The Rising Coaches Podcast

Ben Sanders is the current head coach of Guaymas in Mexico and current Rising Coaches Member. Coach Sanders brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast working in various roles in the G league with the Windy City Bulls, Long Island Nets, and Wisconsin Heard as well as a stint in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls. Prior to these roles, Coach Sanders held positions in the NCAA with New Mexico, Rice and Alfred University all playing a pivotal role in his new found head coaching gig.

Alan Stein, Jr. is a very influential person as he is a coach, trainer, author and motivational speaker. Coach Stein was a Director of performance for Pure Sweat Basketball, Founder of Stronger Team, Author, and Motivational speaker who has worked with the biggest names in basketball today including, Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. Coach Stein brings us a wealth of knowledge as we will get to learn more about his techniques for coaches and players to improve their mindset in game as well as on a day to day basis.

Luka Voncina is a former professional basketball player and current Founder of LV prospects. Luka is a current owner and operator of a company in Slovenia to help assist players to pursue their collegiate careers in other countries. Luka helps give us some insight on how coaches can use International agencies to their advantage in the recruiting processes.

Nate McMillan is a very well known name in the basketball industry as a coach and player. Coach McMillan was a draft pick to the Seattle Supersonics in 1986 and then went on to start his coaching career for Seattle following his 12 year playing career in the NBA. He coached in the NBA at various places such as Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta all in the assistant role while also holding the head coaching title in Indiana and most formerly with the Atlanta Hawks.This conversation was so insightful, we just kept going, so we decided to split it into two parts.

Nate McMillan is a very well known name in the basketball industry as a coach and player. Coach McMillan was a draft pick to the Seattle Supersonics in 1986 and then went on to start his coaching career for Seattle following his 12 year playing career in the NBA. He coached in the NBA at various places such as Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta all in the assistant role while also holding the head coaching title in Indiana and most formerly with the Atlanta Hawks.This conversation was so insightful, we just kept going, so we decided to split it into two parts.

Coach Major is a man of many talents as he is the current President of Basketball Operations with Rising Coaches and Co Host of the Rising Coaches Podcast. Coach Major also has a strong coaching background including Cal Lutheran, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Xavier, Ohio State, Texas and the Nigerian National team all in the assistant role, as well as, Charlotte and the Rwanda National Teams as a head coach. We are very excited to get to do this one.

Gary Waters a former NCAA Division 1 Coach. Waters brings 40+ years of coaching experience to the podcast today, while making various stops at Ferris State and Eastern Michigan in the assistant positions, including Kent State, Rutgers and Cleveland State as a Head Coach while also crowning multiple regular season and tournament titles in the MAC and Horizon League Coach Waters even won a variety of MAC and Horizon League coach of the year awards.

Cooper Neimand is a former NCAA coach and current Owner of Coach Coop LLC . Cooper formerly coached at various places such as Wesleyan Christian Academy, Lander University and most recently Lincoln Memorial University. Cooper now runs his own company to help coaches best achieve their own personal goals in the coaching profession. Check him out at cooperneimand.com.

Mike Bobinski is the current Athletic Director of Purdue University. Mike has been an athletic director for 25+ years and has made various stops such as Navy, Akron, Xavier, Georgia Tech and where he currently resides at Purdue University, since 2016. We are excited to get to learn more about the interview process and athletic director side of things during this podcast.

Kevin Eastman is a coach who has 35+ years of experience at a variety of different levels including NCAA all the way to the NBA. Coach Eastman has been an assistant coach in the NCAA at places such as Richmond, Colorado State, VCU and Tulsa, while also holding head coaching stints at Belmont Abbey, UNC-Wilmington and Washington State. Following his NCAA coaching career Eastman found himself in the NBA for the Boston Celtics and LA Clippers as an assistant coach for 10+ years combined.