University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles End Second Week; Clinic A Success
10/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Eagles End Second Week; Clinic A Success
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss' Golden Eagle basketball squad ended its second week of preseason practice Saturday, and used the afternoon session as the finishing touch for a day-long coaching clinic, for area high school and junior college coaches.
Head Coach James Green says the clinic was beneficial for the coaches who attended as well as the Golden Eagle staff. "We had nice participation today, and I thought it went well," Green said. "There was a lot of give-and-take with the coaches involved. We had Van Chancellor down, along with a couple of coaches who have players in our program.
"The clinic gave us a chance to talk about our philosophy, as well as exchange ideas among the group. We then gave them the opportunity to watch practice, to see how we go through a practice plan. Anytime a group of coaches gets together like this, I think everybody can take something positive away from it, including our staff."
Green also says the first two weeks of preseason practice have been good ones. "Like always, when we, as coaches, get to that two week stage we start looking to see when we play, and we start looking at things we need to get installed," he said. "That's where we are. There are a lot of things we need to cover and squeeze in, but, at the same time, they're things that we've been over, that we feel like we're already pretty good at and that we'll get better at.
"The one big thing we have going for us is that we're still working hard, the guys are still enthusiastic, the chemistry is coming around and the players are really starting to understand what we're trying to do."
The Eagles will work again Sunday afternoon, and then start their third week of practice with an early-morning Monday practice. Green also is scheduled to meet with the media at 10:30 Monday morning at a preseason news conference; and, as of that day, his team will be only a week away from its opener, a 7 p.m., exhibition game against Spirit Express. The regular-season opener is scheduled for Nov. 22, against Alcorn State.
