CHATHAM — The Hargrave Military Academy postgraduate basketball team worked out for several NCAA coaches and scouts Monday afternoon on campus.
Michigan head coach John Beilein, Marshall head coach Tom Herrion, Richmond associate head coach Jamal Brunt and George Mason assistant coach Roland Houston were among the coaches present during the first day that coaches could come see the 2013-14 Tigers work out as a team.
“I thought that they did extremely well, and like any first day, they got really tired because they were so excited,” Hargrave coach A.W. Hamilton said. “I thought that they did extremely well. They’ve worked very, very hard the first couple weeks they’ve been here, and we haven’t had any problems, and it’s been smooth sailing so far, so I was really proud of them today.”
The Tigers started the session with shooting and ballhandling drills where each player had to make a variety of shots after going by assistant coach Mike Allen, including jump shots off the dribble going both left and right, as well as attacking the hoop for a layup or dunk. Once the players got their own rebounds, they had to dribble the ball and make a certain move past assistant coach Lee Martin, who had a chair set up that the players had to work around as well. After going from the right, left and middle of the court, the Tigers split up into their positions, with guards at one end working on shooting from mid-range and closer and big men at the other end working on moves from the blocks and elbows.
“We did real well coming in and some of us banged up, but we stuck through it, went hard,” former George Washington standout and current Tiger Ahmad Thomas said.
Guard Justin Jordan, Michael Jordan’s nephew out of Davidson, N.C., thought the Tigers had great energy through the workout.
“I think we did really well,” Justin said. “I know all the guys were really excited.”
Hargrave also held an intra-squad scrimmage for those watching.
“It’s their first time seeing us together, so I hope they liked it,” Hargrave guard/forward Donte Grantham, of Martinsburg, W.Va., said.
Both Justin and Hamilton said that although the players may have been nervous with national runner-up Michigan and a well-known ACC program like Clemson on campus, once they got to playing basketball, the nerves disappeared.
Brunt said that the coaches and scouts usually have a good idea ahead of time who will be suiting up for programs like Hargrave.
“You kind of hear about what kids are possibly going into the program in the summertime,” Brunt said. “Those are the kids that you’ll maybe evaluate a lot in the July evaluation period, and then you want to follow up and get a chance to check them out in a little bit more structured setting down here at Hargrave.”
Herrion and Brunt both liked how Hamilton ran the program, citing that they got a good feel for the players’ skills.
“You do a lot of skillwork early, you get a chance to see their individual talents,” Herrion said. “Then they play, but they play organized, and that’s rare at this time of the year. All of us coaches are going to walk in and out of gyms throughout the next couple of weeks across the country, and I guarantee there won’t be anywhere that’s more organized or has better structure than this program does.”
The Hargrave players were spirited throughout the workout and encouraging each other often. Hamilton said the camaraderie that his squad showed reflects what they have done since the student-athletes arrived on campus for their orientations.
“We brought them all in in the summer, we’ve been doing a lot of team-building stuff since they’ve been here,” Hamilton said. “We had Founders’ Day today, which is another team-building stuff within the corps of cadets, so everything kind of ties in hand-in-hand and then it shows when we get on the court because right now we’ve got a lot of great chemistry already.”
Justin thinks it is important to show the colleges that come in that the team is united.
“We’ve got a lot of good players; Obviously, we need to all be on the same page,” Justin said. “And I think if we do that, we can beat anyone.”
Houston values players who can make individual sacrifices for the good of their team and said from the small amount he watched the Tigers, he doesn’t expect them to have issues with selfishness.
“You want guys that want to win, and they put their personal issues aside for the team and realize that if you win, everybody gets a piece of the pie,” Houston said. “That’s hard for young people to grasp normally.”
Herrion credited Hamilton for the way the Hargrave program is set up.
“Disciplined,” Herrion said. “Clearly there’s a high level of talent. That’s a tribute to the really good school that this is and the program that A.W.’s running. I’ve been down here many, many, many times. I used to be an assistant at the University of Virginia back a while ago, and so they’ve got just great tradition here. These kids are here for a reason, and it’s a terrific opportunity for them.”
More schools are expected to take a closer look at the Tigers in the coming weeks.
