I'll have a full notebook out with quotes and all that good stuff tomorrow morning, but wanted to go ahead and give y'all a few tidbits of the stuff we heard:
-The Jamaica trip seems to have had a really big impact on helping the team bond with its newcomers. The freshmen all said that was a huge thing for them this summer. Curt Lewis told me he was pretty shy when he first got to campus because he came in later in the summer than everyone else. But the trip really helped him to open up more.
-Caleb Grill had his tonsils removed and March and lost 30 pounds. He's not only regained all the weight since he's getting to Mizzou, but he's added an extra 15 pounds.
-I had a 10-minute conversation with Dickey Nutt where I think I only asked three questions (the best kind of interview). One of the things I asked is how this team is different from last year's. Among the things he said was that they have put a much bigger emphasis on rebounding this year. He expects them to be a lot bet on the boards.
-Gates reiterated that Kaleb Brown has been one of the most improved players in the offseason. I asked a few people, and Kaleb himself, what they've seen change from him. One of the most common answers was that he's really put in work on his body. He was already sneaky-strong (as evidenced by that video of him squatting 600 pounds after a game last season) but he's slimmed down a bit to help his mobility. Kobe Brown made a pretty big leap when he went through a body transformation last year, it might help Kaleb out too.
-We often talk about the returning players when it comes to teams, but Gates doesn't want to overlook that he also returns all his assistant coaches and, thanks to the new NCAA limits, was able to promote Ryan Sharbaugh and Matt Cline. He said his assistants worked on developing themselves this offseason, too, challenging each other as coaches and reaching out to leaders outside of the profession to sharpen their skills. That continuity is going to help.
I've got a TON of audio to sort through, there's a lot more to come this week, Gabe's posting videos of some of his interview, stay tuned
-The Jamaica trip seems to have had a really big impact on helping the team bond with its newcomers. The freshmen all said that was a huge thing for them this summer. Curt Lewis told me he was pretty shy when he first got to campus because he came in later in the summer than everyone else. But the trip really helped him to open up more.
-Caleb Grill had his tonsils removed and March and lost 30 pounds. He's not only regained all the weight since he's getting to Mizzou, but he's added an extra 15 pounds.
-I had a 10-minute conversation with Dickey Nutt where I think I only asked three questions (the best kind of interview). One of the things I asked is how this team is different from last year's. Among the things he said was that they have put a much bigger emphasis on rebounding this year. He expects them to be a lot bet on the boards.
-Gates reiterated that Kaleb Brown has been one of the most improved players in the offseason. I asked a few people, and Kaleb himself, what they've seen change from him. One of the most common answers was that he's really put in work on his body. He was already sneaky-strong (as evidenced by that video of him squatting 600 pounds after a game last season) but he's slimmed down a bit to help his mobility. Kobe Brown made a pretty big leap when he went through a body transformation last year, it might help Kaleb out too.
-We often talk about the returning players when it comes to teams, but Gates doesn't want to overlook that he also returns all his assistant coaches and, thanks to the new NCAA limits, was able to promote Ryan Sharbaugh and Matt Cline. He said his assistants worked on developing themselves this offseason, too, challenging each other as coaches and reaching out to leaders outside of the profession to sharpen their skills. That continuity is going to help.
I've got a TON of audio to sort through, there's a lot more to come this week, Gabe's posting videos of some of his interview, stay tuned
