Gem Sessions Podcast

Nov 18 2023
Gem Sessions Podcast artwork

Gem Sessions Podcast was created by performance coach, Justin Ochoa, as a way to connect and bridge communication between basketball coaches, trainers, athletes and parents. Justin will feature current and former pro athletes, coaches, trainers, agents and other interesting guests from all across the basketball community. If you want to take your game to the next level, listen up! We're dropping gems on all things basketball. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gemsessions/support

RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


S2E10: How Max Landis went from walk-on to All-American to Overseas pro with adversity & odds stacked against him.

Nov 18 2023 59 mins  
Max Landis is a pro basketball player from Indianapolis, currently signed with FC Porto in Portugal through 2025. After a great high school career at Perry Meridian, Max decided to go to Gardner-Webb to start his college career. After 2 seasons there, he decided to transfer closer to home and finish his career at Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW at the time). The catch? He was going to be a

S2E9: Kelsey Barlow the author, illustrator, producer and pro hooper talks basketball, life and more.

Nov 13 2023 81 mins  
Kelsey Barlow — aka Stambi — is much more than a pro basketball player. Growing up in Europe, Kelsey didn’t specialize in basketball — or sports — at a young age. First it was piano, then horse-back riding, then way down the line basketball eventually became his passion. And that passion has taken him back to Europe & all around the globe over the last decade+ of his

S2E8: Tony Hicks turns NFL dreams into pro basketball reality, shares his career journey & what to expect this season.

Nov 06 2023 90 mins  
Tony Hicks is currently in his 7th professional season, having played in countries like Hungary, Germany, Venezuela and more, but this basketball career wasn’t always a dream of his. Tony actually grew up in Chicago wanting to be the next great NFL quarterback, modeling his game after Chicago legend Donovan McNabb. Tony mentioned that this “late bloomer” timeline actually hel

S2E7: Gem Sessions Updates: The Nonprofit. The app. The evolution.

Oct 29 2023 23 mins  
In this solo episode, we're just taking a break from interviews to reflect on a year of podcasting! This is our 1-year anniversary and we're celebrating the growth, progress and evolution of the show. Host, Justin Ochoa, takes some time to share some Gem Sessions updates: The Gem Sessions Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization we launched this year! Our mission is to e

S2E6: How John Murry turned 2 surgeries & getting cut 3 times into becoming a league MVP and Champion.

Oct 21 2023 63 mins  
John Murry has never had it easy. Although he is currently the reigning league MVP in Morocco and accomplished a Cup Championship in his first season in the league, it was a long uphill climb to reach that level. John joins us to tell his story. He starts by detailing his unique high school to college transition. John was nearly an ineligible and un-recruitable high school senior d

S2E5: WNBA vet, 3x-Olympian and WNBPA executive, Natalie Achonwa, joins us to discuss the WNBA expansion, growing the game & how motherhood has impacted her on & off the court.

Oct 15 2023 79 mins  
Today's episode features Natalie Achonwa, a multiple time Olympic athlete, WNBA vet and an executive member of the WNBPA. Natalie joins the show to discuss the WNBA expansion, how we can continue to elevate women’s basketball and how recently becoming a mother has impacted her on and off the court. We start off by reflecting on Nat’s unique basketball background, growing up

S2E4: Djimon Henson shares early career adversity, NBA G-League & Overseas stories and gives advice for prospective pro basketball players coming up the ranks

Oct 07 2023 74 mins  
Today's episode features Djimon Henson, a current professional hooper for Salon Vilpas in the top division in Finland. Prior to his current team, Djimon spent time in the NBA G-League and played college basketball at Morehead State. Djimon shares the ups and downs of his career, including all of the stops between college and pro. He tells stories from the TBL, a semi-pro domest

S2E3: Stephanie Mavunga shares her WNBA & EuroLeague journey, reflects on collegiate career and previews her upcoming season

Sep 30 2023 82 mins  
Today we’re joined by Stephanie Mavunga to discuss her WNBA and EuroLeague career, her collegiate career at two of the most historic universities in the world and her goals for the upcoming season coming off a severe shoulder surgery. Stephanie is originally from Zimbabwe, but moved to Indiana at a young age before she ultimately went on to win Indiana Miss Basketball, one of the

S2E2: Ty Harris of the Connecticut Sun talks WNBA vs. Overseas, her main focus in the upcoming offseason and playing for the legendary Dawn Staley at South Carolina.

Sep 22 2023 66 mins  
Today we’re joined by Ty Harris of the Connecticut Sun to discuss her journey to the WNBA -- reflecting on her rookie season in The Wubble, her draft-day experience, the growth she’s had on and off the court and her professional goals as she becomes a “vet” in the WNBA. We start off with Ty’s background and highly decorated high school and college career, then transition

S2E1: Jordan Walker talks climbing the ranks in European basketball, essential guard skills to become a pro & the mindset of an overseas hooper

Sep 16 2023 63 mins  
We’re back! Super excited to kick off Season 2 of the Gem Sessions Podcast – The Athlete’s Season. For the next several weeks, we’ll be catching up with basketball players all around the world, learning their unique journey & story, getting the behind-the-scenes look at the basketball lifestyle and getting to know these hoopers for the humans they are. In today’s epis