Northwestern University Athletics
Jeff Ryan's Basketball Blog Debuts!
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2010
Greetings Wildcat Fans!
I am honored to bring you the first installment of my blog for the 2010-2011 Northwestern Men's Basketball season. First things first, I still can't believe this is my fifth year at NU. I've spent nearly a quarter of my life going to school and playing basketball here in Evanston, but it certainly doesn't feel that way.
The past four years have flown by - I used to catch backdoor passes from Tim Doyle (hair gel included) and all of a sudden I'm dishing to JerShon Cobb (ten years Doyle's junior!) for corner threes. That's one of the special things about college basketball though: you have the privilege of playing with a unique group every year. Each team is different than the last, regardless of how many players you add or lose.
As for this year's squad, we've had a fun and productive preseason. We kicked off official practice with a Midnight Madness event at the campus rec center followed by a Snoop Dogg & Kid Cudi concert at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The highlights of the night included Michael Thompson's first career dunk (check out the video right here on NUsports.com) and a post-concert 2-on-2 game in which Snoop Dogg put on a passing clinic that would have impressed the likes of Coach Mitch Henderson (who, by many accounts from NU players past and present, is one of the best passers in the Midwest).
Overall, that night was a great way for everyone - players and fans - to get excited about the start of the college basketball season. Even those in the media had an extra skip in their step when October 15 came around. There are only so many stories to cover in the off-season before things get repetitive, so I know they're pumped for the action to begin too.
Practices thus far have been business as usual: fine-tuning our offense, working on various defenses and most importantly, COMPETING!! This 13-man roster is likely the most competitive group I've been a part of at Northwestern. Great teams have depth, so we know that each guy has to contribute in practice. The rest takes care of itself because you practice how you play.
We're really excited to get tested right away on the road against a talented Northern Illinois team. The other nice thing about getting into our schedule now is that practices become more concentrated - we can watch tape to scout our opponents and work each day to improve specific aspects of our own game plan.
Until our home opener on November 19, stay up to date with the various media coverage of our first two games. I'm looking forward to bringing you an inside look throughout the season. If anyone has suggestions for the blog - seriously, anything you want to know about the student-athlete experience - I'd love some input! See you all next week!
Go `Cats!
