AdventistHoops

On location from the historic Thunderdome at Union Adventist University, the show welcomes two legends of Union basketball, Coach Ron Dodds and Matt Gal, the best player to come through the school. **Correction: Ron was never the athletic director.Fresh off the 2026 Adventist Hoops All-American weekend, the group recaps highlights and their impressions of its impact, noting the rapid chemistry and genuine spiritual engagement shown by the athletes during small groups and worships.A major focus of the episode centers on the 40-year history of Union College basketball, which began in 1986. Coach Dodds recounts the early hurdles of launching the program, including severe financial constraints and pervasive institutional opposition to competitive sports. Gal speaks about his own journey, detailing his high school career, a walk-on offer at Colorado State University, and his ultimate decision to return to Union due to the school's unique community and Sabbath-keeping considerations.Thank you for listening! Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to help us grow this community!Follow on Instagram, and learn more at adventisthoops.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

La Sierra University’s men’s head coach shares his college basketball coaching journey, which began at the age of 22 under the guidance of his dad at a community college in Southern California. He later joined the staff at Hope International, a top-ranked NAIA program where we worked for five years before getting the opportunity at LSU. Ethan talks about the lasting coaching wisdom from his father, his team's historic conference run in only his second year, and the value he puts on playing NCAA competition (at the time of this recording, LSU had played five D1 opponents in the 24-25 season).Ethan also explains why he likes to put the decision-making in the players’ hands and allows them to play freely if they’ve proven themselves. He highlights some of the leaders on his roster, why LSU is moving to a new conference next season, and as a non-Adventist, what he has come to appreciate about the Seventh-day Adventist faith. He describes why he looks for maturity above all else in high school prospects, his 3-5 year goal for the program, and why he wears a suit to games when the basketball world is becoming more casually dressed.Check out Advent Sports at https://www.advent-sports.com/Thank you for listening! Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to help us grow this community!Follow on Instagram, and learn more at adventisthoops.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a first-year head coach for Andrews University, Jared talks about his vision for the program, which he acknowledges has struggled recently. He talks about his experience with shifting culture and mentality at his prior stops at a Michigan junior college and high school. His father coached at Andrews as a kid, and Jared played for the Cardinals for one season in college, so taking this position is a full circle moment for him.He talks about the differences of coaching at a junior college versus a four-year university, the challenges of recruiting for a rebuilding program without scholarships, and how he sees AU being a destination for the kids who fall through the cracks in the national recruiting process. He talks about this upcoming 2024-2025 season and who he’s looking to lead on his roster.Thank you for listening! Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to help us grow this community!Follow AdventistHoops on Instagram: www.instagram.com/adventisthoops Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Currently living in Madagascar, Tim played for a local professional club there, and owns a social business called "Tour One Planet" that connects tourists directly to local businesses. He describes his start in basketball as a freshman at Pine Tree Academy in Maine, gaining motivation as he saw individual success at the since-closed Atlantic Union College tournament. He gained experience as a practice player at Washington Adventist University before transferring to Andrews and playing two years. His last season at Andrews he enrolled in a masters program, which in his words, was the least expensive at AU and allowed him to continue playing. The program culminated in a study tour in Madagascar, resulting in Tim’s eventual relocation to the country.Tim describes what it’s like living and playing in a country that experiences significant poverty, including what his training, practices, and facilities looked like, as there is only one indoor court in the entire country. He describes the adjustments to FIBA rules and the uptempo pace of the game in Madagascar. Finally, Tim shares about his business designed to help local vendors get the most out of tourism opportunities. Check out the business at https://touroneplanet.com/Thank you for listening! Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to help us grow this community!Follow AdventistHoops on Instagram: www.instagram.com/adventisthoops Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new men's and women’s head coach at Pacific Union College talks about his basketball journey from Takoma Academy (TA), all the way across the country to his current job in Angwin. Along the way he’s played and coached at Southwestern Adventist University, and coached at the high school level at TA and public schools in Arizona.Landon shares his plan for building a foundation for the program at PUC, talks about the challenges he’ll face in coaching two collegiate teams at once, and what his first orders of business have been. Being hired late into the summer, he takes us inside the mind of a coach who is trying to recruit for a fast-approaching season, including his pitch for players to come to PUC and the emphasis he’s putting on recruiting Adventist players.Landon breaks down his teams’ deficiencies an his most pressing personnel needs for the upcoming season, and comments on just how helpful athletic scholarships can be in helping to shape a program.Thank you for listening! Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to help us grow this community!Follow AdventistHoops on Instagram: www.instagram.com/adventisthoops Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The vice principal and interim athletic director at Takoma Academy in Maryland shares some of the rich history of TA basketball, going back to a 1964 game with Pine Forge Academy. Eventually because of concerns about competition, TA got away from playing other Adventist schools and instead began to play non-Adventist schools. Keith credits Coach Bob Paulson with building a strong interscholastic basketball program in the 1980’s that set a foundation for the future. Influential in establishing that culture was Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wooten’s annual camp, hosted at Takoma Academy, where TA students got to attend and work the camp, playing with some of the best players in the area. Keith lists off his greatest TA teams and players of all time, and the coaching tree that has come out of the school. He talks about the wealth of talent in the greater DMV area, and how TA’s proximity to other great programs has provided opportunities for non-Adventist players to enroll at Takoma over the years. He shares why they continue to return to the Southwestern Adventist University Hoops Classic each year, and how the girls and boys teams are looking for this next season.Thank you for listening! Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to help us grow this community!Follow AdventistHoops on Instagram: www.instagram.com/adventisthoops Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.