The Elevation Basketball Podcast

In this episode, 3x Big South Coach of the Year, Ronnie Fisher talks about how to build and sustain a championship defensive culture. Coach Fisher's teams have routinely ranked among the nations best defensive teams. The unique part of that is that he has done that at two different schools using to complete different styles of play. How did he build them in one of the nations best defensive programs and sustain that mind set even when he went to another program, well tune in and find out! Truly one of the best persons you will ever meet, Coach Fisher opens up about the things that make his program great! Stay tuned for the section on his "Toughness Chart" you will want to get your hands on a copy of this. Thanks again for listening the to the Elevation Podcast.

In this episode we break down the 2 side break in great detail. This is the episode to answer all your questions about playing with pace and space, creating big advantages, small advantages, the terrible two's of defense and how to make better decision making skills in our players. Brent does an amazing all the questions that Aaron and I had to help us to really understand the 2 side break concept. Even if you have no idea what this is or plan to use the 2 side break, you can learn a ton from this episode as we discuss concepts that can improve skill in any offense!

In this episode, we dive into the challenges of coaching and recruiting at the D3 level. We attach many of the myths about D3 basketball. Don't think  your team is as athletic or as big as your competition, do you want a wrinkle on defense that is unique, than this is the episode for you! Coach Neeley takes a look at his unusual 2-1-2 zone defense which is unlike any other that you've ever seen. Don't sleep on this episode, I promise you are going to learn a lot.

In this campfire, get your pen and paper ready! Coach Davis will deliver the goods! Coach Davis is a 5x Hall of Famer, in his 28 years as a Head Coach, his teams have won an amazing 21 championships. Playing a break-neck pace, his teams have led the nation in scoring 5 times and averaged 103 points per game in 2010. Moving on to WInthrop was like throwing gas on a fire, his philosophy lined up perfectly with Coach Pat Kelsey. Coach Davis will take us on a journey of how to play fast, things he's learned along the way, what he's learned from Pat Kelcey. Pay close attention to the section on how to make your practices better, more game like, and more competitive.  Even if you don't play fast, you will learn a lot from this episode of the Elevation Basketball Campfire with Coach Dave Davis.

In today's episode, Coach Hill will talk about how to rebuild a program from the ground up. Coach Hill was a highly successful Division 2 coach at Valdosta State which was a program that he built into a perennial National Championship contender. He inherited a program at WCU that has been on hard times. The last real success the program enjoyed was 2008-2010 when current Tennessee Lady Vols coach Kelly Harper was at the helm. Coming off a 2 win season, WCU made a late coaching change in July of 2019. Coach Hill agreed to take on the task of rebuilding this program into a contender again. You will enjoy his heartfelt honesty as he lays out the blueprint to make any program into a contender. 

This is our first episode and we certainly hope you enjoy it! It was never really intended to be a PODCAST but after taping a interview about leadership in coaching with my good friend Anthony Barringer, I decided to make it my 1st episode of the Elevation Basketball Podcast. Coming from a college coach whos won a national championship, Anthony provides an excellent look at what it took to be a leader of a program at the highest level. A huge thank you to our sponsors on the episode the WNC SPORTS NETWORK and for everyone who has supported all our projects here at Elevation Basketball. We look forward to our coming episodes.

