Awesome to welcome legendary Canadian college basketball coach and current Senior Director Sr. Director of Basketball CEBL

Joe Raso is Senior Director of Basketball Operations for the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). He leads the league's player procurement program both domestically and internationally, oversees the CEBL Draft, directs team and player compliance issues, supervises officiating, and plays a key role in the CEBL's relationships with FIBA, Canada Basketball, other basketball organizations, and player agents.

As a college coach, Raso is the all-time winningest coach in McMaster University history and one of the most successful coaches in Canadian University Sports history, with a record of 389 wins against only 155 losses (a .715 winning percentage) over 18 seasons, including 17 seasons with 20 or more wins.

Raso's basketball resume includes four OUA titles, 12 CIS National Championship tournament appearances resulting in four Silver medals, and six OUA Coach of the Year awards. He has produced five All Canadian players and two National Player of the Year winners while leading McMaster.

Raso has been a national and international consultant, clinician, committee member, speaker, and basketball analyst for the past 25 years. A former National team assistant coach, he has coached in World Championships and Olympic qualifiers, working with some of Canada's greatest players, including NBA two-time Most Valuable Player and Hall of Fame inductee Steve Nash. He has also served as Head Scout with the Canadian Men's National team and is an advance scout with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, and Denver Nuggets.

Raso has been instrumental in developing basketball at the grassroots level in Canada and has served in various roles, including Technical Director with the World International Children's Games, where his Hamilton teams won international Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. As a high school teacher for 32 years, he coached St. Mary's high school in Hamilton to an OFSAA championship in 1991 and represented Canada at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany.

In this week's basketball coaching conversation, NIKE Academy Director Sam Jones joins The Basketball Podcast to share insights on mindset, coaching adaptability and embracing growth.

Jones has served as the Nike Camp Director and is presently engaged in various initiatives aimed at the development of coaches and players in support of the EYBL

Before joining Nike, Jones served as an assistant coach at Colorado State for two seasons. He also spent two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the role of player development coordinator. Prior to these positions, he was part of the coaching staff for the Cleveland Charge in the NBA G-League for three seasons from 2016 to 2019, concluding his tenure there as the associate head coach.

Jones started his coaching career in The Netherlands, working with Den Bosch Eiffel Towers for three years as an assistant coach before taking over as head coach of Den Bosch SPM Shoeters (club changed names). With SPM Shoeters, he led his team to the Dutch Basketball League and NBB Cup crowns in 2014-15 and Dutch Basketball Supercup title in 2015-16. He also spent his final three years in the Netherlands as the associate head coach with the Dutch Men's National Team.

Prior to coaching, Jones played 10 seasons in Europe, including playing in the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Spain and Cyprus. During his time playing, he won two titles with Den Bosch Eiffel Towers and appeared in multiple All-Star games.

In this week's basketball coaching conversation, Sharman White joins The Basketball Podcast to share insights into high school coaching - culture, strategies, and success.

Overall, in 24 seasons as a high school head coach, White has compiled a 522-122 (.810) record. Sharman has been a staple at USA Basketball since 2014 having been a part of 5 gold medal teams including 3 as head coach. White recently completed his sixth season as head boys basketball coach as well as the associate director of athletics at Pace Academy. As the head coach at Pace Academy, White recently picked up his 500th victory and has won six straight state championships.

Prior to Pace Academy, White was an assistant coach at Georgia State University for two seasons (2016-18), where he helped the team to a 44-24 record, including a 24-11 campaign and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017-18. Before Georgia State, White was a high school coach for 20 seasons (1996-16). Eleven of those seasons (2005-16) were as the boys head coach and athletic director at Miller Grove High School in Lithonia, Georgia. At Miller Grove, White compiled a 268-60 record, including six-straight state championships.

The 2014 USA Today All-USA Coach of the Year, White guided Miller Grove to the 2009-2012 Georgia Class 4A titles and the 2013 and 2014 Georgia Class 5A championships. His final season at Miller Grove in 2015-16 was one of his most impressive, as his team finished 31-3 and earned a bid to the Dick’s National’s tournament. He was named the 2016 National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year. He was recognized by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club and Georgia Sports Writers Association as the 2013 Georgia Coach of the Year, as the 2013 Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class 5A Coach of the Year, the Georgia Class 4A Coach of the Year three times (2010-12) and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Georgia Class 4A Coach of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

White has also been head coach of the McDonald’s All American Game and head coach of the Nike Hoop Summit USA team. Sharman has been a staple at USA Basketball since 2014. While being selected as an assistant coach with USA Basketball, White helped capture a Gold Medal for USA Basketball at the 2015 and 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championships. In March of 2021, White was named the Head Coach for the Nike Hoop Summit Team. In the summer of 2021 White took the command as the Head Coach for the USA Basketball Junior National Team U16 team and led them to a Gold Medal victory over Argentina in Xalapa, Mexico.

In the summer of 2022, White led the USA Basketball U17 team to a FIBA World Cup Championship and Gold Medal in Malaga, Spain. The following summer, Whitesteered the USA Basketball Junior National Team U16 group to a gold medal in the FIBA Americas U16 Qualifier Tournament. This past summer, White helped the USA secure their seventh consecutive FIBA World Cup Championship with a gold medal performance in Istanbul, Turkey. It gave the USAB Junior National Team a record of 51-0 in the FIBA World Cup competitions.