Midnight Practice
Albion College’s men’s basketball team began their season on Tuesday, Oct. 14 with a midnight practice.
“The first day of practice is like Christmas Eve. They’re really excited and ready to go,” said Jody May, the head men’s basketball coach.“They were so excited they probably weren’t going to sleep anyway so why not.”
May explained that a midnight practice was easy since the season start date ended up being fall break. Entering midnight practice excited and ready, the men’s basketball team was full of energy to begin the season.
“I think they were feeding on the energy of last season and excited for the next season,” said Whitney Williams, an athletic trainer for Albion sports.
With another practice on Tuesday afternoon following the midnight practice, the team is already putting in the hours to keep their spot as a major competitor in the league. After his team won the last MIAA tournament, May is still keeping players motivated for the upcoming season.
“Doesn’t matter. Get Better,” said May. “It doesn’t matter what happened last year. We [have] to get better today. It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. We still need to get better.”
Last year, the team graduated six seniors who played an important role in the team dynamic.
“The leadership and experience will be missed,” said May. “Each year is a challenge and it starts over each year. It’s hard to predict. It’s a competitive year. We can’t worry about what everyone else is doing we need to focus on what our team is doing on a day to day basis.”
Midnight Madness
This year, Albion College Men’s basketball has taken its own spin on Midnight Madness by creating the new Briton Madness to start off their season, something May explained could potentially become an annual event.
In past years, the team hosted a scrimmage game for team parents on the weekend, but due to conflict with the Albion vs. Michigan State game, they had to reschedule. Since the scrimmage game is now on a weeknight, May thought that they should open it up to students and let the students know that the season actually starts in November.
“Most people don’t know that we’ve been in season for a couple of months when we come back from winter break,” said May.
On Thursday, Oct. 24, the festivities will begin followed by a scrimmage in Kresge Gym at 7:30 p.m. At half-time, the women’s team will be putting on a three-point contest where there will be some Albion gear giveaways.
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