MBB HOKIES 17-18 | MEDIA GUIDE

In the competitive world of collegiate basketball, players work year round on preparing themselves physically and mentally for the rigors of the season. Crucial to this process is the athletics performance program, which includes strength and conditioning, sports nutrition and sport psychology. Under the direction of David Jackson, the assistant athletics director of strength and conditioning for basketball programs, the Virginia Tech athletics performance program is among the best in the nation. One of the main support centers of Tech basketball is the strength and conditioning program. The hard work put in by the staff and the student- athletes results in huge dividends for the Hokies. During the 2017-18 season, the Hokies benefitted from a complete renovation of the space in the Hahn Hurst Basketball Practice Facility. The renovations allow the strength and conditioning staff to prepare the players better for the season and life. The Tech basketball strength program centers on the principal that every individual is different, and most basketball players are very long (tall, with long arms and legs), which makes training most compound movements very difficult. Individual programs are geared toward getting players more mobility, stability and stronger. This approach helps in the goal of preventing injuries. Also, this approach allows for a more rapid return to competition in the event that a player suffers an injury. Exercises are focused on compound movements and the Olympic lifts, such as the squat, bench press, push press, snatches and cleans. Through the process of getting athletes more mobile, more stable and stronger, they naturally become quicker and more explosive. The men’s basketball team trains in the 4,000-square foot strength and conditioning center in the Hahn Hurst Basketball Practice Center. The redesign of the weight room resulted in six new half racks from Williams Strength, Woodway treadmills, new bumper plates for Olympic lifts and new cable machines. The room allows for a more efficient use of space. Tech also has the use of a 10-by-40-yard sand pit located outdoors, adjacent to the weight room in the Merryman Center. Jackson uses this pit for resistive running drills to improve speed, power and explosiveness in the players. The Hokies also use the practice fields for speed and agility drills and conditioning drills. A T H L E T I C S P E R F O R M A N C E @VT_MBBall @vthokiembb VTMBBALL 86