Today we welcome in one of the nations premier college basketball coaches Coach Pat Kelsey. After a highly successful 9 seasons at Winthrop, Coach Kelsey made the jump to the College of Charleston, a program rich in its history and tradition of great coaches.  Pat Kelsey was named the 24th all-time head men’s basketball coach at the College of Charleston on March 25, 2021. The fifth all-time winningest coach in the history of the Big South Conference, he resurrected the proud basketball tradition at Winthrop University, averaging 20.7 wins per season over the last nine years in Rock Hill, S.C. No other Big South program can tout more wins overall or more conference wins in that time span. Kelsey, 45, will lead yet another tradition-rich basketball program as College of Charleston ranks seventh all-time (.685) among the winningest programs in NCAA Division I history with the likes of Kentucky (.762), North Carolina (.735), Kansas (.727), Duke (.710), UCLA (.688) and UNLV (.687). The 2021 Big South Conference Coach of the Year most recently guided the Eagles to a 23-2 campaign,  a school-record 21-game win streak and Big South tournament title, earning the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid for a third time under his watch. The brand of basketball that Kelsey instilled in the Eagle program was an exciting one as it gained national recognition receiving votes in both The Associated Press and Coaches Top 25 Polls. The Eagles also ranked as high as No. 2 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll and led the conference in scoring offense, averaging 78.9 points per game, which ranked No. 31 nationally. A two-time finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award and finalist for the 2021 Jim Phelan Coach of the Year Award, Kelsey compiled a 186-95 (.662) overall record and an impressive 110-46 (.705) mark in conference play. Winthrop also won the Big South regular-season title four times – in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021. In all, 16 Winthrop players were selected all-conference, while three were tabbed Big South Player of the Year, one Big South Freshman of the Year and two Big South Tournament Most Valuable Player. His previous coaching stops include his alma mater Xavier (2009-12), where he served as Associate Head Coach under Chris Mack as well as Wake Forest, where he served as Assistant Coach (2004-09) and Director of Basketball Operations (2001-04) under Dino Gaudio and the late Skip Prosser. Kelsey graduated cum laude in 1998 from Xavier University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing. He began his collegiate playing career at the University of Wyoming, before transferring and playing three seasons at point guard for the Musketeers from 1995 to 1998. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Kelsey and his wife, Lisa, have three children: Ruthie, Caroline and Johnny. PAT KELSEY FILE CAREER HONORS · 2021 Big South Conference Coach of the Year · Two-Time Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award Finalist (2016 and 2021) · 2021 CollegeInsider.com Jim Phelan Coach of the Year Award Finalist · 2020 CollegeInsider.com Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Finalist

In this jam packed episode, Coach Mark Cascio joins the show. Highly successful coach from Louisiana, Coach Cascio takes us on his journey from successful high school coach to D1 college assistant at App St University in Boone NC. Widely known for his prowess on the offense end and program development, Coach Cascio has done hundred's of coaching clinics and speaking engagements to one on one consulting through his company courtside consulting. We are so excited to have him as our guest today and pick his brain about modern basketball, decision making and decision training, the use of SSG's. Your gonna love his advise on KPI or Key Performance Indicators and we end the episode with great advise for all coaches on the use of "Marginal Gaines". If you wish to connect with Coach Cascio for more information, he can be reached on twitter @Coachcascio or his email address coachcascio@gmail.com

You will love this episode as two friends sit down and talk basketball. This is one of the most enjoyable episodes we've ever done! I hope you will enjoy as there is tons of great information in this episode.

Any High School Coach, Player and Parent will benefit from Anthony's insight on Player Development. He is one of the best trainers I have seen over the years and in this episode he breaks it all down and give adovse to coaches, players and parents on what to look for in a trainer. We have a big discussion on how to make it translate to the games, the coaches roll in the process, the trainers roll in the process and, most importantly, the players roll in the process. 

This might be one of the best episodes we've done yet! Coaches young and old will benefit from this one! We dive deep into some deeply held traditions that may actually be holding your team and your players back from reaching their full potential. We highly recommend you give this one a listen as Tyler Coston of PGC Basketball explains why "SHELL DRILL" is an outdated drill and how your post game speeches are NOT helping your teams.

One of the most successful head coaches in all of WNC talks about winning the locker room first and how he has developed that culture with his young team. Coach Stevens does an amazing job and you will love this episode. 

Fresh off wrapping up their 4th consecutive conference championship, Hendersonville(NC) Bearcat Head Coach Marvin Featherstone joins the show today to talk all things with Bearcat Hoops. Traditional powerhouse in the 70's and 80's, Coach Featherstone uses that old familiar recipe of full court pressure and electric pace on offense taught to him by his former coach at Hendersonville, Bobby Wilkins to remind folks that Hendersonville is a basketball program to be reckoned with!

This is campfire edition, Coach Wheel talks to us about how to properly train our players in the weight room. He will discuss what to look for when starting a program for your players, things to avoid, and tips to make your players perform at their best! This is great episode for all coaches interested in training HS athletes. Can't wait to dive in!

In this episode, Coach Shaun Ali from Hoops Consultant walks us through the steps he uses with his clients on how to study film the correct way. He talks about how to be more efficient, what it too much and what is not enough. If you are interested in learning how to study film with your team or with your players individually, this is the episode for you. This is part 1, in part 2 coming soon we will take the information that coach uses in this episode to walk us through an actual film study session If you interested in contacting Shaun as a consultant, he is on twitter as hoops consultant @shaunali34