By Spencer Tracy, Staff Writer

With the 11th-most wins in all of college basketball since 1985, Xavier has been a universally respected program despite receiving relatively minimal media attention. That is, until last summer, when three die-hard Xavier fans put their heads together to create a behind-the-scenes look at the Xavier basketball program. 

Flashback to the summer of 2023: Xavier alumnus Anthony Breen (‘14) used his creativity and love for Xavier basketball to develop an idea that would allow access into the mind of highly respected college basketball coach Sean Miller. Breen added Adam Baum, Paul Fritschner (‘19) and Josh Sempsrott to form the dream team. Coach Miller was all in, and the “Sean Miller Podcast” was born. The podcast is produced by 1831 Media, of which Breen is the founder and CEO. Baum oversees the marketing, Fritschner hosts each episode and Sempsrott does the editing. 

The next steps in bringing the podcast to life were creating content and marketing the podcast to gain viewers. Finding a guest for each episode was as simple as “whoever is in the building at the time,” according to Baum. Each episode is unique, ranging from special guest appearances from Xavier basketball alumni and National Basketball Association (NBA) players who were once coached by Miller to simple sit-down episodes with just Fritschner, Baum and Miller. The show maintains consistency while bringing in a variety of perspectives surrounding the game.  

This platform has given Xavier basketball a voice and media attention which has never been more valuable than it is today when it comes to recruiting. This was an element Miller and the Podcast crew were aware of. 

“It absolutely plays a part (in the recruiting process),” Fritschner said. “Obviously there are rules, but giving them a voice, recruits enjoy a bit of attention.”  

The podcast has averaged 10,000 listeners and viewers per episode across Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube in their first year of production. 

Both Baum and Fritschner have a vision and are asking the same question: “How can we continue to engage with our audience and grow our audience at the same time?” Baum emphasized their efforts to utilize Miller’s connections through college athletics and the NBA. Fritschner added that his vision for the future focuses on the students at Xavier. 

“It’s also about the 1,000 students in the student section and how to engage them in content they enjoy,” Fritschner said. “They create the environment of the Cintas Center.” 

For those who aren’t aware, Sean Miller is a massive football fan, specifically a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. The NFL offseason is known for its “Hard Knocks” series which produces an exclusive look into a team’s season. 

This past May, Baum, Fritschner and Sempsrott received a text from Miller with a link to the Steelers’ “Hard Knocks” episode with a follow up text saying, “Can we do this?” Today, the three-man team is prepared to launch the first episode of an all-exclusive look into the Xavier men’s basketball program called “All In.” The first episode of the series will be released on the “Sean Miller Podcast” YouTube channel on Nov. 12.  

While the “Hard Knocks” staff has about 100 staff members for each of their departments, the “All In” docuseries staff consists solely of Fritschner, Baum and Sempsrott. Each member is constantly working on some aspect of the docuseries while simultaneously producing the next podcast episode. 

“[The ‘All-In’ series crew has] been to everything since their first team meeting on June 1st,” Fritschner said. “They went to Kings Island, we were there. Zach Freemantle went to throw out the first pitch at a Reds game, we were there.”  

Miller granting access behind the scenes to Xavier men’s basketball to the members behind “All In” and the players willing to participate in this docuseries has played a massive role in the construction of the docuseries. Both Fritschner and Baum emphasized they are “not here to make anybody look bad, we’re here to tell a story.” They are betting on the talent of this team to create a memorable season and capturing every drop of sweat earned to reach the NCAA tournament.  

With the rise in media attention and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals that provide benefits to college athletes, we could be seeing more teams follow the steps of the “Sean Miller Podcast” with the goal of providing a voice for these young stars who, at the end of the day, are the stars of the show.