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October is a beautiful month when basketballs are bouncing across the country as universities from coast to coast gear up for the upcoming college basketball season. 

This is the time where coaches try to implement their system and improve upon the previous season’s weaknesses or change a culture if it’s a new coaching situation.  Seniors run a fine line of anxiety because it’s their last go around and occasionally getting bored with practice because it’s old hat to them.  Incoming recruits are trying to make sense of it all as a ton of information is bombarded upon them both on the court and off. They are often times overwhelmed by the speed and physicality of the game, as well as the amount of information to be retained at the collegiate level.

With all of this going on teams are setting different goals and expectations for their season, but the one thing that you can surely count on is the October Practice Grind.  This is the time of the year when your guys are tired of beating up on each other everyday and are biting at the bit to compete against a different opponent.  Players know everyone’s strength and weaknesses on their team and have found each little advantage to succeed in the practice drills and competitions. Quite frankly you get tired of seeing the same faces across from you day in and day out.  It’s the time when you want to test what you have learned and how far you have come together as a group. You want to lace up your shoes and go to battle on the floor against another team who is trying to stake their claim for greatness this year as well.

With the official tip off to the college basketball season rapidly approaching, I bet a lot of teams have already reached their October Practice Grind, but if not it is soon to come!