WalkieTalkieZ Podcast

John Terzian is the owner and co-founder of The h.wood Group, which is an LA based hospitality & lifestyle marketing company with an iconic portfolio of luxury nightlife and restaurant venues.

John was a former USC Football walk-on back in the early 2000's. He joins the show to discuss the direct correlation his walk-on journey has had with his current successes.

John and Noah discuss:
- Being tormented as a...

Rudy and Noah dive into all things involved with the making of the movie "Rudy"!

Things like:

- Where the inspiration to sell there film came from
- How he got the writer of Hoosiers & ND on board
- How much he sold the script for
- His involvement with the making of the movie
- Casting the movie
- Joe Montana's negative comments about the movie

....5 best sports movies.....5 pillars ...

Rudy Ruettiger, the inspiration behind one of the greatest sports movies in history ... the movie "RUDY", joins the podcast to talk about his journey as a walk-on and the successes that followed.

A former walk-on for the Notre Dame Football program from 1974 to 1976, Rudy is the epitome of what walk-ons represent and what walk-ons around the world embody.

In PT.1, Rudy & Noah discuss:

- 27 years to play ...

On Part 2, Brad & Noah talk about:

- Kentucky's dribble drive offense
- Tyler Herro's storm into the NBA
- Brad's best teammate at UK
- Brad's work with Sahvir Wheeler
- His time as a GA at UK & new role at LIU Brooklyn
- Young coaches finding their coaching voice
....Losing to 15 seed St. Peter's...Best rapper at basketball...Current best player in the NBA...and so much more!

Video Highlight...

Brad Calipari, a former 3 year player for the University of Kentucky Men's Basketball team.

Brad, son of legendary coach, John Calipari, walked on for his dad's team at Kentucky from 2016-2019. Played 2 seasons at Detroit Mercy from 2019-2021 before taking a Graduate Assistant Coaching position at Kentucky during the 2022 season and is now the Special Assistant to the Head Coach at LIU Brooklyn.

In Part 1, Brad and ...

Conor Glennon, current walk-on for the University of Memphis Men's Basketball team under Head Coach Penny Hardaway, joins the pod for the 2nd time to talk about his journey within the program and all things Memphis Basketball.

Here in PT. 2, Conor talks about:
- Building the culture at Memphis
- Coach Hardaway finding his niche
- What slowed them down during the '21-'22 season
- Emoni Bates getting thrown int...

Conor Glennon, current walk-on for the University of Memphis Men's Basketball team under Head Coach Penny Hardaway, joins the pod for the 2nd time to talk all things Memphis Basketball.

A 2 part episode with PT. 2 coming next week, Conor talks about:

• Conor's hustle to find a spot on the team 
• Being coached by NBA Legends 
• Earning the respect of those coaches 
• Winning the NIT in 2021 
• Stepping into more of a leadership...

Kyle Vasey, a 5 year long-snapper for the Penn St. Nittany Lions from the start of the 2013 season through the 2018 season, was a walk-on in the program his first 4 years before being awarded a scholarship for his 5th and last season.

Kyle talks about:
- Working 8pm to 3am to pay rent
- The moment he was about to quit the team
- The mentality shift he made that propelled him forward
- Moment Coach Franklin g...

Today's guest is 28 year old, 2x NBA All-Star, 3rd team All-NBA selection, 4x NBA rebounding leader & former #1 player in the country, Andre Drummond.

Andre spent one year at UConn and was a walk-on for the team because of his late decision to commit to the school after reclassifying, they given their last scholarship away making a walk-on.

Andre and Noah discuss:
- 2 hiccups he faced as a walk-on
- Play...

Myles Wheeler, a former walk-on for The University of Oklahoma's Track & Field team, sits down and discusses his journey as a walk-on as a track and field athlete and his current journey in dental school!

Myles touches on:
- What events he had to run to make the team
- What a track walk-on is like
- The fulfillment being on the team gave him
- Balancing track & pre-dental
- Reading 25 books in 20...

Noah Buono, creator and host of WalkieTalkieZ Podcast, sits down with his sister Gillian, his brother Greg, and his girlfriend Kori, as they reverse the roles and interview Noah on his walk-on journey.

The 3 Guest-Star Co-Hosts use their unique perspective's on Noah's journey to guide the conversation and pull out some of the details of Noah's experience.

The conversation includes:
- How walking on may have been ...

Machaela "Mac" Simmons, was a 3 year walk-on for the Duquesne University Women's Basketball team in the A10 from 2018-2020.

After many hardships, constant struggle, unfair treatment and uncontrollable situations thrown at her, she decided to step away from the program.

Mac & Noah discuss:
- Coaching staff being weird from the start
- The lack of respect given to her
- Her mental health: wanting to cr...

7 footer Braden Burke, joins the pod to talk about his college basketball journey. 

Braden started on scholarship at Robert Morris University for his freshmen year in 2017 before transferring to Michigan St. University to be a walk-on under Head Coach Tom Izzo the next 3 years. 

After MSU, Braden enrolled in Central Michigan & then Oakland on scholarship each of the last two years for post grad years before extenuatin...

Marvin Davies, an Ohio native, is a sophomore walk-on wide receiver for the Buckeyes. 

Marv talks about:

-Every dynamic as a college football walk-on

-Scripted nature of the scout team

-Competing against future NFL players 

-Differences in treatment scholarship vs walk-ons

-Being released from the team then put back on

-Where he’s currently at with the team 

-What he hopes people can take from hearing his story

Matt Leon showed up to Seton Hall's campus in the Fall of 2014 with no guarantee he'd even end up on the baseball team. To eventually become a UNANIMOUS 1st Team All-Big East player his senior year as a closer, where he holds the Seton Hall single-season saves record with 12 .... to then signing a contract with the LA Angels. 

Matt's walk-on story entails:
- How he tried out for consecutive months leading up to the sea...

Jeremy Sallee is currently the Head of Design for PUMAHoops and spent his first year of college playing basketball at Division 3 school Case Western Reserve before walking-on to the University of Akron Men’s Basketball team from 2005 through 2008. 

Jeremy played in 19 games as a walk-on behind Dru Joyce Jr., the newly-named Associate Head Coach at Duquesne University. Jeremy was given a scholarship the following year, bu...

Leigh Bodden was a non-scholarship athlete during most of his time at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, a I-AA non-scholarship football program (at the time), before going undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft. Leigh played 9 years in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and New England Patriots. 

On Episode 13, Leigh & Noah talk about the underdog mentality and the mindset it took for Leigh to go from not even play...

Shavar Reynolds was a former walk-on at Seton Hall University in 2017, before earning himself a scholarship after his freshman year in the program.

Each year he slowly climbed the ladder at Seton Hall; going from freshmen walk-on, to sophomore year on scholarship, to 6th man and main defensive stopper junior year, to starting point guard senior year.

Shavar speaks with charisma, confidence and the ultimate belief in himself through...

On episode 2 of WalkieTalkieZ podcast, host, Noah Buono, sits down with Mike Lukashewich, a 2-year walk-on for the Minnesota Gophers Men's Basketball team, under Head Coach Rich Pitino during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, who had to earn his walk-on stripes the hard way. 

Mike wasn't a preferred walk-on, as he was never recruited by the program. He earned his stripes at the open tryout held during the Fall semester of his fre...