played in 7 NBA teams, and a member of Team USA for the 1988 Olympics.

Manning was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 2014 he was named Coach of the year in the C-USA athletic conference,

Richard Barron

Former Head Coach at the University of Maine – Women’s Team / current Head Coach at the University of Maine – Men’s Team

Coach Barron through his coaching career has had success at top quality Division 1 universities.  His experience includes North Carolina State, Baylor University, and Princeton University. During his tenure at Baylor, the team won the conference championship and has two NCAA post-season appearances, reaching the sweet 16 round.  Barron posted a 77-48 record during his tenure at Princeton while coaching five different players to All-Ivy League honors. In his early years as a coach, Barron was the assistant men’s coach of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee for four years.  Barron is well renowned for his fantastic recruiting and “finding talent”.  Barron comes to the University of Maine with an 11-year head coaching career record of 152-139.

In the summer of 2006, Barron looked to expand his coaching knowledge as he traveled to Treviso, Italy with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns to observe and study under Mike D’Antoni.

Lisa Stone

Head Coach at St. Louis University – Women’s Team

Lisa Stone, in 27 years as a collegiate head coach has a remarkable 515 – 256 record. This is her second year at St. Louis University and prior to her arrival at Saint Louis, Stone served eight seasons (2003-11) in charge at Wisconsin. She began her head-coaching career with a three-year stint at Cornell (Iowa) College, spent 12 seasons at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and had a three-year tenure at Drake. Throughout her career, she has had a number of NCAA post-season appearances; in 1997 she was the WBCA Division III National Coach of the Year, and in 2000 she was named D3 News/Molten Division III National Coach of the Year. In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Stone was a head coach in the 2001 WBCA All-Star Game as well as an assistant coach for gold-medal-winning Team USA at the 2002 World Championships for Young Women Qualifying Tournament in Brazil.

Theodore (Ted) Rodopoulos

Former Greek Basketball Coach

Coach Theodore (Ted) Rodopoulos is considered the “guru” of Greek Basketball. He has been an active member of the US Basketball Coaches Association for 34 years. He has worked in XANTH, the Greek National Team, PAOK, Dimokritos and Philippos. He has also worked as a technical supervisor in many teams. In Thessaloniki he has created for many years now his own basketball school, the “Stars Academy” and for 28 years he is the owner of the famous “Salonica Basketball Camp”, which was the first Basketball Camp in Greece (1983).

He is the vice-president of the Greek Basketball Coaches Association. He has also lectured in many International Basketball Clinics, the last one being in 2005 in London next to the legendary Dean Smith.

Sam Vincent

Former NBA player / Coach

Sam Vincent is a retired NBA player and a coach.  As a player, he played for Michigan State and was drafted by the Boston Celtics where he won an NBA championship.  His playing career included Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic.

He has had a number of coaching “stops”; in the international scene, he has coached in South Africa, Greece, Netherlands, and Nigeria. Shortly after coaching the Nigeria Men’s team to the second round of the 2006 World FIBA Championships (including a shocking upset of traditional power Serbia and Montenegro), he was hired as an assistant coach by the Dallas Mavericks.  In 2007, he became the Head Coach of the Charlotte Hornets.  After his tenure with the Hornets, Vincent was named the head coach of the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League

Giannis Sferopoulos

Men’s Basketball Coach in Greece and abroad

Giannis Sferopoulos’ coaching career began in 1986 with the youth basketball programs in Apollon Kalamarias in Thessaloniki; for four years he was also the head coach of the men’s team of the same club.  His next professional step was with PAOK (Thessaloniki) from 1997 to 2005 as an assistant coach while in 2001 he was the interim head coach in the second part of the season. At the same time, from 2001 to 2004 and in the 2009-10 season, he was an assistant coach for the Hellenic National Men’s Team next to Giannis Ioannidis, Panagiotis Giannakis, and Jonas Kazlauskas.

In 2005 he moved to Olympiakos as an assistant coach to Panagiotis Giannakis and Pini Gerson and in 2008 he was appointed as Head Coach of Kolossos Rodou; he stayed at this post for three years and during the 2011-12 season he was the assistant coach of CSKA Moscow with Jonas Kazlauskas.

His achievements include Cup champion (PAOK), bronze medal in 2009 Eurobasket, 5^th place in the 2004 Olympics, League Championship of Russia (CSKA), and one Euroleague participation in the gold medal game.

He has visited a number of universities in the United States (Syracuse, Hartwick College) and has been involved with numerous summer camps (Syracuse, Hartwick, Golden Valley Basketball Camps). He has also participated in the NBA Summer League of Las Vegas in 2006 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers Coaching Staff and in 2012 as a member of the Houston Rockets Coaching Staff.

