Shootin' The Breeze With Max Hooper

Today I have a very special guest, Sir’Dominic Pointer, or just Dom Pointer as most know him. This past season Dom played professionally in Israel with Ironi Kiryat Ata. He spent his first professional season with the Canton Charge in the NBA D League. He and I played college basketball together at St. John’s. On this episode Dom and I will discuss quite a few funny stories that happened during our time at St. John’s. We also talk about his specialty on the defensive end, the chase down block, his development as a player, as well as anything that Dom felt like adding into our conversation.

Today I have a very special guest, Travis Bader currently playing for Basket Recanati in Italy. Travis is the all time NCAA record holder for most 3 pointers made in a career with 504. He played at Oakland University for 4 years under Greg Kampe. Coach Kampe always has a high volume 3 point shooter on his roster so after Travis graduated he recruited me. During our conversation, we talk about what it takes to become a great shooter, what goes into getting yourself open on the court, the mindset of a shooter, along with many other things.

Today I have a very special guest, the current point guard for the Oklahoma City Blue D league team Alex Caruso. I first met Alex last summer in Los Angeles during the NBA pre-draft process. He played 4 years of college basketball at Texas A&M. He attended training camp with the Oklahoma City Thunder prior to the season this year. Today Alex and I will talk about what makes someone a great defender, what it’s like to play in the NBA D League, his job on the floor as a point guard, and much more!

Today I have a very special guest, the current director of scouting and recruiting innovations at Oakland University, Alex Varlan. I first met Alex when I first arrived at Oakland University in 2014. That was when he began his first year working at Oakland. Prior to Oakland he worked at Tennessee on the women’s side of things under pat summit for 4 years while also spending a year working for the Philadelphia 76ers in the front office. He may not get a lot of the credit for the work he does, but it helps the players and coaching staff a lot. He and I began a routine with my roommate Martez Walker where the day before a game in the hotel room he would bring both Martez and me about 8-10 clips of ourselves from the last game. Some would be the things we did well and some would be what we can do better. They all focused on small details and subtleties that Coach Kampe may not have the time to address with each individual player. He adds a lot of value to the Oakland University basketball program that goes unnoti

Today I have a very special guest, assistant coach at Oakland University Drew Valentine. I have known Drew for quite some time now as he was playing at Oakland when Coach Kampe first started recruiting me. After his college career at Oakland University he was a graduate assistant at Michigan State for 2 seasons under coach Tom Izzo. He is currently in his second year as an assistant coach at Oakland University. Te basketball world sure is small and after getting to know him initially in my own recruiting process, I had the opportunity to play under Drew during my senior year at Oakland. He and I will go further in detail on his playing and coaching journey to date, what leadership means to him, and what it’s like to work for Coach Kampe, along with much more.

Today I have a very special guest, head coach of Brewster Academy Jason Smith. I played for Coach Smith at Brewster Academy for one year for my post graduate year of high school. He is in his 17th season as the head coach at Brewster Academy this year. His teams consistently send 10 or more players to division 1 schools on scholarship, while Brewster has also had 10 NBA players since Coach Smith began coaching. He recruited me to Brewster and I am incredibly thankful that he did. Although I was only there for 1 year, I am incredibly thankful for the experience that I had at Brewster. Today Coach Smtih and I will talk about how he assembles his teams, the daily life of a student athlete in prep school, the college recruiting process, and much more.

Today I have a very special guest, Tom Coverdale. For many college basketball fans this is a throwback name. Tom played at Indiana University from 1999 to 2003. Up to this point, all of my guests have been current college or professional players so I wanted to get a little different perspective by having Tom on my show. Tom played professionally for a handful of years and then was an assistant college basketball coach. Today Tom and I talk about his experience of playing at the university of Indiana, his thoughts on shooting, his transition from playing into coaching, among a handful of other things.

Today I have a very special guest, Georges Niang. I first crossed paths with Georges in prep school in 2011. I was playing at Brewster Academy and he was at The Tilton School. We had some heated games against one another. I considered attending Iowa State when I was transferring so I spoke a little bit with Georges then, but I didn’t spend a great deal of time around him until last spring and summer. Georges and I are represented by different agents, but under the same firm, Wasserman. During the time prior to the 2016 NBA draft me, Georges, and a few other players spent a few months together in LA training to prepare for the workouts with NBA teams. I have a great deal of respect for what he was able to accomplish at Iowa State and for the work he has put into his game over the years to allow himself to grow as a player. Today we will talk about his time at Iowa State, playing for coach Fred Hoiberg, the experience of playing in the NEPSAC, the transition to the NBA, as well as his favorite places to play in

Today I have a very special guest, Devondrick Walker. For those of you who haven’t heard of Devondrick Walker, get familiar with the name. He is a guy who has one of the most unique basketball stories I’ve ever heard. With experiences at the NAIA and division 2 level in college, as well as 3 different NBA D League teams, he has just about seen it all. Today Devondrick and I will discuss his basketball journey, the growth his game has experienced over the years, shooting, the NBA d league, and more.

Today I have a very special guest, a former teammate and great friend of mine who I first met at Brewster Academy, Khalid McCaskill. Khalid attended Phillips Andover for 4 years, and followed that up with a post graduate year at Brewster Academy where I met him. We have become great friends over the years despite our journeys leading us to completely different locations along the way. He played basketball at UCLA for 2 years and ultimately graduated from Lehigh University. Today Khalid and I will talk about the shooter’s mentality, basketball in the NEPSAC, his college experience, leadership, and many other things.

Today I have a very special guest, a great friend of mine and former teammate at Oakland University, Sherron Dorsey-Walker. Sherron is currently a senior at Oakland University. Today Sherron and I will talk about the shooter’s mentality, the challenges surrounding transferring schools and joining a new team, his current season, his relationship with coach Greg Kampe, and many other things

Today I have a very special guest, a former teammate and great friend of mine at Oakland University, Kay Felder. Kay was my point guard for 2 years at Oakland and he definitely handed out a lot of assists to me. We had a great rapport on the court together. In the 2016 NBA Draft he was selected 54th and currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Today Kay and I will discuss some of the shooters he has played with, his job as a point guard, the differences between the college and NBA, among other things.