A trio of Oglethorpe women’s basketball players are joining the Insider contingent.

This season we have noticed that the amounts of charges called have significantly increased since last season. We find ourselves asking each other why is this happening? Charges used be to something a player would take pride in, seeing as there would be only a few charges called every few games. Now there are charges being called, at least for our games, every game, multiple times a game. This also makes us ask ourselves is this trend the same for men’s games? We think not! Why is it that when a girl makes an athletic move to the basket she must be out of control, yet men can do it all the time? If refs think this, then an out of position player can take a charge, or flop, which can change the whole momentum of the game. NEWS FLASH: GIRLS CAN MAKE ATHLETIC MOVES TO THE BASKET TOO! A charge used to get the bench on their feet and excited. Now a charge is just another part of the game, nothing extraordinary. A charge should be called if the player is clearly out of control and contact is made with the defensive player. Many of the charges that have been called have had no or barely any contact. The defensive player flops without even being touched. We would not be mistaken to say that 85% of the charges that have been called in our 8 games of play this year have been flops. This is just something we think should be addressed. We are not in high school anymore our games should be called this way, contact is inevitable. Sorry this is all for now. We must go to practice and practice flopping abilities seeing as that is the popular thing to do these days. Until next time, try not to miss our genius insight of the game too much!

The first part of the season sure has gone by fast.  It is hard to believe that I am more than a half way done with my college career.  This past semester has been filled with a lot of highs, a few lows, and a lot of twists and turns. 

This week I will briefly touch on some things that many people might not realize happens in D3 basketball.  Specifically, I will talk about our preseason commitment to the sport and some of the things we do as a program to get ready before we step on the court with coaches on October 15^th.      

Most students at MIT arrive on campus a good week and a half before classes start.  We move in, help with freshman orientation, and some even participate in community service or leadership development programs. 

The end of summer is probably my favorite time of the year.  Aside from getting back together with my closest friends, there is a solid week in which I basically have no obligations.  With school, basketball, and summer internships it can be fairly hard to find some alone time to do what you please during the year so getting some time is amazing.  This year
Boston was great.  The city was lively and I had one focus in mind – get in the gym. 

I hope that every program is able to take advantage of the machine called “The Gun”.  This machine is quite a contraption that has nets to catch rebounds and an electrical throwing arm to pass to the shooter.  With this machine I was able to rattle off about 1,000-1,500 jumpers a day in about three or four hours depending on the intensity or focus of the workout. 

During these sessions I felt that I was subtly redefining myself as an individual.  I’m sure this feeling is not uncommon among athletes from all sports.  I think the biggest thing that helped me improve as a player during these workouts was the “visualization”. 

We are lucky enough to have a coach on our staff that has PhD in Sports Psychology.  Coach Oliver Eslinger (Clark ’97) talks a lot about the importance of visualizing everything we do.  Making a move as if a defender is there, imagining the footwork of a move before practicing it, and visualizing a tight release on your jumper are a few examples of the countless techniques that can be utilized.

Although a lot of players were in the gym anyway, the first day of classes signified the start of official captain’s practice.  Captain’s practice essentially takes the place of regular practice except we focus on playing, drills, and lifting.  This year we were lucky enough to have Coach Akin Aina (MIT ’96) as our Strength & Conditioning coach. 

We committed to 5 days of team plus 1 extra day of individual workout time.  It seems like 6 days a week is a lot out of season, but this type of commitment is critical in order to compete consistently at a high level.  Coach Akin developed a great strength program for us and it definitely helped us get through the tough preseason workouts.

Two reasons that I personally like the high intensity off-season workout schedule is (1) it simulates the intensity of season and (2) it separates the players that are serious about ball from the ones who think that they are serious about ball.

For conditioning we run 3 mile “bridge-loops” (run around the
Charles River crossing bridges along the way), swim, and on-court running.  Our conditioning is then tested the week before season begins.  I still claim that this test is the hardest mental and physical exertion that I have ever done for athletics.  We are required to run Harvard Stadium.  This stadium looks like a coliseum and we have to run up and down every stair in the whole stadium in under 30 minutes. 

