The men’s basketball team is training hard this summer as it prepares to adjust its approach for its upcoming season and roster changes.
The end of the 2009-10 season saw the exit of four seniors, with next season bringing in three freshmen, a transfer student and a redshirt player.
Coach Louis Orr is excited for the possibilities the new players will bring to the team.
“We’ll be somewhat of a different team,” Orr said. “We may not be as big and physical … but we definitely have a chance to be more athletic [and] quicker. And defensively, we have a chance, especially man-to-man, to do some different things.”
Joe Jakubowski, the team’s only senior, agrees.
“I think we’re going to play a different style of ball than we did last year just because of our personnel,” Jakubowski said. “Overall, just faster basketball and more guard oriented.”
The new players are junior Torian Oglesby, a 6’7″ forward from Mott Community College in Flint, Mich; DaVon Haynes, a 6’8″ freshman forward from Detroit who was redshirted last year; Cameron Black, a 6’10” freshman forward/center from Kent, Ohio; Craig Sealey, a 6’6″ freshman forward from Columbus; and Anthony Henderson, a 6’1″ guard from Toledo.
Orr said that three frequent starters are returning this year: Jakubowski, and juniors Dee Brown and Scott Thomas.
Jakubowski said that teammates Brown and Thomas help him bring valuable experience and leadership to the team along with sophomores Jordon Crawford and James Erger during the summer’s Strength and Conditioning sessions and team-run open gyms.
Jakubowski said the freshmen are adjusting well after only being in town for a week with the rest of the team for the second summer semester.
“They have … a lot of talent,” Jakubowski said. “They work hard and they’re good kids.”
While the team is busy getting used to new team members, Jakubowski acknowledges that the summer is equally important for refining his own skills as an individual player.
“I think it’s a great time,” Jakubowski said. “It’s a grind, because you don’t get to see the fruit of your labor necessarily on the court in games, but it is fun.”
Since the NCAA prohibits the coaches from organizing and overseeing basketball practices during the summer, Jakubowski said the coach meets with each player individually at the end of each season and discusses strengths and weaknesses to keep in mind during summer training.
Jakubowski said that the team needs to work on maintaining better physical shape on and off the court as well as toughening up mentally and physically, particularly in the defense aspect of the game.
Jakubowski also mentioned the team has a lot of great shooters and a lot of agility, emphasizing the need to maintain these strengths.
“If we get in shape we can use that speed on the court [to] run and get easy layups, and use it on defense as well,” Jakubowski said.
For the team, getting in shape involves alternating strength and agility training days, running at 6 a.m. some days and lifting at 3 p.m. on others, followed by open gym at 6 p.m. every night. Jakubowski finds the Strength and Conditioning program challenging and ultimately rewarding with its total body workouts.
“We cover all the body areas that we use in basketball, so the strength coaches do a great job,” Jakubowski said. “They push us and they really take us seriously.”
The coaches are also working hard to prepare for the next season, making adjustments to strategies by viewing old team footage, continuing the constant process of recruiting and working on scheduling for the next season onward.
“We have a feel for what we want to try to do, but with so many new faces … we’ll tweak some,” Orr said. “I’d like to get up and down the floor a little more and I’d like to … spread the floor a little more.”
Orr said that refining is “an ongoing process,” especially when he considers the four players who have yet to practice with the team in the fall.
“You [have to] have a general idea, but no conclusions until you get them in practice,” Orr said. “There’s still a lot to be discovered about this team.”