No Place I'd Rather Be …
A podcast about St. John’s University (MN) basketball that features legendary coach Jim Smith as well as head coach and Johnnie alum Pat McKenzie ‘04. Hear from notable players and personalities that make this program one of the very best in all of Division III athletics. Whether a long-standing Johnnie basketball fan, a relative newcomer, or just a student of history, there's sure to be something for everyone on "No Place I'd Rather Be…"
Episodes
Hello everyone and welcome back! We’re here today with assistant coach Danny Quinn, who was nice enough to take some time Wednesday evening between team activities in Chicago to talk with the guys about the team’s travel plans changing due to the winter storm, some sight-seeing while in the windy city and the proper way to prepare a hot dog from a Chicago area native. Thanks, Danny!
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Hello and welcome to the Season 3 finale! Today, we welcome Jubie Alade, Lucas Walford, Colton Codute, Kyle Sorensen, Oakley Baker, Ethan Novacinski and Sean Ryan from the 2020 team who were generous enough to tell us about their experience with the covid-shortened 2020 season and NCAA tournament -- with a couple assists from Mark Lewandowski.
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- Sixth Man Enter...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we welcome back Griffin Rushin and Luke Budzyn to the program, who were nice enough to take some time Tuesday morning to get into the weeds on defensive philosophies, post graduation plans and a little breakdown of the final two regular season games.
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Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by:
- Sixth Man Enterprises
- The Sexton Family Foundation
- Bobbi and John Au...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we welcome a handful of parents of this year’s team for our second installment of our version of The Parent Trap. We can’t thank Dave Scwhob, Cathy Budzyn, Heather Bean, Brian Healy, and Jeanine Wagner enough for their willingness to put into words what their experience with Johnnie Basketball has been from the perspective of a parent.
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Hello and welcome back! Today, we welcome back Luke Healy and Kyle Johnson to the program to talk about the last couple games of the regular season and how practices can differ from early in the season to now. Thanks guys for making the time!
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Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by:
- Sixth Man Enterprises
- The Sexton Family Foundation
- Bobbi and John Augustine
- Maggie and Marty McCaslin
- Ste...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we revisit a fairly notable piece of the legacy of one of our previous guests this season … Fr. Roman Paur and his relationship with The Rats. Along the way we have some contributions from Joe Deignan, Troy Bigalke and Mike Dady along with the usual crew. Thanks to those guys for their contributions!
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Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by:
- Sixth Man Enterprises
- The Se...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we have the pleasure of welcoming back Andrew Wagner, Kooper Vaughn and Zach Longueville to the program to talk about their senior season. Thanks guys for making the time!
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Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by:
- Sixth Man Enterprises
- The Sexton Family Foundation
- Bobbi and John Augustine
- Maggie and Marty McCaslin
- Steve Cummings at Nova Group
- Matt Johnson
-...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we feature the voice of Johnnie sports over the last quarter century -- Mark Lewandowski -- who talked with the guys about his start in radio, his transition to St. John's and some of his observations as he's had a front row seat for some memorable moments over that past 25 years. Thanks Mark for sitting down and talking with the guys!
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Hello and welcome back! Today, we have the pleasure of welcoming back Ryan Thissen, Blake Berg and Connor Schwob to the program to talk about their collective decision to return for a fifth year. Thanks guys for making the time!
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Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by:
- Sixth Man Enterprises
- The Sexton Family Foundation
- Bobbi and John Augustine
- Maggie and Marty McCaslin
- Steve Cummings a...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we focus on the tail end of Smitty’s incredible run as head coach of St. John's basketball and welcome the only other person to occupy the coach’s office since 1964 Head Coach Pat McKenzie. Which ties directly to the very first episode of this podcast. Some of this might sound familiar, but this time with some fresh perspective from longtime voice of Johnnie football and basketball ...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we pulled from the archives to find some never before heard parts of our conversation with Smitty and longtime thorn in the Johnnies side, legendary St. Thomas coach Steve Fritz where they get into some of the finer points of their coaching philosophies, other coaches around the conference and some of the insights they gained while athletic directors at their respective institutions. Let...
Hello and welcome back! Today, there’s a bit of a different bent in store as we shift the perspective from the court to carpet row as we welcome ‘71 grad Mike Dady, who played for coach smith during his student days and served as Board of Regents chair from 1992-1995 as well as President of the Alumni Association and is the founding partner of Dady and Gardner PA, along with Fr. Roman Paur, who received both an underg...
Hello and welcome back! Today, senior manager Andrew Nerud joins the show to talk about his decision to come to St. John's, the transition from player to manager and some of the unique insights he has gained from seeing the game from a different perspective. Thanks Andrew for making the time!
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Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by:
- Sixth Man Enterprises
- The Sexton Family Fo...
Hello and welcome back! Today, we have one of the most successful teams in St. John's history in the same room to turn back the clock and reminisce about their time together. Usually reserved for later in the episodes, we’re going straight to the source for some context before we begin. From The Record, Thursday March 1, 2001, page 14.
"Basketball Success Leads to Windfall of Awards. In the wake of its r...
Hello! Today, we're back with Coach McKenzie for our mid-season update.
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Thanks to Coach McKenzie for taking the time to talk with the guys.
Support for benchwarmers media productions provided by:
- Sixth Man Enterprises
- The Sexton Family Foundation
- Bobbi and John Augustine
- Maggie and Marty McCaslin
- Steve Cummings at Nova Group
- Matt Johnson
- Rick DesLauriers
- Sue and Jim Bowe
- ...
Today, we welcome another J-Club Hall of Honor member. This 2001 grad is the third-most prolific scorer in St. John's history with 1,568 career points, trailing only '57 grad Dick Matchinksky and '79 grad Frank Wachlarowicz. He is one of a handful of players to crack the starting lineup as a freshman during Smitty’s five decades at the helm, earning MIAC all-rookie honors that season. And, he followed t...
Hello Johnnie basketball fans and welcome back to No Place I'd Rather Be, the podcast about St. John's University basketball and the legacy of Minnesota’s all-time collegiate wins leader Coach Jim Smith. Today, we’re back with our regularly scheduled programming as we continue to traverse the decades of Smitty’s 51-year career. But unlike our first two seasons, season three has a little something different …...
This week we welcome assistant coach and former player Lucas Walford to the show. Lucas was nice enough to sit down and talk with the guys about his path through basketball, how he got to St. John's and his role with the team. Thanks, Lucas!
The Johnnies wrapped up their trip to our nation's capital with a couple convincing wins, bringing their win total to 10 on the season. Up next, a nice holiday ...
This week for our On the Court feature we welcome junior Thomas Menk, who was nice enough to find some time to sit down and talk with the guys about some injury updates, his role with the team and what to grab at Kwik Trip for a solid late-night snack. Thanks for taking the time, Thomas! The Johnnies picked up two road wins against Minnesota-Morris and St. Mary's to move to 8-2 (3-0 MIAC) on the season in advance...
This week, we welcome Andrew Wagner, senior guard from Prospect Heights, Ill., to the show as he was kind enough to carve out some time Thursday morning following the Johnnies first conference game of the season ... a 75-60 win over St. Olaf to bring the win total to five (1-0 in conference play, 5-2 on the season) for your favorite basketball team. A big thanks goes out to Andrew for being willing to chat with the gu...
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