Hondo Handy’s Podcast

The 121st Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast has been brought to you by Buxy’s Salty Dog and Dry Dock 28. My guest today has been Bubba Almany, who is about to be an author. He is currently working on his memoir called the “Heart of a Protector: Navigating Life’s Battle Grounds with Faith and Fortitude.”

Welcome to the 117th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. Today we are inviting everyone to the Germantown School Holiday Open House, located at 10223 Trappe Road, on Saturday, November 26 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. I will be signing my book, “Defying Expectations,” Family, Sports and Recreation. The book shares my journey and the challenges I faced throughout my life. So come join us and find out more about the school’s museum showing Rev. Tindley (Father of Gospel Music) and the previewing of the first station in their new walking tour: Restoration: Learning How to Make Dream Come True.

The 116 Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast features Black Friday Discounts on the purchase of my book, “Defying Expectations.” Black Friday Coupon for the Book is KDZC7J and for the EBook it is X3ABM3. Be sure to order your Christmas Present today and learn all about my challenging journey.

This is the 3rd episode on my new book, “Defying Expectations.” I talk about the opportunity to play basketball at Stephen Decatur High School.

This episode shared the journey of my decision to attend Stephen Decatur, an all white high school, or follow in the footsteps of my family members and attend Worcester High School, an all black high school before integration.

Ed Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting, including residential and commercial Power-washing presents the 113 episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the journey of basketball star Keve Aluma from Stephen Decatur High School, to the Wofford College Terriers, to the Virginia Tech Hokies, to the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and to continuing his professional basketball career in Japan. Aluma was a two-time All-ACC performer for the Hokies. He earned his first undergraduate degree in human development from Virginia Tech in May 2021. He is currently working on his second undergraduate degree in sociology.

This episode talks about the reason for writing my brand new book, Defying Expectations. How family played a big role in my life, overcoming challenges and how hard work can often overcome talent.

Meet Dani Dennis Sutton. Buxy’s Salty Dog and Dry Dock 28 of Ocean City presents the 109th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the journey of Dani Dennis Sutton a 5-Star All American Football Defensive End. He is headed to Penn State to enter his freshman year to focus on his academics and play football. Dani, grew up in Delaware, finished his career playing at McDonough High, a private School, in Owings Mills, MD. But his athletic skills at age 13 saw him playing basketball. In an AAU tournament near Washington D.C. his then 6’4” size caught the eyes of the coaches from Kevin Durant's AAU basketball team. He joined Durant's team and soon after McDonough High School coaches took notice and his football career begin. After a great career at McDonough he has played in All American games in San Antonio, TX and Hawaii. He had two outstanding showing. Now the 6’5” 250 pounds defensive lineman, after being recruited by teams across the country, including Alabama and Georgia, has decided to stay on the East Coast and is headed to the Penn State Nitty Lions to play for Coach James Franklin.

Meet Rachel Kollasch. Ed Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting presents the 108th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the journey of Rachel Kollasch, the Director of Day Services at Richcroft Inc. She begin this position Jan 2022. In this position she provides day supports that are recreational in nature to adults with disabilities. She received her B.S. and Masters from Frostburg State University. She is an experienced Certified Recreation Therapist with a demonstrated history of working in the Therapeutic Recreation industry as a front line staff and manager. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Social Services, Group Therapy and Event Planning. She was the manager of her high school mens basketball and mens lacrosse team’s, which included recording the stats and anything the teams needed. When attending Villa Julia (Stevenson University), she was one of their mens basketball managers with the responsibility of recording the stats. She handled the books.

Meet Ian Postley. Ocean City Center for the Arts presents the 107 Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the story of Ian Postley, an Illustrator, a graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and Delaware College of Art and Design with an AFA in Illustration. He is the 2022 'Fellow for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion' in part with the Art League of Ocean City. He is the Sixth Annual Ocean City Film Festival Cover Designer.

Meet Brian Anderson. Residence Inn by Marriott presents 106th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the journey of Brian Anderson, Baltimore City Local Program Director. Brian graduated from Salisbury University and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and International Relations. He also earned his Masters at Salisbury in Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolutions. He attended Kennesaw State University to receive his Doctor of Philosophy.

