Hayes, Dawgs getting creative
Georgia basketball strength and conditioning coach Sean Hayes will remind you we’re living in different times.
Like football, Bulldog basketball has greatly been affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with players forced to work from home.
This still holds true today.
Although the NCAA gave the OK for men’s and women’s basketball teams to return to campus on June 8, the SEC has asked its programs to wait a few more weeks. Thus the Bulldogs have had to continue finding ways to stay in shape until they’re finally allowed back.
Fortunately, players are apparently putting the necessary work in.
“Our guys have done a great job at home; they’ve been in great contact with me. We text back and forth every day, and Facetime once a week,” Hayes said during a Zoom interview with reporters. “But it’s going to be a process. It’s going to be brand new for me. I don’t know exactly when we’re going to be back. But I have a plan, we have a structure, and we have a road map.”
Hayes said players have had to get creative.
With some not having access to gyms and weights, they’ve had to come up with different ways to get the necessary work in.
“Everybody tried to be creative. It was actually more of what else can you send me, what else can we do. I had guys Facetime me initially, saying something like, ‘Hey, I’m at a hill, can you text me a workout or hey, I’m at a turf, can you text me a workout,’” Hayes said. “Justin (Kier) sent a text, saying, 'Hey, I’m flipping a tire, what else can I do?' You just had to be creative, and that was the biggest thing.”
Hayes turned to football strength and conditioning coach Scott Sinclair for some tips regarding some of the various programs he was implementing with the Bulldog football team.
“I talked to Scott Sinclair, asking what he sent home to his guys. I talked to guys from around the league, and it was all about imagination and what we had at home to use,” Hayes said. “Scott said it was the same thing with his guys. They filled up water jugs with sand and water; they used laundry detergent. He said some guys packed backpacks with rocks and books and made up workouts every day. That was the thing; that was the biggest challenge.”
Hayes said he also filmed between 35 and 40 videos to send the players so they’d have something different to do every day.
“I wanted to show the guys that I was doing the workouts, too, and if I was doing them at 45, then they could do it, too,” Hayes said.
Apparently, they have.
“It’s all been voluntary; it was all scout’s honor, but that was what was so good about this group,” Hayes said. “Technology is great, and obviously you can monitor things. But the NCAA passed the rule that you could not monitor, so we couldn’t have an Apple (watch) where they could show they were doing workouts.”
Hayes made sure players had plenty to keep them occupied.
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, workouts focusing on lifting, mobility, and conditioning were sent, with Tuesdays and Thursdays set aside for PowerPoints complete with basketball courts, sand pit diagrams and more.
“There was a lot of communication,” Hayes said. “Ty Fagan, Toumani Camara, and those older guys like Sahvir Wheeler—they took a great big role in keeping everybody accountable. and they did a great job.”
Once players do return, changes will obviously still be in store.
Like football, players will be subjected to medical screening, including COVID-19 tests, along with complete physicals.
Social distancing will also be enforced. Coaches and staff will all wear masks and gloves.
“I’ve never coached with a mask and gloves before,” Hayes said. “It’s definitely going to be a different challenge, different stresses than what they’ve been going through. It’s something none of us have experienced as a whole, but we’ll do some measurements and testing to find out where are guys are at.”
