Column: Put through the paces with UNI basketball

CEDAR FALLS — It's not breaking news to tell you Division I basketball players are fast. And tall. And skilled.

It's also not breaking news to tell you newspaper reporters are not fast. Or tall. Or skilled.

We watch these players across the country glide up and down the floor of various arenas in front of rabid fans and we criticize them for not being fast, tall or skilled enough. We break down everything they do and analyze what they can do better — all from the comfort of a press row seat or couch at home. Yes, that has value, and yes, when comparing them to others they compete against, it's often fair criticism. They chose to further their athletic careers, after all.

But what it takes to be a Division I athlete is lost on a lot of people. Many of us were once athletes (or attempted to be) in high school, and sometimes play pickup hoops at the local YMCA or a park in town. We think we can understand what we see because it (sort of) resembles what we do at the gym.

The talent level it takes to be a Division I athlete is easy to comprehend. At least I thought it was, after four years of playing (see: being on the team, but watching) at Sioux Central High School in Sioux Rapids.

I wanted to find out exactly what the coaches were looking for. Whether in a recruit or a walk-on, I wanted to know what college coaches broke down and analyzed before accepting a player onto their team. Northern Iowa men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson was kind enough to bring me into a Panther practice to give me that glimpse.

Put me through the paces, I said. Run me through the drills, coach me up and then evaluate me afterward. Shoe on the other foot, and all that.

More than anything (well, apart from me being tremendously out of shape), I discovered exactly how easy it is to take for granted how hard and how often these young men work to stay in shape, and how effortless they make it look. Jacobson has a few key things he's looking for when putting a player through those drills to see if he can hang. He wants three-tool players.

'It's important for us to stick to our model,' Jacobson said. 'Because in a lot of ways, if you've got guys that the majority of them can handle the ball, shoot the ball and pass the ball, then we can adjust them a little bit and still do a lot of the things we like to do and have had success with.'

I went through warmups and stretches by new strength and conditioning coach Stephen Vassalotti after shooting around with the likes of Matt Bohannon, Wes Washpun, Klint Carlson and Aarias Austin. It's a little more than intimidating when you're standing next to Bohannon at the 3-point arc, clanging shot after shot off the rim while he's laughing so hard he has to take a second before draining one of his own.

Assistant coaches Erik Crawford, P.J. Hogan and Kyle Green ran us through the typical drills to get things rolling.

Three-man weave, down and back — make the layup (or dunk, if you're Washpun) on one end, then jump-stop and pass on the other to a cutting (or in my case, waiting) teammate. Then the zigzag drill, where one player defends and the other dribbles side to side up the court, then vice versa on the way back. After that, break into position groups — big men with Green on one end, guards with Crawford and Hogan on the other end.

I'm not sure of the exact moment the feeling of near-complete exhaustion came over me, but it was some time after my only bright spot of practice. I hit a 3-pointer from the left corner that didn't touch the rim. I even got praise from all the coaches, and slaps on the back from the players.

The slaps were on my back, because not long after the shot, I was doubled over, hands on my knees, trying very hard not to get sick all over the WRC gym floor. I needed to be in shape; I wasn't. I needed to be quick; I wasn't. I needed to be precise with passes and actions; I wasn't. I needed court awareness I didn't have.

I'm not just certain: I know that's not what Jacobson is looking for in a player — mostly because he told me. And so did the players. But I also know because the skill and conditioning I didn't (and don't) have are vital for a player to even be welcome on the Northern Iowa men's basketball team.

'The things that we work hard to evaluate and get a handle on is what they've done and how they approach their academics, what they've done and how they approach being a teammate,' Jacobson said, 'what kind of work ethic we've been able to see and evaluate, and then finding out what other people — coaches, people at the school — their thoughts about those things.'

Ultimately the day was about perspective. The coaches and players had a good time watching me try, and if there was anything I did that was good enough for Jacobson and Co., it was effort.

UNI holds walk-on tryouts every year. Many times those tryouts don't yield players for the team — preferred walk-ons have been recruited and already on the team (like Max Martino).

So in the future, if you think you can hang and want to give it a shot, make sure you take those three tools into practice. Maybe watch the video above over again, to find out what to do — and what not to do. If nothing else, you'll learn the standard by which players are judged and the level to which you'll need to play.

I certainly did. And I know — now more than ever — I belong behind a computer.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com