University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman loves practice.
Like many coaches, he tries to make the two-hour sessions more strenuous than the games with an emphasis on individual and team improvement.
So it’s bugging him a bit that UTC has taken two of the last three days off, including Tuesday.
“I’m a grinder and I don’t believe in days off,” Shulman half-joked. “I think you have to outwork people.”
But these off days are necessary.
The players need time to refresh their legs and clear their minds heading into the fall semester final-exam week.
“It’s nice coming off wins because you have a very positive mindset, so you don’t mind studying,” Shulman said. “We have heavy exams coming up, and I want them to go in fresh.
“Dr. [Emily] Blackman has done a nice job of organizing our study hall, so they’re going to finish up the semester the right way.”
Redshirt sophomore Dontay Hampton has been through two exam-week breaks. He’s learned that it’s important to balance basketball and books more this week than any other.
“You can’t rest too much and you can’t study too much,” the reserve point guard said. “You have to rest and you have to study, but at the same time you have to get in the gym a little bit too.”
Shulman learned earlier this year, in a painful manner, that sometimes resting is more important than practicing.
The Mocs practiced at 5:30 in the morning on Nov. 26, then flew to Miami and practiced again. Florida International blistered UTC the next evening, 80-59.
“If you saw us at FIU – and thank goodness you didn’t – we were spent,” Shulman told the Times Free Press. “That was totally my fault because we practiced twice.
“Sometimes taking a day off isn’t all bad.”
UTC will go a full week between games between its 67-65 win over Western Carolina last Saturday and hosting Murray State this Saturday at 3 p.m.
“We’ve been on the road a lot and I got a little bit behind in my studies, so it’s time to get my mind right and legs back,” junior Chris Early said. “I will be ready for all my finals.
“It’s a pressure week because we have to buckle down, but with a week between games, Coach might kill us in practice.”
He didn’t Tuesday, an off day.