Had a chance to watch a whole practice with the men's team.

Observations:

Yemi is the leader of this team. Predict he will be first or second team CAA All Defensive team. He's vocal, he's amped up, and he wants to win every ball and every scrimmage. Whatever team he was on, won.

Jordan Talley looks like the best guard on the floor. Aggressive, good ball handler, smart decisions, good shooter and penetration.

Denzel Ingram is a scorer, and likes to take the shot...and he makes them.

CJ looks so much different than last year. Starting to look like an athlete.

Marcus Bryan wasn't impressive.

Freddie, Ponder, Spruill, Ced and Sherwood doo what they do, but look awesome in Keatts system.

Keatts system.

Practice starts with 15 minutes of progressive warm up walking and stretching...no sitting down.

There is very little standing around with lectures. Keatts makes quick corrections, and if you screw up he simply waves the player to the sideline where they run suicides or do push ups. There is no yelling or tirades, but the players respond to every command immediately.

He is very active and is moving around the court to get different views all the time.

Practice is loud, with the players talking and calling out help and pick non-stop.

If you hit the floor, he has "ball boys" who sprint out there and wipe the floor immediately, just like a game.

Full court press, which evolves into a match up zone if the press is broken. A lot of switching involved.

Lot's of movement once we set on offense, looking to drive off picks as much as possible.

His practices are almost always game settings. He'll divide them up into 3 teams, and keep their records. Winning record rests, everyone else runs 45 second suicides.

My overall impression is that Keatts will have this team surprising people all year long. At a minimum, we will be proud of them, as their effort is non-stop and is expected to be non-stop. I believe this will be one of the most in-shape teams in America, and can't wait to see them in action against an opponent.

Yemi and Williams are the only two I can almost assure will start. Talley is really good, but don't know if he'll give the reigns to a Freshman over Ponder. Also not sure if Sherwood or Spruill will start at the 3. Dylan brings extra height and a nice shot, but Spruill brings the power. Not sure which he prefers. After watching practice, here's who I would start.

Talley, Freddie, Sherwood, Ced, Yemi. That's a long, athletic squad that can defend, rebound and get out on the break. Since we are relying on the press for turnovers, I would go with Freddie over Ponder at the 2.


Also, did not see a lot of turnovers when facing the full court press. This should help remove the issue we've had for a LONG time in excessive turnovers. We won't likely see the amount of pressure in games that we face in practice.

Good stuff. Thanks for the insights.

Last week they had a practice and invited a lot of folks to meet Coach Keatts and watch the team go through their paces. When the team started each drill coach would explain the whats and whys of what they were doing . It was impressive. I have seen two practices and the atmosphere during both were (imho) markedly better than what I witnessed during the past two regimes.

likewise,thanks for the update !!!

Very cool stuff. It's about time we get back to our roots; being the team that no one wants to face.

Yes, this is great to hear. And, after watching Talley play in that video I was like...that kid can play! I've been around this game a long time and that tape don't lie my friend. Homeboy is a true PG that can go and has a motor and the frame to go with it.-again from the tape I saw. I haven't seen Yemi, but have heard that he lays it on the line. They've got a chance to compete better now. Just think about the Iowa and Iowa St. debacles last year. Does anyone think that UNCW is just going to take that now? Really? It's one thing to get that butt beat but to lay down and not fight is quite another. No more! This is UNCW hoops and it's time to start fighting hard for everything again. Forget the darn score...play the game the right way and let the darn chips fall.

After saying all that...I do know enough to add that you have to be able to answer great teams on the road with a hoop on the road. That's where they need to dig deep and get something to stop rolls. This will be a work in progress, but I feel really great about the direction of the program...I really do!! Go Hawks!