Marquette University Athletics
Q & A With Basketball Coach Tom Crean
5/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Marquette Head Basketball Coach Tom Crean recently took some time out from his schedule for a brief question and answer session.
Q: Right now you and the coaching staff have been conducting individual workouts during the offseason. How have those been progressing?
A: I have been pleased with the individual workouts this offseason. I think that the players have worked extremely hard in every area. We have spent time trying to build their bodies, and our strength and conditioning coach, Scott Holsopple, has done and incredible job in that area. I have already seen a noticeable difference in the players' bodies in a short period of time in the way their strength and weight have gone up. Obviously, a couple of months isn't going to make a difference. We need to have this kind of work ethic throughout the summer.
Scott Holsopple would be the MVP of our staff right now. He's done a tremendous job of building their bodies over a period of time and I think that ever since he arrived here from Penn State in September there has been a noticeable difference in how the bodies of our players have started to look. I'm proud of the work he has done and I'm proud that he is associated with us.
The focus has been to build the entire body and, individually, look at each player's needs. I'll use Terry Sanders as an example. I think that when you look at his upper body and his back, you see somebody who is starting to gain some strength, and I think that it is just a matter of time before that strength carries over onto the floor.
As far individual instruction goes, we have been pleased by the competitiveness of it and the work the individuals have put in.
Q. Talk About Your Players And The Goals You Have Set For Them In Terms Of Improving Their Skills.
| Basketball Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott Holsopple observes Jon Harris. |
A: We try to improve our skills and set forth some things that we wanted the players to accomplish in the pick-up games. I think they have done a decent job of that from everything I can gather. This is the hardest part for a coach during the offseason -- you don't get to stay there and watch you players play at all and see their improvement level when it comes to a five-on-five setting. But I have been pleased with the individual work. We wanted to get better with our spacing, we wanted to get better shooting the ball, obviously we need to get better at rebounding the ball, and, with losing Brian Wardle, Brian Barone, John Mueller and Greg Clausen, we feel that our defense needs to step up because all four of those players could defend.
All of those areas have been important for us. And if there is one other area that I hope we'll really improve upon is getting the ball into the post -- not only in our post-ups, but with great post passing.
| Odartey Blankson and his Marquette teammates have been undergoing a rigorous and productive offseason strength and conditioning program. |
Q: As Usual, You Have Been Keeping A Busy Schedule. Talk About What You Have Been Doing Since The End Of The Season.
A: It has been extremely busy with recruiting, speaking engagements and with keeping the administrative part of the job at a high level. I've been very happy with the way things have been going. One of things that is so important right now is that we continue to develop the funding for the Al McGuire Center. We have had so many good people get involved in the aspect of building the facility with generous contributions and we have got to make sure that this continues on. It was so important to Al McGuire that the group of people who represented Marquette so well for those years would hopefully feel good about what we are building with the Center and I hope that we can continue to do that.
As far as being too busy to enjoy myself, that's not the case. It's been a great time. I'm like everybody else -- I've got Milwaukee Bucks fever and Milwaukee Brewers fever. It's fun to be a part of it.
Q: Recently, the team handed out the individual awards for the 2000-01 season. In addition to that, you have to be proud of the impending graduation of the seniors from this year's team.
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| Coach Crean wants the fundraising momentum to continue for the construction of the Al McGuire Center which is named for the former Marquette basketball coach. |
A: The awards ceremony, I think, was very good. We try to add some new awards every year like the Hit The Deck Award, which this year was presented to Greg Clausen, for example. To me those are important awards. Our players are very deserving of what they get.
The most important thing, however, is to look at what has happened here graduation-wise over many years. It's is a great tribute to our previous players, Tom Ford (Asst. AD/Academics) and LaToya Ingram (Coordinator For Academic Support). On May 20, Brian Wardle, John Mueller and Greg Clausen will walk across the stage at the Bradley Center and become Marquette graduates. Brian Barone, who already graduated last year, took graduate classes this past season. I'm extremely proud of them and can't wait to follow their careers in whatever path they choose. They have done a great job representing Marquette and everybody should be proud of them.
