The Practice Players Podcast

Felix Okpara - Tennessee Volunteers Men's Basketball Center

Felix Okpara is currently the starting center for the University of Tennessee Men's Basketball team. Prior to Tennessee, Felix spent 2 years playing for The Ohio State Buckeyes, where he built a reputation as one of the nations premier shot blockers. Prior to Ohio State Felix attended Link Academy and Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, and was a consensus 4 star recruit in the 2022 class. A native of Lagos, Nigeria, Felix spent his early years playing soccer before moving to The United States to pursue basketball.

Dave Rice - Salt Lake Community College Head Coach

Career Timeline: 1987-89 Mt. San Antonio CC (Player) 1989-91 UNLV (Player) As a Coach: 1991-92 UNLV (GA) 1993-94 Chaffey CC (assistant) 1994-2004 UNLV (assistant) 2004-05 Utah State (assistant) 2005-11 BYU (associate HC) 2011-16 UNLV (Head Coach) 2016-17 Nevada (assistant) 2017-2021 Washington (assistant) 2023-24 Cal Baptist (assistant) 2024-Present Salt Lake City Community College (Head Coach)

Brady Parris - UNLV Men's Basketball Graduate Assistant

Career Timeline: 2019 High School: Team Captain & 4.1 GPA Recruited to NCAA D2 Regis University. Two year letter-winner, 2021 RMAC All-Academic, 4x Dean’s List Transferred to Oregon as preferred walk-on in 2021: Played in 12 games Senior season, season high 10 minutes vs National Champion UConn. Oregon Student Athlete Advisory Committee, 3x Dean’s List, 2023 Dean’s Award for Service Recipient, 2023 PAC-12 Male Representative at Student Athlete Leadership Forum in Baltimore. Graduated Cum Laude in Business Administration concentrating in Sports Business with 3.8 GPA June 2024: hired as UNLV Graduate Assistant July 2024: On staff for USA Basketball Men’s Olympic team training camp

Chintoo Deora - Ohio State Basketball Manager

In this episode, Chintoo recaps the NBA offseason with The Practice Players. Topics covered include NBA Draft winners, offseason trades, free agency moves, the Olympics, way too early 2024-25 predictions, and much more!

Kevin Kruger - Head Coach UNLV Men's Basketball

Career Timeline: 2003-06: Arizona State (Player) 2006-07: UNLV (Player) 2007: NBA Draft (undrafted) 2007-2013: Playing career with 7+ teams across the globe 2014-16: Northern Arizona (Assistant Coach) 2016-19: Oklahoma (Assistant Coach) 2019-21: UNLV (Assistant Coach) 2021-Present: UNLV (Head Coach)