Meet Mitchell Northam. Buxy’s Salty Dog and Dry Dock 28 of Ocean City presents 105th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This episode shares the journey of Mitchell Northam, a Digital Content Producer for WUNC in North Carolina. He attended Colonel Richardson High School, Wor-Wic Community College, and Salisbury University. In addition to his stint at the Delmarva Daily Times, his work has been featured at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Orlando Sentinel, SB Nation, Sports Illustrated, NCAA.com, Pittsburgh Sports Now, and Slam Magazine. He is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and a voter in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for women’s college basketball.

Meet Bill Regan. Red Sun Custom Apparel presents the 104th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This episode shares the story of Bill Regan, President at Red Sun Custom Apparel Inc., located in Selbyville, Delaware. The company distributes printed apparel and promotional products to business throughout the country.
Bill has been very active in the Ocean City Community. He has also served as president of the Marlin Club in West Ocean City. He has coached and provide many sponsorships for area youth sports teams and been involved with several family oriented fishing tournaments.

Meet Shawn Harman. Fish Tales and Bahia Marina of Ocean City, MD presents the 102nd Episode of The Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the journey of Shawn Harman. Shawn is a partner of Bahia Management LLC. He manages Bahia Marina and Fish Tales, while his brother oversees the Fish Tales Boardwalk Inn, formally the Ocean Mecca. The McDonogh School graduate, played lacrosse and soccer for Washington College. He received his B.A. Degree in Psychology, 1978-1982.

Meet Caitlyn Benedik, Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Salisbury University. Buxy’s Salty Dog and Dry Dock 28 of Ocean City presents the 100th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This episode shares the journey of Caitlyn Benedik aka Coach CB. In her first season with the Sea Gulls, she was able to contribute with many aspects of the program including player development workouts, scouting reports, recruitment, and creating content for social media and fan engagement. Before she began coaching, Caitlyn spent her college career at Pensacola Christian College. During her time there she became a 2x regional champion, national championship runner up, second team all-region, was top five in the country for 3-point percentage, and set a school record for made threes in a single season.

Meet Josh Merkel, Division III National Coach of the Year. Ed Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting presents the 99 Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the journey of Josh Merkel, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Randolph-Macon. He led Randolph-Macon to the 2022 NCAA Division III men's basketball national title. He was selected as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III Coach of the Year. He had his team ranked No. 1 in the nation. Merkel's Randolph-Macon team finished the season with a dominant 33-1 record, including a perfect 16-0 mark in the ODAC. The Yellow Jackets tore through the Division III tournament, winning all six games by at least 16 points, including a 75-45 victory over Elmhurst in the championship.

Eh Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting presents the 98th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the story of Jimmy Sweet of the Delmarva Shorebirds. He joined the Delmarva Shorebirds front office staff in October of 2003. Sweet has served in his current post of Assistant General Manager since 2007 when the 7th Inning Stretch took over. Before joining the Shorebirds, he spent five years with the Frederick Keys (Advanced-A, Baltimore Orioles)

Buxy’s Salty Dog and Dry Dock 28 of Ocean City presents the 97th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Doug “Buxy” Buxbaum. The Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) graduate with a degree in business, settled in Ocean City. The sports enthusiast, who worked in many sports establishments in Ocean City. Working as a cook, doorman, bar-back and finally bartender, Buxy learned the ins and outs of the restaurant world. Buxy started looking for a restaurant to call his own. When the original Salty Dog at 28th Street and Coastal Highway became available, Buxy made the plunge and opened the doors to the new Buxy’s Salty Dog in April of 1999. Three years ago he opened Dry Dock 28.

Buxy’s Salty Dog and Dry Dock 28 of Ocean City presents the 96th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This episode shares the journey of Kevin Gates, Head Lacrosse Coach at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg, Virginia. He attended Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York, where is team was a Two-Time National Champion. He received his B.S. in Liberal Arts and Science from Salisbury University and his Master of Education, Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services from Salisbury University. He worked at the New York Stock Exchange, before returning to Salisbury to become an assistant lacrosse coach. He also was a Head Lacrosse Coach and Enrollment Counselor at SUNY Delhi in Delhi, New York for over 5 years, where he recruited and visited every high school on Long Island. He was the National Junior College Coach of the Year in 2002. He became the head coach at Shenandoah University and assistant coach at University of Notre Dame. He also was the head coach at Worcester Preparatory School for more than 15 years.

