MVP Cast with Mark Woods

WBBL chair Jim Saker joins the MVP Cast to talk State of the League. Plus reaction following the 2023 BBL and WBBL Trophy finals. Hannah Robb tells us why Leicester Riders will be back, Shanice Beckford-Norton looks inside London Lions win, Azania Stewart explains her retirement - and why she may not be quite ready to finish up. And following Caledonia Gladiators jinx-breaking victory, David Sloan reveals the emotion behind his game-winner, and Gareth Murray tells us what the win means to him. More at mvp247.com  

New British Basketball League CEO Aaron Radin joins the MVP Cast.----more---- He tells Mark Woods about a strategy to transform the BBL into a "premier content and entertainment organisation" through raising the standards of teams, game night experience, and its broadcast product. He talks us through the learnings from his previous roles, why expansion is unlikely for 2023 and whether the likes of Cheshire and Plymouth will still fit into an upsized BBL in the future. Follow the podcast @mvp_247 or get past episodes at mvp247.com A Communicated production

Caledonia Gladiators and Ivory Coast big Patrick Tapé joins the MVP Cast.----more---- Amid March Madness, he tells us about his own college days which began with combining books and basketball at Ivy League Columbia University, ended with a stint off the streets of San Francisco, and crammed in a spell under Coach K at Duke University. He recounts the impact of his first trip to the homeland of his father Denis to represent his country in the FIBA World Cup. And we look ahead to the BBL Trophy final against Cheshire Phoenix. More at mvp247.com.   A Communicated production.

Kofi Josephs and Oliver Lawrie join the MVP Cast to discuss their new Mental Health Charter for Basketball.----more---- Kofi tells Mark Woods about how his own lived experience left him to set up his 'Why Not I?' organisation to raise awareness of the issues and how talking about it openly has led to other players and basketball staff talking to him about what they are facing. Oli tells us about how the Charter came into being and the crisis that it wants to help address. And we look at the resources and steps forward required to make the sport a safe space for those involved without fear of falling short. Read the charter here.

Mark Woods is joined by Dan Routledge to preview the new British Basketball League season.----more----We assess the upswing of the BBL with new investment taking shape - and new investors coming in - and cast an eye over each of ten teams. And ask the question: can anyone stop London Lions from a domestic clean sweep? 

Newly-retired Janice Monakana joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about the emotions in playing her final game in Sevenoaks Suns' defeat in the WBBL Playoff final and why the inadequate salaries in British basketball contributed to her decision to call time and plot a radical career change. We look back on her journey and how the death of her father when she was 14 shaped her in deciding her hoops pathway. And we relive some of the highs and lows with Great Britain and beyond - and find out what she'll miss most. More at mvp247.com.

Leicester Riders' newly-crowned BBL Player of the Year Geno Crandall joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods the secret behind his team's success this term and the decision process that will determine whether he stays or moves on. We explore the different dynamic between his time at North Dakota and NCAA powerhouse Gonzaga University and how it's shaped him as a player. And he reveals why his upbringing in Minneapolis has instilled a drive to fight for social justice and use his voice for good. More at mvp247.com  

Bristol Flyers centre Shane Walker joins the MVP Cast. He tells about his first forays into coaching, how it fits into his drive to gives kids positive role models and a sense of well-being - and why he's bought land in Ghana as part of a long-term project there. We discuss the joy and pain of trying to make it big in the USA, playing with Kevin Durant and against other NBAers, the magical formulas that separate good BBL teams from the not, and what impact 777's investment into the British Basketball League might have. More at MVP247.com.

Oaklands Wolves player-coach Lauren Milligan joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about becoming the youngest playcaller in the Women's British Basketball League and nurturing wins with developing young talent at Oaklands Basketball Academy on and off the court. We explore her route through the sport, the mentors who have helped her, her ambitions for the future - and food. More at MVP247.com.

Surrey Scorchers forward Tayo Ogedengbe joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about honest conversations about racism with his three young sons and how the BBL's Players Voice initiative has a role to play in addressing issues. We chat about the concept of a players union and how the British Basketball League might develop, his own pathway in the UK and abroad, his side gig in modelling and how he was shaped by a spell in his teens when he was left homeless. More at MVP247.com

Great Britain guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about being a child of London, and of France, and the cross-capital switches that took him to Bristol, then college, and then the pros. We talk about social media in the world of basketball, dealing with injuries, and GB's forthcoming FIBA World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Turkey. More at MVP247.com. Sponsored by TeamSportz.

Sheffield Sharks centre Bennett Koch joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about the ebbs and flows of his three years in the British Basketball League, the family brotherhood that propelled him and his siblings onto the court, trash talking, playing overseas and how he likes to unwind .... with a hike. More at MVP247.com.   Sponsored by TeamSportz (www.teamsportz.pro)

Sheffield Hatters forward Helen Naylor joins the MVP Cast. She tells Mark Woods about pairing basketball with having her first child last year and the physical and logistical challenges presented by pregnancy and parenting. We explore the role of her basketball-playing family, the flatlining and resurrection of the Hatters and her succession of great teams in the WBBL and elsewhere. More at MVP247.com Sponsored by TeamSportz - find out more at www.teamsportz.pro

Leicester Riders guard Kimbal Mackenzie joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about hooping it as a kid in Canada, looking to make it in the NBA and dealing with the loss of that dream. He recounts his switch to Spain, his ambitions to make it big off the court - and getting paid in Bitcoin. More at MVP247.com Sponsored by TeamSportz - www.teamsportz.pro

Glasgow Rocks centre Boban Jacdonmi joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about playing catch-up following his late, late start in basketball, how he accelerated his development with a former Harlem Globetrotter in Stoke, his path to the USA through junior college to Division One of the NCAA, his international ambitions, and how he sees his career panning out with the Rocks, and beyond. More at MVP247.com

London Lions guard Josh Ward Hibbert joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about his transition to basketball from tennis, his alternative sporting career as a junior Grand Slam champion and the transition from one to the other. We talk about his development as a basketballer and the influences that shaped him, and his role on a Lions team starting its bid in the FIBA Europe Cup. More at MVP247.com

Manchester Giants head coach Lloyd Gardner joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about the rebuild in his second season in Manchester around the stellar signing of Dan Clark, the positive impact of the ill-fated London City Royals on his career, learnings from his TV commentary work and from the Barking Abbey Academy before switching to the British Basketball League - and his experience with Great Britain. More at mvp247.com

Cheshire Phoenix guard Jules Dang Akodo joins the MVP Cast. He tells Mark Woods about his childhood switch from Cameroon to the UK and the ties that bind, the talent bloom that saw him decamp for Slovenia in his mid-teens and the Euro odysseys beyond, his dissatisfying trip to a EuroBasket finals with Great Britain, last season's ups and downs with London Lions and his ambitions for 2022. More at mvp247.com.

The MVP Cast returns for a new series - to preview the 2021-22 British Basketball League season. We chat to new London Lions' general manager Brett Burman about his plans to conquer at home and abroad, plus we talk to various figures around the BBL about the ten teams and how they might fare.   More at mvp247.com

In the latest edition of the MVP Cast, we're joined by former Glasgow Rocks and British Basketball League director David Low who talks us through the troubled financial waters for sport caused by coronavirus, the BBL's investment potential, opportunities and threats, venue construction plans and why the Scots should be crowned as champions. Sponsored by Total Environmental Compliance – check them out at tecompliance.co.uk.