July 17, 2009

WASHINGTON - While most college students are heading to the beach, working a summer job or taking a class this July, members of the Georgetown University women's basketball squad are working to get ahead both on the court and in the classroom. A majority of the team is back on campus after the month and a half at home since the conclusion of spring finals. While summer may not be quite as rigorous a schedule as the winter, they are working, taking classes and getting in daily workouts.

"They're a young team building off of what they learned last year," said Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Hill who has the Hoyas in the weight room weekdays at 7:30 a.m.

"They work hard and ask a lot of questions, the only complaints I usually get are about being up here at 7:30 every morning."

The players echo Hill's sentiments.

"We're lifting first thing in the morning, getting runs in, at night we're playing ball," said junior Monica McNutt. "We're trying to make workouts fun since it is summer, but we're still committed to it because we want to have a lot of success next season."

Hill has changed Georgetown's offseason workout to be geared toward the up-tempo game the coaching staff hopes to play next year.

"Coach wants them to be an up-and-down running team so I've changed their conditioning to a non-traditional format," said Hill. "Now it's a lot of timed sprints for thirty or forty seconds followed by a jog to rest. I think they like it since there are fewer long track workouts."

Sophomore Adria Crawford agrees that the new training program has sparked renewed excitement among team members.

"It's kicking in the cardio quicker than running long sprints and dying," she said. "With running short sprints, people are more able to work out on their own and get the full workouts complete."

Most of the players have been on their own since early May. Many went home, while others stuck around campus to take a class during the first summer session. Playing and conditioning was left up to the players so it is now up to Hill to assess where everyone is at after a month off.

"A number of them have shown dedication," said Hill. "Some have been here all summer working hard and I think it shows."

Despite having a trained strength coach at their disposal, Hill leaves a lot of the coaching and leadership up to the team members themselves. He tries to pair veterans with newcomers and teaches the players to look to each other with questions. One player in particular who has evolved into a mentor is senior Kenya Kirkland.

"I have three rules: if you have a question see if it can be answered by your card, if it can't ask a veteran, if they don't know ask Kenya," said Hill. "She really gets what we are trying to do. Right now she is hurt but she knows what to do and can work out on her own. I've talked to her about having a future in coaching."

"I don't know if I'm another coach," laughed Kirkland. "I'm more like the weights police. I make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing or they'll hear from me."

With seven sophomores and three incoming freshmen, veteran leadership will be a key to Georgetown's success. Hill has been pleased with how many of the returners have taken newcomers Vanessa Moore and Sydney Wilson under their wing.

With almost the entire squad back on campus, the Hoyas are bonding with the newcomers and focusing on next season's task.

McNutt summed up the summer workouts in one statement.

"We're a young team with seven sophomores and three freshmen, but we had a taste of success last season and we want to keep that going."

The Fall semester will begin in early September and the Hoyas will open practice for the 2009-10 season on October 15.