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CAPITAL
REGION MEDIA MEMBERS TAKE ON STUDENT-ATHLETE
PERSPECTIVE IN SIMULATED BASKETBALL PRACTICE
10.15.09
Albany, N.Y. -- Members of the Capital
Region media have provided the University at
Albany with comprehensive coverage of the
men's basketball team through the program's
first 10 years at the Division I level. The
appreciation level for what the
student-athletes go through may increase
over the next decade after head coach Will
Brown put the media through a simulated
practice session on Thursday, Oct. 15 at
UAlbany's SEFCU Arena.
"I played back in the 1970's at St.
Bonaventure," said Tim Wilkin, a
sportswriter for the Albany Times Union. "It
is much more intense than it was back when I
played. It's a job for them (the
student-athletes), and you get a sense of
that."
Brown and his coaching staff spent 90
minutes, both on the floor and in the locker
room, with the media. Assistant coach Chad
O'Donnell provided a video scout for 15
media members, who participated in the
practice, and another group who covered the
event. Coach O'Donnell used last year's
season opener with Villanova to simulate the
teaching session. Each media member received
a detailed written scouting report.
"It was an invaluable tool as far as I am
concerned, to get insight of what coaches go
through in terms of the tendencies of the
opposition," said WRGB-TV Sports Director
Doug Sherman, who also works as a college
basketball television announcer. "From my
perspective as a non-player, it is just neat
to see all that goes into it."
Moving from the classroom to the floor,
UAlbany strength coach Blake Cundiff oversaw
the group with a collection of warm-up
drills and stretching exercises. Coach
Brown, whose goals were to learn, have fun
and create participation, started with a
two-man passing drill. The media contingent
also went through team defensive concepts,
full-court shooting instruction, the
installation of an offensive set and a
competition drill where teams rotated in a
half-court session where the winners did not
have to run.
"It was nice to see what the coach, his
staff and the players go through on a daily
basis," WXXA-TV sports announcer Scott
Morlock offered. "I think a lot of people
who sit in the audience see a game. They do
not see all the work that goes behind it. I
think if people were to get a chance to see
this, it might open some eyes."
UAlbany officially begins basketball
practice on Friday evening, but Coach Brown
may have found a new way to jump-start the
schedule on an annual basis. After borrowing
the idea from Michigan State head coach Tom
Izzo, Brown's hope was to provide a
different perspective.
"I wanted to have fun with it and hopefully
shed some light to what we are trying to do
on a daily basis," stated Brown, who has
coached the Great Danes since the 2001-02
campaign and guided the program to pair of
NCAA appearances. "I was impressed with the
participation, the focus and the effort that
everyone involved gave." |