Every year we talk it up to the freshman about how hard it is and every freshman says that the stadium is much harder than they had imagined.  I can honestly say that I will never run that Harvard Stadium after I graduate from school.

After the stadium, we rest up and fine tune our skills to get ready for the first day of practice on October 15^th. 

We, as D3 players, really do commit to our sport year around.  It takes an enormous amount of effort but I believe that I speak for most when I say that it is more than worth it.  We find our best friends, learn how to time manage, push ourselves in new ways, meet great people from around the nation and world, and – hopefully – make a difference in others’ lives as well.

Off topic, I would like to thank the training staff at
Amherst for their efforts and help after an injury last week.  I am always amazed with how much competitors care about the welfare of opponents.  It is one of the reasons that I love this sport and the D3 community so much.  Thanks, good luck to all of those that have finals, and safe travels.

Jimmy Bartolotta

*In my next piece, I plan to recap the games from the whole first part of the season.

I want to start out by sending my best wishes to WashU and Sean Wallis. Sean is a tremendous athlete and person and D3 basketball is surely not the same without him. However, I know that MIT and the rest of the nation expect success for WashU and a speedy recovery for Sean.

I would also like to thank Pat Coleman for getting me involved with the Insider Team. D3hoops.com is a great site with great coverage of the basketball that we all love.

I am from Littleton, CO so coming to the east coast was somewhat of a weather and culture shock for me. In MIT talk, I’m majoring in Course 15 and Course 8. At our school all classes and majors are given a number like 18.01 (Calculus). The students, faculty, and even coaches communicate with these numbers rather than the name of the class or major. Thus, when I say that I am a Course 15 and a Course 8 major it means that I am majoring in Business Management and Physics.

Here at MIT, basketball and academics create a rather interesting dynamic. First and foremost, recruiting is one of the big issues that our coaching staff has to deal with. Unfortunately (from my perspective as an athlete) our school does not grant any slots or point systems that help kids get admitted. The application process is essentially the exact same for athletes as it is for non-athletes which ultimately makes recruiting a difficult process.

Second, overcoming the stereotypes of an MIT athlete also proves to be difficult. I was no different from many of the prospects that set foot on our campus. I thought, “How terrible, nerdy, and socially inept is this team going to be?” Initially this was more of a rhetorical question but to my pleasant surprise, the basketball team and a good portion of the school transcends that stereotype.

I have come to learn that at most D3 programs, recruits often believe that the level of play in D3 is not very competitive. I would adamantly argue that the opposite is true. Once you play against the shooters in the NESCAC or the defense in the NEWMAC you realize the extraordinary talent at this level. We play for the love of the game, the competition, and the relationships that we develop with coaches/teammates/opponents. Recruiting simply becomes a matter of how well you can express and display these great attributes to a prospect.

Lastly, adjusting to the MIT rigor is one of the hardest things to do as a student-athlete. MIT is a place that encourages communication and group efforts. I was blessed enough to meet three amazing teammates and friends at the beginning of my college career. Bradley Gampel (Miami, FL), Brandon Suarez (Tampa, FL), and Bill Johnson (
Everett, WA) quickly became like brothers on and off the court. We have had countless nights in which we have worked on Problem Sets until the sun comes up. Without that group support, school can be unbelievably overwhelming.

As you can imagine, scheduling becomes a major issue as well. At MIT it is said that a student can choose two of the four S’s and excel at them or choose three of the four and perform at an average level. Almost all students would agree that it is basically impossible to do all four of the categories. The “S” categories are Sleep, School, Social, and Sports.

I truly believe that our team is committed to including Sports as a major priority and that this attitude will be reflected by our success on the basketball court this season. I am very excited to grow and develop as the year progresses. I expect this will be a very special year for our program.

Our season has started off on a decent note. Looking forward, we have a game on Tuesday against a very solid and undefeated Emerson team. After the game I’ll be back on this column to recap the first part of the season for our team, the recent close game with #1
Amherst, and touch on some of the topics floating around the D3 basketball community.

Take care and good luck!

-Jimmy Bartolotta