Ed Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting, including residential and commercial Power-washing of Selbyville, Delaware presents the 95th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. Today’s podcast shares the journey of Craig Mobley, Clemson’s first African-American scholarship student-athlete in any sport, when he came to Clemson from Chester, SC, as an honor student in the fall of 1969. Mobley played two years on the Clemson basketball team before deciding to concentrate on his studies. He certainly did that, earning a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, with a minor in physics. He later earned two masters degrees, one in business administration and one in system management from other institutions. One of the most well-rounded Clemson graduates, he also served as a major in the United States Air Force. Mobley had considerable experience in basketball after he graduated from Clemson, as he was a coach of the men’s and women’s teams at Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts. Mobley was later chairman of the Los Angeles Watts Summer Games, while running his own Construction company. Mobley also worked for the 3M Corporation during his long career.

Atlantic Physical Therapy presents the 94th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This episode shares the journey of Nick Purnell, 2022 President of Snow Hill Youth Basketball. Nick grew up in Snow Hill and graduated from Snow Hill high School 1990. He played on the basketball from 1988-1990. He also played football. He was the Starting Point Guard for the 1989 undefeated State Championship team. He became an Assistant Boys Basketball Coach for Snow Hill from 2003-2008. He was named the Head Girls Basketball Coach for Snow Hill from 2008-2012. From there he became the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Washington High from 2012-2016. For his efforts he Awarded Boys Bayside South Coach of the Year 2013. He is also a Ordained Minister at Free Indeed Ministries located in Snow Hill Maryland.

Residence Inn by Marriott presents Jay Boodheshwar, Deputy Town Manager at the Town of Palm Beach, Florida. He began his service to the Town of Palm Beach, as Director of Recreation in January 2006, was promoted to Director of Recreation and Special Projects in April 2010 and now holds the position of Deputy Town Manager since January 2015. He is responsible for providing day-to-day operational leadership to the Town’s various departments to ensure the highest levels of service delivery to residents, visitors, and businesses.

Ocean City Center for the Arts presents the 92nd Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of B.L.Strang-Moya, Director of the Ocean City Sixth Annual Film Festival. B.L. is a Stephen Decatur graduate, class of 2013. He grew up in Ocean Pines and went to college at Towson University, earning a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Media and Film in 2017. B.L. and Rina Thaler, Art League Executive Director, invite everyone to the Ocean City Sixth Annual Film Festival, March 3-6, 2022.

Residence Inn by Marriott presents the 91st Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of James Ian who was born with a degenerative muscular condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3. James didn’t let that slow him down. He still participated in sports and music. James is now a soulful singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He attended Georgetown University and received in B.S. Marketing and Management and then went on to receive his Law Degree from Georgetown. His family has always been involved with singing. The played in a band during his early years and learned to play several instruments. He defies the odds on stage and in the studio. He continues to defy stereotypes of disabled people. The released of his world premiere of “SPACES! on November 9th has been a big hit.

Jolly Roger Amusement Park presents the 90th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Steve Pastusak, Vice President of Jolly Roger. Jolly Roger Amusement Park is one of the most popular attraction amusement parks in Ocean City, Maryland. The park features two locations in Ocean City: one at the pier on the Ocean City boardwalk and one further uptown at 30th Street. Steve is also a sports enthusiast and has always had his children involved in sports activities.

Residence Inn by Marriott presents the 89th Episode of Hondo Handy’s Podcast. All of Mike Jones children have been involved with basketball at the college level and two of his daughters are playing in the WNBA, one son that has played professionally overseas and his youngest son is currently playing at Cecil Community College.
Mike played college basketball at the University of Hartford from 1981-1985 where he earned his Bachelors of Arts Degree in Communication. He currently work for the Department of Defense where he has been employed for 35 years. He coached Harford Community College (HCC) from 1992-2001 where he re-energized the program to lead the school to its most wins in 20 yrs his first season of 11 and following that up with even more wins the following year with 16. Mike has coached at the college,high school and AAU levels. He has also been a consultant. He has also worked several basketball camps such as the Five Star camp, Kutztown University Camp and the Dudley Bradley basketball camp.

