The Rising Coaches Podcast

Brad Stevens is one of the best coaches in the basketball business. Coach Stevens has a short road of stops but an incredible background nonetheless, as he grew from an assistant role at Butler to being the Head Coach and ultimately one of the best Butler has seen during his 6 year head coaching stint, including 2 Horizon Coach of the Year awards, 2 Final Four appearances and 7 regular and tournament Horizon League championships in total. Following Butler, Stevens stepped into a role with the Boston Celtics as a head coach for 8 years and now serves as the current President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics. 

Amit Tailor is the current Manager of Basketball Operations at Grand Rapids Gold in the NBA G League. Coach Tailor has a wide range of knowledge expanding from a Game Day Statistician with the Chicago Bulls, a Scout for the Knicks and NetScouts Basketball as well as an assistant for the University of Florida, Santa Clara University, Clemson as well as assisting with USA Basketball. Most recently Coach Tailor was a Video/Player Development Associate with the Houston Rockets and is now currently with the Denver Nuggets G League team, the Grand Rapids Gold.

Kendall Aldridge is a Rising Coaches Member and current Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Purdue University Northwest, Coach Kendall Aldridge. Coach Aldridge has a great career path for young Coaches as he started in the high school ranks at Decatur Central High School, as well as various other High school positions and ultimately landed his first NCAA Division 3 coaching gig with Houghton College. Following Houghton, Kendall gets a position where he currently stands at Division 2 Purdue University Northwest. Kendall is definitely a coaching name on the rise!

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.