Jerrod Calhoun

Former Head Coach at the Fairmont State University

Coach Jerrod Calhoun is an American college basketball coach. As a player, he attended Cleveland State University where he competed for two seasons and then moved to Cincinnati as a student assistant until his graduation in 2004. Calhoun started his career as an Assistant Coach at Walsh University where he was part of the Cavaliers’ NAIA national championship squad in 2005. In 2007, he moved to West Virginia where he became the director of basketball operations and was then elevated to assistant coach for one season.

Later in his career, Coach Calhoun was hired as the head coach of Fairmont State University, and in six seasons at the helm, he guided the Falcons to a 124–38 record, which included four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, and culminated in the school’s first-ever title game appearance in 2017.

Calhoun was named the 13th coach in Youngstown State history on March 27, 2017.

Tony Barone Sr.

Former NBA Coach at Memphis Grizzlies

Tony Barone is a Basketball coach and scout with an overwhelming experience of over 35 years! He was the assistant coach of the Memphis Grizzlies for five years before he became the head coach following Mike Fratello. Prior to his NBA tenure, he was the assistant coach of Bradley University, the Head coach at Creighton University as well as Texas A&M. His playing days were at Duke University.

Barone was also the Grizzlies’ director of player personnel.  Presently, Coach Barone is a frequent speaker at Nike Basketball Clinics in the United States.

Doug Bruno

Head Coach at DePaul University – Women’s Team

Coach Doug Bruno is a strong advocate of women’s basketball and women’s sports.  He is the Head Coach of the DePaul Women’s Basketball team (27^th season – over 500 wins and 15 NCAA appearances) and the assistant coach of the USA Women’s Basketball team that won the World Championship in 2010 and the 2012 Olympics.

Because of this passion, Bruno is recognized throughout the country as a leader of women’s college basketball and women’s sports. To honor Coach Bruno and his commitment to DePaul University, the University named the court at McGrath-Phillips Arena the “Doug Bruno Court.” With the naming in November 2011, Bruno became just one of five women’s basketball coaches and three in Division I to have the court or arena named in their honor.

He comes to us with many years of experience, from coaching hundreds of eight-year-olds at the Doug Bruno Basketball Camp during the summer to the collegiate level (men and women), the professional scene (WBL) as well as the national elite level.

Shimmy Gray-Miller

Former Head Coach Women’s Team – St. Louis University

Coach Shimmy Gray-Miller has been committed to injecting passion and energy into the women’s basketball program ever since she was introduced as the program’s sixth head coach on April 19, 2005. Gray-Miller served two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona and prior to that, she was an assistant coach at the University of Washington, where she helped lead the Huskies to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Je’Ney Jackson

Former Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Indiana University – “Hoosier Basketball team”

Even though he has been with the nationally prominent Hoosier Men’s Basketball team for only two years, Coach Jackson brings with him eight years of experience at Wyoming and five years in Kansas.  His professional experience is in the sports of football and basketball while his personal athletic career includes the sports of football, basketball, and track.

Ken Bone

Former Head Coach Men’s Team – Washington State University

Coach Bone brings with him over 25 years of coaching experience in a number of institutions.  He spent 16 years at Seattle Pacific University, 12 of them as a head coach, three years at the University of Washington (assistant coach), and another four years at Portland State University as a Head Coach.

Randy Pfund

Former Coach at Los Angeles Lakers

Randy Pfund is a former NBA Head Coach and former NBA executive.  He was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers under Pat Riley and Mike Dunleavy and a Head Coach for the Los Angeles Lakers for two seasons.

He was the General Manager for the Miami Heat until September 2008; under his management, Dwayne Wayde was signed by Miami Heat.

Kerry Rupp

Former Head Coach at Louisiana Tech University

Kerry Rupp has a history of being involved with winning programs.  His coaching background includes a 24-year high school career as well as a number of years as a head coach at the University of Birmingham – Alabama, Indiana University, University of Utah, and lastly with the Louisiana Tech Bulldog Men’s program. In the 2009-2010 season, under his guidance, the Louisiana Tech men’s team had a very successful 24 win season with a 10 game win streak, the most since 1985.

Rupp has been involved with basketball on several levels; he has worked numerous basketball camps all over the world and was Director of the Karl Malone Basketball Camp.

Giorgos Kalafatakis

Greek Division 1 Men’s Basketball Coach

Giorgos  kalafatakis was born in Hania, Crete on November 9, 1958. He played for Ambelokipous, Ionikos, and Apollon and his coaching career began in the 1984-85 season when he became the coach of Ambelokipoi Basketball Club. After a year’s break, he returned to the same team and stunned everyone when in six years the team was promoted through six divisions and finally into the Division 1 Professional League- a feat done by no other coach until now!

