It wasn’t exactly Death Valley, but the U. New Mexico men’s basketball team jaunted through the dunes of doom on June 26.
Led by strength and conditioning coach Mark Paulsen, the Lobos spent Saturday scaling the hills near the Hard Rock Hotel Albuquerque and taking part in a voluntary workout.
Paulsen, who is originally from northern Minnesota and has been working with Lobo athletics for more than 20 years, said the workouts are strenuous for a reason.
“It’s a layering effect,” Paulsen said. “We’re not out here today to try and set the world on fire, but just chip away. If we can put in really good workouts in June and July, the foundation is set.”
Lobo guard Phillip McDonald said Saturday’s workout was the toughest he’s been through.
“He’s really pushing us mentally and physically, and it transitions over to the court, too,” McDonald said, trying to catch his breath.
The hill runs will now become a part of the Lobos’ summer workout regimen, Paulsen said, because the hills provide the team an opportunity to work on agility and endurance.
He had the team run 20-yard shuttles at the bottom of the hill and had the players run, walk and climb to the top of the roughly half-mile-long hill twice.
“You can’t appreciate it as much when your players conquer the hill, unless you have accomplished it yourself,” Paulsen said.
UCLA transfer Drew Gordon said the Californian hills aren’t quite as steep as the ones he ascended on Saturday.
“It’s a lovely way to wake up on a Saturday morning,” Gordon said. “It shows that our team is together. Everybody acts as one unit, and that’s the big thing about the hills — you see who is family and who is not.”
Paulsen said he was particularly pleased with the freshmen’s work ethic.
“I’ve been around a lot of freshmen in my lifetime, and these guys have got the talent, work ethic and the intelligence,” Paulsen said. “That is impressive to me, so I think the future looks pretty bright for Lobo basketball.”
More than anything, Paulsen said, being tough on, not only the freshmen, but the entire team, prepares players to fill high-pressure roles that have been vacated by former players.
“You lose a player like Roman (Martinez) and what he brought to the table, you better toughen up collectively,” Paulsen said. “We’re not terribly fit right now, nor should we be. It’s early in the year right now. Today, I found out we have to toughen up and we’re OK. There were no tragedies out here today, but we found out where we need to go.”