Senior Jordan Vargas created a local name for himself with his podcasts. He puts his focus on sports, which has led him down the path of meeting new people. Vargas has been posting his podcasts on Spotify since last Oct., and he has interviewed guests including former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, Stockton Kings assistant coach Kyle Nishimoto, and  Lonzo Ball. Vargas continues to grow, and he soon hopes to find success in new partnerships with the Sports Cast and Sloche Official.

“What got me into podcasting was I saw people talk about sports, but [I have] never listened to someone of my age not only talk about sports but have NBA players and people within the game to talk about with,” Vargas said. “I just wanted to come in at a different angle than everyone else and create my own path to build connections and relationships with people that live my dream day in and day out.”

Vargas is not the only one in his family to have made a podcast. Mark Vargas, Jordan’s brother, originally spoke with Blagojevich and composed a podcast with the former governor. The family’s close relationship with Blagojevich keeps them in the loop with some of his stories.

Even though he has met with popular individuals, Vargas is still working on a small platform. Despite the size of his platform, right now he hopes to eventually grow and use his potential popularity as a way to gain exposure. The exposure that he is looking for will optimistically take him to the next level, the NBA.

“I will always have a podcast, but I am not using podcasting as a career. I am just using it as a platform to network and gain exposure in the sports world,” Vargas said. “[I want] to put myself in the position to get involved with an NBA organization, keep getting interviews, and keep working with Sports Cast.”

His high number of interviews have helped him grow. He has 11 different podcasts on Spotify and has a time range of roughly 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Vargas’s interview with Blagojevich is his second longest podcast and has a time span of 42 minutes. His ability to keep a conversation going leads him to hear very interesting stories. In a recent interview with Jeremiah Hill, Vargas mentioned that Hill talked about how the current state of professional basketball is too political.

“When I interviewed Jeremiah Hill, I asked him why he chooses to play overseas rather than the NBA,” Vargas said. “He said today’s game is more political and that the most athletic people make it to the NBA, not the most skilled.”

Listeners can find Vargas’ podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or type in “CWJ Sports Podcasts” into Google.