Eagles Spend Summer Getting Buff

Courtesy of AUEagles.com comes this video highlighting the Eagles' summer workouts under strength and conditioning coach Jason Riddell. This isn't a particularly incisive video, to be sure, but hey, when it's August and you're basketball-starved it looks like an ice-cold Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA with spicy Mexican food (what, just me?) The good news here is that three of the incoming freshmen are on-campus taking summer classes, so they're getting a head start on their conditioning. I recognized Blake Jolivette, who I think is Josh Snodgrass, and a third, as yet unidentified player (sorry about that, I'll get to know all your vitals before you know it) practicing with junior guards Steve Luptak and Nick Hendra. Team godfather Derrick Mercer and class of 2008 forward Travis Lay also make appearances in the video training, as does new Director of Basketball Operations Bryce Simon.

I have to say I like the attitude that Hendra shows in the video as he notes that "The key thing is to just work as hard as possible as we possibly can at any given moment and that'll set the right example for the younger guys who are coming in..." If that's the attitude that Luptak and Hendra are taking in earnest as the season starts, we can expect to reap the benefits as a team down the line; I think good work ethic can overcome a lot of faults on a team (not that I'm saying this team does or doesn't have them, but solid work ethic sure as hell never hurts). Luptak mentions that this summer is definitely the hardest he's had since coming to play at AU; not surprising given that this will definitely be the hardest season the Eagles face since Luptak has arrived.

Definite bonus for Jolivette to be getting practice time early with the more experienced guards, especially Mercer. Coming in as a two-star recruit, you have to believe Jolivette is the leader of the Eagle backcourt in two years, the faster he gets ahead of that learning curve the better.

Not sure what the rest of the team is up to in terms of training regimen for the summer, I'll try to do some research on that and report on that in the next week or so. This is both looking back and pretty far ahead at the same time, but the reason the Eagles are 0-2 the past two years in the NCAA tournament isn't for lack of talent, it's for lack of gas in the tank over the final eight minutes of the game. It's very hard for a team like AU to play the physical level of ball that they do in the Big East, SEC, or ACC when teams like Colgate and Lafayette just don't have the same big bruisers. It's nice to see the Eagles bulking up and building their endurance (seemingly running 400m laps at the end of the video) in preparation for what will undoubtedly be a grueling season.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!