Overview

Jeff Van Gundy. Brad Stevens. Frank Vogel. Mike Budenholzer. Tom Thibodeau. Sam Presti. Leon Rose. Before you knew his name, before he guided your team to a championship, he had a playing career of his own at an NCAA Division III college. He didn't play for fortune--the NBA was out of reach, and his school didn't even give athletic scholarships. He didn't play for fame--his games weren't televised, and the stands were rarely full. Whatever the motivation, he simply couldn't give up the game of basketball. And that didn't change after graduation, when it was time to pick a career path. For the first time in league history, NBA coaches and general managers are just as likely to have played Division III basketball as they are to have played in the NBA. While the number of former D3 players working in the NBA is higher than ever, small college alums have served in leadership positions since the league's founding. They shaped the NBA into what it is today, playing integral roles in the Lakers' initial success in LA, the inception of several expansion franchises, the creation of the popular All-Star Weekend dunk contest, and the globalization of the league. Their improbable and inspiring journeys tell a bigger story--the history of small college athletics, the evolution of coaching and management in the NBA, and the hiring practices in the most competitive fields.

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Danny Parkins is the host of the Parkins & Spiegel Show, the afternoon drive program on Chicago's 670 The Score, home of the Bulls and Cubs. Barrett Sports Media recently named Parkins's show one of the top ten major market afternoon programs in the nation. Ben Kaplan is an analytics executive in the sports and entertainment space. He is a former basketball player at Amherst College and has covered Division III basketball for d3hoops.com. Barry Abrams has narrated and produced audiobooks for a variety of publishers. Since 2012, he has also hosted and produced ESPN's In the Gate podcast. Based in Danbury, Connecticut, he also engineers and calls live webcasts of his son's ice hockey games.

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