November 11, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Mason Rocca, Photos, Princeton
Dan Mavraides and I have been talking about doing an interview for a few weeks, but the former Princeton guard wanted to wait until his situation in Italy was settled before answering any of my questions.
Now under contract for the remainder of the 2012-13 season with Lega A side Sidigas Avellino, Mavraides was free to do his first interview with princetonbasketball.com since last August's Q&A.
Mavraides' new team holds a 2-4 record in the top Italian league and Mavraides has hit double figures in his last three contests, averaging 8.0 ppg and 2.8 assists/game on the young season.
The result of our email exchange follows after the jump.
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October 24, 2012 at 1:08 pm
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Princeton, Video
Since graduating Princeton in 2008, Matt Sargeant's life was satisfying but not personally fulfilling. Sargeant found working in web development for a successful company lacking, so in the past two years he returned to basketball - first as a trainer at Open Gym in Anaheim and more recently as a coach.
In June, Sargeant was named the head coach of the girls basketball team at Los Alamitos High School, about 15 miles from where he grew up in Huntington Beach, CA.
Tipped by a site member to this career shift, I reached out to Sargeant for an interview. Earlier today we had a chance to discuss the path that took him to his new position leading the Griffins, his unique vision melding two famous basketball styles and how a coaching legend has impacted his life. You can read a transcript combining a pair of phone conversations after the jump.
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October 18, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Princeton, Video
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I have wanted to catch up with Doug Davis ever since he signed professionally back in August with the Walter Tigers but we didn't have a chance to exchange emails until this week.
What follows is a tidied-up version of our correspondence. Davis' team is off to an 0-3 start in the German Bundesliga and the former Princeton standout is averaging 4.0 PPG off the bench, scoring nine points his last time out.
You can track his complete season statistics here.
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September 1, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Princeton, Video
It has been a busy year for Kareem Maddox since we talked last July. Maddox played his first professional campaign for Dutch First Division team Landstede Basketbal, averaging 9.4 points and 4.7 rebounds a game off the bench before a season-ending injury truncated his campaign.
Maddox and I caught up via the phone for about half an hour on Thursday, and we had the chance to discuss his recent signing with the Newcastle Eagles, the top team in the British Basketball League, who are the reigning BBL Cup, BBL Trophy and BBL Tournament champions.
I think this is an interesting conversation which takes you inside the life of a young free agent trying to make his mark overseas. Thanks to Kareem for his time. A full transcript can be found after the jump.
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October 28, 2011 at 6:28 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Georgetown, Interviews, Princeton
Since his playing career at Princeton concluded, I've caught up with former Tiger guard Marcus Schroeder on a pair of occasions - once after a tryout for the D-League's Reno Bighorns and a second time following a trip with the U.S. Basketball Academy for nine games in China.
Knowing that Schroeder had been actively looking to get into coaching since a conversation early this year, I'm glad to be able to share that Marcus Schroeder is now a graduate member of the staff at St. Mary's College.
Finally able to talk publicly about his role with the Gaels, Schroeder spoke to me on the phone tonight while driving from school back to Concord and a transcript of our discussion follows the jump.
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September 9, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Judson Wallace, Princeton
About a year ago, right after he signed with Gran Canaria 2014, I exchanged emails with Judson Wallace '05 about his simple, hitch-free transfer leaving Italy for a squad off the coast of Spain.
One year later, Wallace and I again traded messages for an exclusive interview, this time following a prolonged saga that saw Wallace waiting to join Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona Regal as maneuvers were made behind the scenes to secure dual citizenship because Barca had already satisfied its quota of American-born players.
This odyssey ended two days ago and Wallace was formally announced as the newest member of the Lega ACB champions. Shortly thereafter I sent him nine questions to answer. His responses can be found after the jump.
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August 19, 2011 at 11:59 pm
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Princeton
When I previously interviewed Kyle Koncz last November, he was starting his third season of coaching and teaching at Lake Forest Academy outside of Chicago.
Koncz is now taking the next step, going from a prep school powerhouse to an assistant coach position at one of the top programs in Division III basketball, as he recently joined the staff at Williams College.
