This past Tuesday, Penn State men’s basketball held its annual 1-hour summer media availability.
Coach Mike Rhoades and his staff opened up their doors and welcomed us to their midway point of their offseason, workout program. Rhoades kept emphasizing the importance of getting his players physically ready for November.
Regardless of the sport, the Big Ten is a big, tough and nasty conference. Penn State basketball currently has eight freshmen, and with that young age comes bodies that might not yet be ready for that physicality.
So physical development is a huge point of emphasis this offseason.
Rhoades has already noticed “great gains with their bodies” just in the short time his players have been in State College.
“We have multiple guys that got bigger and stronger in just three and a half weeks,” Rhoades said Tuesday. “It’s all about stacking days in the summer and getting better and better.”
Rhoades also said he’d like to add “Older, bigger, and stronger” players to the roster.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“I do think some of our 3 men are bigger and stronger, Big Ten size-wise. Maybe bigger than we have been in the past…that was an emphasis. I think we will be bigger, stronger than we have been, and that is huge. That’s going to be a big difference. Our wings are going to be Big Ten size with girth.”
Not only was the head coach mentioning becoming physical from being in the weight room, but just in the drills during the live workout, Rhoades continuously taught physicality: fighting through the screens, going strong to the hoop, having his assistant coach Brent Scott knocking the players with a big pad as they take a shot, and teaching about having a physical advantage over your opponent.
Rhoades said the program’s offseason theme was “Build and Bond.” By the time November rolls around, Penn State hopes to literally be a strong unit.