From 1995-1998 he was the coach of Iraklion; in 1998 he moved on to AEK, to Dafni for 1999-2000, Apollon Patron in 2000-2001, and others. Recently ha has coached a number of Division 1 Professional teams, such as PAOK, Iraklis, and Panellinios.

Stan Spirou

Former Head Coach Men’s Team – Southern New Hampshire University

One of the most successful coaches in the history of Division II basketball, Stan Spirou was the head coach at Southern New Hampshire University for 26 years!  He is the eighth coach in New England men’s college basketball to reach the 500-win mark.

The 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1999 New England Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year, Spirou has averaged an impressive 20 wins per season and has led the program to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, four NCAA Regional titles, and six NECC Tournament championships. In addition, he was named the 1994 national Coach of the Year by the Division II Bulletin.

Sue Semrau

Head Coach Women’s Team – Florida State University

Semrau has established herself as one of the top women’s basketball coaches in America. She brings a deep coaching history that spans 23 years, 408 victories, and 11 NCAA Tournaments.

She is the Head Coach of Florida State University for 14 seasons with the most wins in school history and has coached seven WNBA draft picks. Semrau began her coaching career at Occidental College in California

Sue Semrau is the Assistant Coach of the USA Women’s Under 19 National team.

Jane Albright

Former Head Coach Women’s Team – University of Nevada @ Reno

Jane Albright, ranks among the top 50 active Division I coaches in wins and has led teams to nine NCAA Tournament appearances. Her 27-year-old coaching career has made her one of the most respected coaches in Division 1 Women’s basketball.

Her long career goes back to Northern Illinois (10 years), Wisconsin (9 years), and Wichita State (5 years).  In her third year at the University of Nevada, Ms. Albright has a winning program in her hands.

In addition to her collegiate success, Ms. Albright served as the head coach of USA Basketball’s gold medal-winning Jones Cup team in 1996. She was an assistant coach on USA Basketball’s Junior National team in 1992.

Cheryl Burnett

Former Head Coach Women’s Team – University of Michigan

Cheryl Elaine Burnett is a former college basketball coach and player. She was the head coach of the Southwest Missouri State women’s basketball team from 1987 to 2002, where she compiled a 319–136 record and led her teams to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament in 1992 and 2001. She was also the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines women’s basketball team from 2003 to 2007. She played college basketball at the University of Kansas and was selected as an All-American during her senior year.

Dr. Anastasios Kabourakis

Attorney at Law
Former Asst. Professor and the Director of the Sport Management Graduate Program at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL

Anastasios Kabourakis prior to his academic career practiced law and served the Greek Basketball Federation and FIBA on several legal and policy matters.  He has published articles and presented research on International Comparative Sports Law, NCAA Compliance, particularly pertaining to International Student-Athletes, recruiting, amateurism, gambling, coaches’ contracts, institutional liability, and intellectual property applications in sport.  He serves as an advisor for various international sports consulting firms.

Kostas Missas

Former Head Coach of the Women’s National Team

Kostas Missas was the head coach of the Women’s National team; just recently the team finished in 5^th place in the European Championship, the highest placement ever, earning a spot in the next World Championships. His record in his tenure as a Head coach is 35 wins – 19 losses. He has also served our national squads by coaching the Junior Men’s team during the European Championship of July 2009 and earned the gold medal with a record of 8 wins and 1 loss.

Coach Missas played basketball in Panionios basketball club and Panathinaikos and a member of the National Men’s team with 46 appearances and 217 points. He is a professor at the University of Athens – Physical Education Department.

Mike Adras

Former Head Coach Men’s Team – Northern Arizona University

Mike Adras has led the Northern Arizona University men’s basketball to success on and off the court in his nine years since taking over the reins of the program. In the last three seasons, he set new standards for excitement and accolades with three Big Sky Tournament Championship game appearances and back-to-back Big Sky Conference regular-season titles.

Adras has led the program into the postseason in eight of his nine seasons as a head coach.  He has won over 150 games over that span and is the second-most winningest coach in school history.

John Margaritis

Former Head Coach Women’s team – University of California at Riverside

John Margaritis was the Head Coach of the women’s team at the University of California at Riverside for five seasons and has taken the team to never-before-seen heights. He averaged 17.2 wins per season with two NCAA Tournament appearances, winning two Big West Tournament titles and one Big West Conference regular-season title.

In 2006-07 John Margaritis earned the 2007 Big West Coach of the Year Award.  Prior to UCR, he has been involved in basketball programs at Northern Arizona, the University of Nevada, Fresno State, Cal State San Bernardino, and Northeastern Illinois University.