Atlantic Physical Therapy presents the 88th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Professional Basketball Player Brian Wethers from Murrieta, California. Brian will be Head Coach for the Valley Eagles a new Professional Basketball that will be playing in the TBL. Brian also enters his fourth season as the Head Basketball Coach of the Murrieta Valley Nighthawk Boys Basketball program. He previously ran two other local high school programs; Calvary Murrieta and Linfield Christian. Wethers was the Director of Basketball Operations at the University of California-Riverside. Wethers attended the University of California-Berkeley (1999-2003) where he was a four-year starter for the Golden Bears. He holds the school record for most points scored in a single NCAA tournament game with 27. After college, he went on to play professionally overseas in numerous countries; Germany, France, Australia, Ukraine, New Zealand and Lebanon. He also spent time in the NBDL with the Bakersfield Jam. While playing in Australia, Wethers led the league in scoring and was named League MVP.
Wethers #25 hangs high above the north-end basket in the Hawk House. During his time at Murrieta Valley, he was a four-year Varsity starter (1995-1999), All-League four years, League MVP as a Junior and Senior, Riverside County Player of the Year his Senior year, All-State his Senior year and a Top-25 National Recruit. Wethers remains the programs all-time leading scorer.

Ocean City’s Residence Inn by Marriott presents the 87th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. My podcast shares the journey of Stephen Decatur High School’s own Aaron Wyatt. Aaron is a former Professional Basketball Player, who presently is an Assistant Girls Basketball Coach for the Seahawks. Aaron led his Junior College team, Cecil Community College, to the National Championship. He completed his college playing days at Georgia South Western, where he became an All American. He majored in Recreation, before starting his professional career.

Residence In by Marriott presents the 86th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. My podcast has a conversation Keith Whisenant, General Manager of Residence Inn by Marriott in Ocean City. After a fantastic summer, Keith shares the success of the hotel and the importance of having a good staff. The Stephen Decatur High School graduate went to college at North Alabama and became a high Roll Tide fan, as was his father. Along the way he became a Professional Wrestler and was featured in “Pro Wrestling Illustrated.”

Residence Inn by Marriott presents the 85th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Travon Miles, who is excited to be joining the super talented team at ABC11 Eyewitness News - WTVD in Raleigh, NC, as a Sports/Reporter. He recently served as the Sports Director at 47 ABC. The Salisbury native is a proud alumni of Wicomico High School, where he played football. He also graduated in 2012 from Salisbury University with a B.A. in Communication Arts.

Residence Inn by Marriott presents the 82nd Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Dr. Samose Mays, Director of Parks and Recreation at Byran County, in Richmond Hill, Georgia. A former two time college drop out and homeless student now has three degrees. He has been a Keynote Speaker throughout nation, as well as an Adjunct Professor at Georgia Southern University. He is also the MRLA Founder, the Minority Recreation Leadership Academy to help minorities to rise in their career in parks and recreation and learn how to be leaders and how to make a difference.

He is an experienced Recreation Director with a demonstrated history in the higher education industry. A strong community and social services professional, with a Bachelor of Science focusing in Parks, Recreation and Leisure Studies from Georgia Southern University. A Master of Science focused on Sport Management and a Doctorate - Ed. D. focused in Sport Management from Northcentral University.

Dr. Mays is a (CYSA) Certified Youth Sports Administrator with the National Alliance for Youth Sports and (CPRP) Certified Parks and Recreation Professional with the National Recreation and Parks Association.

Meet Shaka Smart, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Marquette University. Atlantic Physical Therapy presents the 81st Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Coach Smart, as he enters his first year at Marquette. He spent his previous six seasons coaching the Texas Longhorns. In his first season at Texas, the Longhorns won 20 games and received an at-large-bid to the NCAA Tournament. He finished with five winning seasons, of 19 wins or more. He also won the N.I.T. VCU hired Smart to be the head coach in the spring of 2009. In his first season, he led the Rams to a 27–10 season and a CBI Championship. Despite not securing the automatic bid, VCU earned an at-large bid to the Southwest region of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Rams were one of the last four teams invited, and were placed in the First Four against USC for a spot in the main 64-team tournament bracket. VCU defeated USC and then upset the 6th-seeded Georgetown Hoyas and 3rd-seeded Purdue Boilermakers to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. VCU won 72–71 against Florida State University in overtime to earn the school's first spot in the Elite Eight and subsequently upset the top-seeded University of Kansas 71–61 for its first Final Four appearance. The Rams lost to Butler 70-62 in the semifinal game.
Shaka has held several assistant coaching positions including University of Akron for three years, Clemson for two, and Florida for one. At Clemson he was an Assistant to my high school teammate Oliver Purnell.

