In this week's coaching conversation, Northern Colorado head coach Steve Smiley joined the Basketball Podcast to share insights on the "over ourself" philosophy and grading success.

Steve Smiley has established himself as a formidable head coach at Northern Colorado, leading the Bears with a strong overall record of 89–71 (.556) in NCAA competition. His leadership was instrumental in securing the Big Sky regular season championship in 2025, a testament to his ability to develop winning teams and foster a competitive culture.

Smiley's success hasn’t gone unnoticed—his efforts were recognized in 2024 when he was named Big Sky Co-Coach of the Year. He also owns the second highest winning percentage in Northern Colorado’s Division I era, equaling Jeff Linder for the most postseason wins with six, who he succeeded in March 2020.

Smiley's experience in the Big Sky goes beyond his four years at UNC as he was an assistant coach at Weber State from 2014-16. Before Weber State, Smiley spent six years as the head coach and Athletic Director at Sheridan College.

In the six years with Sheridan College, Smiley posted a 153-43 overall record and led Sheridan to four North Sub-Region 9 titles and two runner-up finishes. Smiley was twice named the North Region Coach of the Year. During his time at Sheridan, Smiley had 21 players sign to play NCAA Division I basketball and 38 players moved on to play at four-year colleges.

Prior to his stint at Sheridan, Smiley spent two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota where he collaborated with the winningest coach in NCAA history, Don Meyer. During his time at NSU, the Wolves posted a 50-12 record. Smiley was also the assistant head coach at Black Hills State University during the 2005-06 season. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M International during the 2004-05 campaign.

In this week's basketball coaching conversation, Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon shares insights on his all in culture philosophy.

Since his hiring in 2022, Pedon has steadily improved the program, culminating in a significant 22-14 record and a CBI Championship title in the 2024-25 season, marking a notable step forward for Illinois State basketball..

In his first season as head coach of the Redbirds, ISU finished the season 11-21 while setting a new program record for free throw percentage with .793 (was .775 from the 2001-02 season).

His second season saw a four-win improvement, and the team had its highest assist-to-turnover ratio for the season since the 2016-17 season, and freshman Johnny Kinziger earned a spot on the All-Freshman and All-Bench teams during the year.

Before taking the helm at Illinois State, Pedon built a strong foundation as an assistant coach at several institutions, including Miami (OH) from 2005 to 2010, Butler University from 2010 to 2013, Providence College from 2013 to 2017, and most recently at Ohio State University from 2017 to 2022.

His extensive coaching background—spanning multiple conferences and styles of play—has shaped his approach to modern player development and competitive team strategy.

In this week's basketball coaching conversation, Yale head coach James Jones joins the Basketball Podcast to share insights on Yale's basketball culture and success.

Jones is Yale's all-time winning coach and the longest tenured coach in the Ivy League. He has led Yale to seven Ivy League titles, three Ivy League Tournament championships and five NCAA tournament appearances.

Jones has an impressive career record of 418-319 (.567). His championship pedigree includes seven Ivy League regular season titles (2002, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025) and four Ivy League tournament championships (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025). He has been at the helm for the two NCAA Tournament victories in school history - upsets of Baylor in 2016 and Auburn in 2024. He has guided Yale to multiple postseason appearances, compiling a 2-5 record in NCAA Division I Tournament play, a 1-2 mark in the NIT, and a 4-2 record in the CIT.

His coaching excellence has been recognized with numerous accolades, including the prestigious Hugh Durham Award in 2016 and the Ben Jobe Award in 2019. Jones has also been named Ivy League Coach of the Year four times (2015, 2016, 2020, 2023), cementing his status as one of the conference's most accomplished coaches. Five assistant coaches who worked under Jones went on to become head coaches - Rob Senderoff (Kent State), Isaiah Cavaco (Oberlin), Mark Sembrowich (Academy of Arts University), Mark Gilbride (Clarkson) and Ted Hotaling (New Haven).

Jones has enjoyed remarkable success against major conference opponents. In 2008-09, Yale knocked off Oregon State, the school’s first win ever over a Pac-12 opponent. The Bulldogs also beat Cal in the Pac-12 China Game in Shanghai in 2018. In addition, Jones has enjoyed victories over schools from the ACC (Miami, Clemson twice, Boston College), Big 12 (Baylor) Big East (Rutgers), Big Ten (Penn State) Atlantic 10 (Rhode Island), WCC (Santa Clara) during his tenure.

Jones has gained experience with USA Basketball in his time at Yale as well. He served as an assistant coach for the United States team that captured the gold medal at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup for men in Riga, Latvia. He also was as an assistant coach to Villanova’s Jay Wright for the 2007 USA Basketball Men’s Pan American Games Team, helping tutor Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel and Indiana’s D.J. White. In 2006, Jones was selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Collegiate Committee, chaired by Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, as a court coach for the 2006 USA Men’s U18 National Team Trials.