GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The men's basketball squad came to the gym Wednesday for what was listed on the schedule as a "team workout." Presumably, routine preseason stuff in the run-up to the official start of fall practice on Sept. 24
It wasn't.
Or as UF assistant coach Kevin Hovde put it, "We're gonna find out who's really in shape today."
Some of you may have heard, seen or perhaps participated in some form of a "Beep Test," themulti-stage fitness exam used to gauge aerobic capacity. For those inside the program, the players that ultimately proved to be in the best cardiovascular shape werenosurprise. But watching the grueling test and seeing guys push through and ultimately fall out one by one was something to behold.
Originally, the conceptwas thebrainstormof Luc A. Leger, a University of Montreal professor, and dates to the 1970s. Over the last four decades it has become an international conditioning staple in some sports, especially soccer and rugby, and over the last 20 years has worked its way into state-side basketball. Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett, one of the godfather's of international recruiting, began using it years ago, which sparked the idea (and probably some bad memories) for UF coach Todd Golden, who played point guard for Bennett from 2004-08.
Golden thought it would be great for his guys.
There are variations of the beep test, with the Gators going with the "Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery" version, whichrequires participants to run down-and-back sprints — in this case, about 20 meters (or 65 feet) both ways — while maintaining a speed that is determined by a pre-set audio tone that beeps throughout. The required speed increases as the test progresses, with just 10 seconds of recovery between sprints. Players are allowed one "fail" and are eliminated on their second.
The Gators did not know what was coming, arriving at the facility per usual for taping and warm-ups. Once on the floor and stretched, the coaches rolled out a white board and explained the test. The six international players were all too familiar with what was about to go down, while some others seemed a little unsure and paid particular attention to Golden's breakdown of the rules.
Freshman guard Urban Klavzar, from Slovenia, was asked if he'd done it. He had.
No problem, right?
"No," Klavzar said. "It's a problem."
Senior point guard Walter Clayton Jr. joked about feeling some (sudden) pain in his hamstring.
"I don't know if I can go today," he said with a grin.
He went.
They all did.
The first group was the six front court players and exactly no one was surprised when forwards Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon were the last two
g sprinting, going toe-to-toe the final few reps in a competitive test of wills. The first sprint began at a modest 14.4 seconds (a light jog), but by the time Haugh had outlasted his BFF — by two reps — the beeps were requiring dashes at 8.5 seconds.
Haugh did 56 of them — fifty-freaking-six — before collapsing to the floor after running an extra after Condon was done, just to make a point. For those familiar with the test, Haughscored at 19.5.
"I could've done more, but my feet were killing me," hesaid.
Haugh'sperformance was better than everyone in the second group of backcourt players. Alijah Martin, the transfer from Florida Atlantic and maybe the best all-around athlete on the team, was the winner there at 52 reps(or 19.1).
"It's just a really good assessment of each guys' condition and helps us see if we need more work in that area or if a certain position group needs to put in more work in that area," UF assistant coach John Andrzejek said. "It's hard to fake, hard to just gut it out. A lot of guys, tough guys who don't have any quit in them, can push through pain for 30 seconds and gut out a sprint if they're not in great shape.But if you run 56 of 'em, you're in good shape."
Probably great shape.
WBK UPDATE
On the other side of the Hugh Hathco*ck Basketball Complex, the UF women have been hard at it the last few months and are readying for the start of their full-go preseason practices Sept. 23.
Coach Kelly Rae Finley,56-42 in her three seasons leading the Gators, went 16-16 in '23-24, but returns eight players, including four starters, and will fortify the roster with a freshman class that ranked in the top 10, led by a pair of McDonald's All Americans in point guard Liv McGill (at No. 7, the highest-rated recruit in program history) and forward Me'Arah O'Neal.
"We're stronger, bigger, faster," Finley said Thursday. "The competitiveness and mental resiliency to do the hard work has really been impressive. They have a good resolve about them."
Two of the returning starters, 6-6 fifth-year center Ra Shaya Kyle and sophom*ore guard Laila Reynolds, are on the comeback from injuries, but on schedule to return to the court sometime during the pre-SEC slate. Kyle's return will be especially welcome. She was averaging just shy of a double-double (12.4 points on 58.1 percent from the floor to go with 9.2 rebounds) when lost for the season with a knee injury Jan. 7 at Vanderbilt, just two games into SEC play.
As for Reynolds, she was named to the SEC All-Freshman team after starting 31 games and averaging 7.0 points and 3.7 rebounds. Reynolds was a McDonald's All American in 2022, which means Florida will have three on the roster this season. Before Reynolds arrived last season, the Gators had oneMcD AAin program history (Ronni Williams).
building the foundation 🔨#GoGators pic.twitter.com/6ro1i8VAzb
— Gators Women's Basketball (@GatorsWBK) August 7, 2024
Once all the Gators are back, this version could be one of the most talented the program has rolled out in years.
"It's a unique blend. Seven seniors and a core group of underclassmen mixed with a high-level of experience coming out of high school. Ilove the versatility. We're interchangeable in a lot of ways, which helps you offensively and defensively," Finley said. "Women's basketball is a big deal right now and I think we have a really exciting team. I could go on about each of our players, but I would encourage people to come out and watch. I think they'll be excited about what we have, too."
BASKETBALL BYTES
The annualBlue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook, probably the most respected preseason publication, is out. It has Florida with apreseason rank of 18th and projects the Gators to finish sixth in the SEC behind, in order, Alabama (No. 1 overall in the the country), Texas A&M (9th), Tennessee (11th), Auburn (12th) and Arkansas (15th), with Kentucky (19th) and Texas (24th) giving the league eight in the Top 25. … Remember those old so-called "secret scrimmages?" Well, they're not so secret anymore, per NCAA rules, with the Gators scheduled to play Florida International on Oct. 19 and College of Charleston on Oct. 26, both at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. No, they won't be open to the public, but intel and probably some highlights will emerge. FIU wasn't very good last season, but CoC went 27-8 and reached the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year. … Finley showered praise for her team's conditioning on a trio of support staffers, including two newcomers in strength/conditioning coordinator Jason Traylor and head trainer Tariq Kelly, along with senior performance dietitian Joseph Shepherd. Traylor, who interned and assisted Matt Delancey with UF Olympicsportsfrom 2013-2018, came after a stint as director of performance for football at Northern Illinois (his former guys shoved Notre Dame around pretty good last week), while Kelly hopped over from the same role with the UF swimming and diving team. … As part of alumni weekend, the 2014 SEC championship and Final Four team will be honored on their 10-year anniversary during Saturday's football game against Texas A&M. Several from that record-breaking team that won 30 straight are still playing overseas, but Patric Young, Michael Frazier II and Jacob Kurtz, along with assistant coach Matt McCall will represent that squad that went 36-3, including a 21-0 mark against the SEC en route to both the regular-season and conference tournament titles.
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