Ed Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting presents the 80th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This week’s podcast shares the journey of former Stephen Decatur High School Basketball Star Lynn Smack. Lynn is currently the Assistant Basketball Coach at Dundalk Community College. He previously was an Assisted Coach at Catonsville Community College and Chesapeake Community College. Many of his young men have moved on to play in Division l, Division II and Division III colleges. His Ocean City Classic Tournament was one of the largest basketball tournaments ever held in Ocean City, Maryland, with over 90 teams. His Ocean City Basketball Classic Tournament was recognized by the National AAU Headquaters. He has also been featured in Sports illustrated Magazine for his involvement with AAU Basketball. The Strafford University graduate has had teams come as far away as Denmark and Wisconsin to play in his tournament.

Ed Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting presents the 78th Episode of the Hondo Handy Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Marty McNair. He is a father, thought leader, motivational speaker, advocate and founder of The Jordan McNair Foundation. His son, Jordan, played football for the University of Maryland. Following the death of his son, Marty began spreading his message of player safety to parents, coaches and student athletes across the country. His story has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, ESPN, Sports Center and HBO’s Real Sports. Today, Marty resides in Baltimore, Maryland and continues to work tirelessly to prevent any more parents from feeling the anguish of losing a child to a preventable injury. The mission of “The Jordan McNair Foundation” as a non-profit organization is to promote awareness, educate, and advocate for parents and student athletes about heat related illness at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. He seeks to diminish the occurrence of heat-related illnesses and improve player safety.
He is also Co-Executive Director of Mi Casa Es Su Casa Behavioral Health Program located in the eastern corridor of Baltimore City.

Atlantic General Hospital presents the 75th Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Tyler Keiser of Huntingdon College. The Stephen Decatur High School Star grew up in Ocean City. He was a three sport varisity athlete for soccer, swimming and lacrosse. For both soccer and lacrosse he was an All Bayside Conference player. He went to regionals for swimming three of the four years, winning his regionals with his sophomore year team. He continued his educational and lacrosse careers down in Montgomery Alabama at Huntingdon College. In his freshman year his team won the conference championships and played in the NCAA DIII National tournament. His team went back to the conference championship during his sophomore year where they lost by one point. An All Conference all player during his junior and senior years. He was the second leading scorer on the team during his senior season. He also broke the school’s All Time Caused Turnover Record before his college career ended.

Ed Hileman Drywall and Custom Painting presents the #74 Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. The podcast shares the journey of Drew Haueisen of Dickinson College. The former Stephen Decatur High School Basketball Star scored his 1,000th career point during Decatur’s game against James M. Bennett. He finished his high school career with 1,169 points. He was the Bayside South Player of the Year during his senior year. He also had an impressive soccer career at Decatur. After dealing with COVID during his freshman year at Dickerson College, he and his team look forward to the upcoming basketball season.

Residence Inn by Marriott presents the #73 Episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This podcast shares the journey of Kevon Voyles, a member of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Men’s Division I Basketball Team.
Kevon was one our local star basketball players from Stephen Decatur High School, where he was named the Bayside South Player of the Year. During his younger days he played sports in Virginia, before moving north to Maryland. He played for Stephen Decatur High School. After graduation he decided to attend TLAP Sports Academy in Florida. His freshman season he played in 27 games with three starts. He scored a season-high 14 points including four 3-pointers against Delaware. He recorded eight points and a season-high five rebounds against Baylor. He finished with 11 points and a season-high three steals vs North Carolina Central. The 20-2021 season was loss season due to COVID-19.

Atlantic Physical Therapy presents the 72nd episode of the Hondo Handy’s Podcast. This episode shares the journey of Troy Brohawn, Head Baseball Coach for Salisbury University. He was a college All American, while playing baseball at the University of Nebraska. The former Major Baseball League pitcher won the World Championship, while pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. He lead the Sea Gulls to the first NCAA Division III baseball national championship in program history in 2021. He enters his eighth season at the helm of the Sea Gull program in 2022. In his first seven seasons he oversaw four conference championships, extended Salisbury's NCAA Tournament streak to 21 straight appearances and made it to two College World Series (2015, '21). The Eastern Shore native played for Cambridge-South Dorchester High School. He returned to Cambridge to lead the Vikings to a state championship in 2013. Before that he served as the Salisbury University Sea Gulls’ pitching coach for four seasons from 2006-2009. He became the head coach at Salisbury in 2015.