As we all know, working out is essential for playing a sport. It is even more essential when it comes to being a college athlete. Working out and getting your body to the peak it can be everyday is what the Franciscan mens basketball teams really drills down hard on. Head Coach Joe Wallace wants to make sure his team is right physically everyday so his team can compete at the highest level. When it comes to playing in the President's Athletic Conference, there are a lot more teams who are more physical and bigger than the Barons. So team lifts and ice baths are very important for the guys and making sure they recover the proper way.
Junior Yann Yonkeu wrestles the ropes in one of the Barons' team lifts.
The Barons do a team lift every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11am-12:30pm. Wallace advises the players not to have classes from 11am-1pm on those days so his players can get these team lifts in so they can be stringer than ever for the season. When I played on the team for two and a half years, we never did scheduled team lifts during the day. After speaking to a lot of the players after their team lift this past Wednesday, they said they enjoy the lifts a lot and it makes them closer as a team. For being a college basketball player, certain movements and muscles need to be targeted and Coach Wallace recognized that before his players came back to campus. He hired a man named Coach Rose, who is a personal trainer, to train the team and to make them ready for a tough season in the PAC.
The Barons are looking stronger than ever this season. The players spend multiple hours working out and lifting in the gym outside of their scheduled team lifts. These men grind hard everyday and work to be the best versions of themselves. The players call these moments "long hours in the lab" and it is rightfully so.
Senior Joe Ciola does some pull ups during the team lift.
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