Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Players Working Overtime To Succeed
1/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2000
By Lori Nickel
of the Journal Sentinel staff
MILWAUKEE - Jon Harris is the first guy on the court, every single day, on the free-throw line. He's usually last to leave, too.
The day after Marquette University dominated St. Louis, the Golden Eagles were back at work. They watched film for two hours, practiced for two more, then hit the weights for 30 minutes. Finally, they looked at a little more film before they rolled out of the Old Gym.
Sunday night, after they got home from Cincinnati, they were given the option of taking their first night off in two weeks. But all 12 guys made it to the gym, voluntarily, for a workout at 9:30.
"Your best players have to be your best workers," coach Tom Crean said. "Our team is beginning to understand what is expected of them. All we were going to do Sunday was lift weights, and four players had individual instruction. And every player showed up to work on his game without being told.
"It says a lot to me. To be good at anything, you have to make sacrifices, but if you love basketball, it's not a sacrifice to work on your game."
Marquette (8-5) might not necessarily have the record, ranking or respect to reflect how much they've worked, but ask any Golden Eagle and he'll tell you that this team is putting in more time, energy and effort than it ever did before.
And it's not for brownie points, either.
"We love working out on our own now because we see ourselves improving," junior Brian Wardle said. "Getting in the gym is a regular thing for us now. Even on our off time we're shooting on our own. It's kind of a routine that you get in and it's kind of your mind-set.
"I'm in the best shape of my life. I've been shooting the ball better. College basketball is a job. You're not here to have an exciting, super fun time. It's a job, you're going to school and getting an education, so you've got to pay your dues. By doing all this, that's how we pay our dues."
It might pay off tonight at No. 21 De Paul, it might pay off Saturday against No. 25 Louisville. Either way, Crean and his staff have brought their work-till-you-drop attitude to this campus and they say the players are, at last, buying into it.
Work will salve the wounds left by losses to Cincinnati, Baylor and Dayton. Work will make John Polonowski as good in the games as he is in practice. Work will lead, eventually, to winning more often.
There are examples of this everywhere. They were used to intense practices. Now they're used to intense practices . . . for 3 1/2 hours.
Wardle has spent more time in the gym than he ever has and has developed a midrange game, which might have opened up his perimeter shooting.
"He's become more of a ring leader to get the kids to come in on their own," Crean said.
Back in the spring, Cliff was cut badly during a workout, but he refused to stop. After the workout Cliff got 10 stitches to close the gash over his eye.
Cliff has also developed a pull-up game while working on his ball-handling and his ability to get to the basket.
Marquette is trying some other new things to get this program to where Crean wants it. There are individual workouts, aside from practices, that began in the spring and continued once classes began and still go now through the season.
There are curfews and bed checks before home and away games. The coaches even monitor what the players eat and order the training table menu before games.
"We're pushing ourselves a lot longer than we ever had to," sophomore David Diggs said.
