TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) - Tallahassee Community College men's basketball coach Mark White compares the summer months to a sort of boot camp.
"I want to see what you are made of," he said. "What are you made of mentally?"
These off season months, the perfect time to test that.
"All the way through mid to late October, we're going to be in that weight room hard," he added. "We do individual skill instruction four or five days a week. I told the guys, this is their time to be selfish to become the best player individually they can be."
"It's probably the most important part of the process," said women's head coach Q Bedell. "To me, it's a complete process from phase one to whatever phase we end with in March."
The Eagle women made it to Nationals last season, and the phase they're looking to get back to? Right where they left off - and figuring out who they are now is a big part of getting there.
"We went through the recruiting process and that's the red carpet," he laughed. "Now we're in the real stage of the meat of the relationship, we're spending a lot of time together. We're building relationships, trust, and rapport and understanding what each person can do and what we can grow on and what we can develop."
"We have a great group of young men. I love this group," said White. "These kids are super kids, so it's been really, really good summer so far."
A good summer, and a summer that for the new players, is the difference maker.
"We want to know, by the end of the summer, are we going to be able to count on you, or are we not going to be able to count on you?" said White. "That's how we approach it."
"The intensity and the demands and expectations are a whole lot greater," added Bedell. "A lot of them are understanding, eyes are opening, but at the same time, they're meeting the challenge."
Meeting the challenge to get them exactly where they want to be.