This morning I caught Koncz on the phone in transition from Illinois to the Berkshires. A transcript of our phone call can be found after the jump.
Additionally, because the site has been interview-heavy recently, I've added an Interviews category above you can use to peruse these many exclusive conversations.
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August 18, 2011 at 11:59 pm
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Princeton, Video
On the heels of former teammates Kareem Maddox and Pawel Buczak signing professional contracts overseas, last weekend Dan Mavraides inked a three year deal with Greek squad Aris Basketball Club.
Currently back home in California, I had a chance to talk with Mavraides tonight about this opportunity, what he's been working on since graduation and his new role playing guard on one of the top teams in Greece. A transcript of our conversation appears after the jump.
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August 9, 2011 at 9:48 am
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Princeton
You may not remember five years down the line, but Pawel Buczak's addition to the Princeton basketball team was close to an afterthought.
The seventh and final member of Joe Scott's 2006 recruiting class - which included the more heralded Zach Finley, Lincoln Gunn, "preferred walk on" Nick Lake, Chris Petrie, Marcus Schroeder and fellow South Jersey resident Blake Wilson - Buczak put in the time and the hard work to rise the depth chart from seeing the floor briefly in only five games his freshman year to an Honorable Mention All-Ivy player come his junior year.
As a senior he started all 31 contests for a 22 win Tiger squad.
While employed as a Investment Risk Analyst since graduation, Buczak never stopped working on basketball. Like it did his junior year, his hard work had a payoff. A week ago the Krakow-born Buczak joined up with Polish second division team Slask Wroclaw for the 2011-12 season.
Buczak and I exchanged emails yesterday as the former Princeton center scrambled to tie up several loose ends before starting his new career as a basketball player. I sent a list of questions over and he answered a handful in return. Our conversation folows after the jump.
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July 14, 2011 at 1:04 am
Filed under Basketball, Interviews, Princeton
Last week Kareem Maddox officially signed with Dutch First Division team Landstede Basketbal for the upcoming season.
I had a chance to talk to Maddox via phone as he exited Universal Studios this evening and the 2010-11 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year told me about his impending opportunity in Zwolle. A transcript of our conversation appears after the jump.
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July 5, 2011 at 10:48 am
Filed under Audio, Basketball, Fairfield, Interviews, Princeton
Sydney Johnson is a man of his word.
Back in April, when the Fairfield basketball coach left Princeton after four seasons, he privately promised me that a time would eventually come where he would be willing to field my queries about his departure.
Yesterday at a coffee shop in Mercer County, Johnson and I met up to talk.
Thinking of the many email exhanges, site comments and off-Internet conversations I had with subscribers since Johnson joined the Stags, I tried to get answers to the questions you have asked me.
The audio from our 20:00+ conversation can be found after the jump.
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June 28, 2011 at 10:52 am
Filed under Baseball, Basketball, Bill Bradley, Chris Young, Craig Robinson, Ed Persia, Howie Levy, Interviews, Jamie Mastaglio, Jimmy Lane, Judson Wallace, Kevin Mullin, Mason Rocca, Mike Brennan, Pete Carril, Princeton, Scott Greenman, Will Venable
In addition to this site's weekly in-season interviews with John Thompson III, Joe Scott and Sydney Johnson, princetonbasketball.com has produced numerous pieces with former Princeton players over the past decade+.
The summer struck me as a good time to collect the archived links to all of the Q&As, transcripts, email correspondence and audio files into one post for newer members who might have missed some of these when they originally ran.
I believe this is a complete list, but if I'm missing anyone let me know!
-Bill Bradley
-Mike Brennan
-Pete Carril
-Scott Greenman
-Kyle Koncz
-Nick Lake and Noah Savage
-Jimmy Lane
-Howie Levy
-Kevin "Moon" Mullin
-Ed Persia
-Craig Robinson
-Mason Rocca
-Judson Wallace
-Chris Young and Will Venable
Want more? There's also an interview with "Outside The Limelight" author Kathy Orton.
Finally, from back in the "Catching Up With..." listserv days - conversations with Mitch Henderson, Sean Jackson, Sydney Johnson, Jamie Mastaglio, Frank Sowinski and Mike Stephens.
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