Will Self’s Boot Camp help the 2020-21 KU team? Just ask the 2008 national champions
The 2008 college basketball season ended with Kansas’ players hoisting the NCAA championship trophy in San Antonio, Texas.
It started like every other season in the 18-year Bill Self era — with a two-week, early-morning Boot Camp conditioning program in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I think it helps every year, but that year it was an interesting Boot Camp. A few guys struggled to get through it. Obviously that brought us together,” said former KU player Jeremy Case.
A member of the 2007-08 title team, the combo guard from McAlester, Oklahoma has worked the past five years as video coordinator on Self’s KU coaching staff. As he has the past four seasons, Case will roll out of bed around 5 a.m., Monday and be in KU’s practice facility for the 6 a.m. start of yet another Boot Camp.
“Heck no,” Case said with a laugh asked if he’d be joining KU’s 15 players for sprints, defensive slides and backboard touches, basically non-stop movement for an hour. “I am in good shape. I work out. I don’t want to run twenty 22s (baseline to baseline twice in less than 22 seconds with a 22 second break in between runs),” he added.
He need not worry. As a staff member he’ll be merely supporting the players during the proceedings.
He still remembers his final Boot Camp as a KU player in September of 2007.
“It was one of the last days. We were running our sprints. We’ve got 30 suicides to run. We’re at 12 and 13 and Darrell Arthur took off his shirt. Then his shorts. He was running in his tights. He felt lighter and faster — whatever can help you get through it,” Case said.
“We teased him a little bit. We said, ‘You were basically running naked,’’’ Case added of needling Arthur, who went on to play 10 seasons in the NBA.
Russell Robinson, KU’ starting point guard on the 2008 title squad, recalls watching Arthur shed his clothing at Boot Camp.
“I remember him becoming more aerodynamic. It worked,” Robinson said. “Once he took off his clothes, had no shirt on, just the tights, he ran faster. It’s all about physical and mental endurance. That helped him get through.”
“He was down to his skivvies,” noted KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend. “Darrell … I think he was in phenomenal shape (after Boot Camp),” Townsend added.
Robinson says a walk-on led the way during Boot Camp 2007-08.
“I think everybody was well-conditioned, but I remember Tyrel Reed was just a freshman and probably performed the best. We (veterans) stepped up because of him. We said, ‘We’re not going to let a freshman outdo us. We’ve got to step it up.’
“I think Darnell probably benefited the most from it,” Robinson added of power forward Darnell Jackson, who carried 250 pounds on a 6-9 frame.
One Jayhawk from the title team who always fared well in Boot Camp besides Reed was …
“Brandon,” Case said of Brandon Rush, a fluid 6-6 wing who played nine years in the NBA.
“That dude … I never saw him get tired. In our time outs he never sat down. I don’t know if he wasn’t tired or if it was a mental thing. He was that kind of athlete,” Case added.
Mario Chalmers, who hit the three-pointer to force overtime in the title game versus Memphis was also a finely-tuned athlete, Case said.
“Once he tried to go real fast, he could get up and go,” Case said of Chalmers. “That was an athletic team. Sherron (Collins) was fast in short spurts. He was a machine. He was a bad boy. He was the most talented dude on that team in my opinion — all around handles, shooting, quickness, speed, athleticism, overall God-given talent.
“Russell was not a blow-you-away athlete, but he was always in great shape,” Case continued of Robinson, a 10-year veteran of overseas basketball who is looking for a team to play for this season after sitting out last year.
Big man Sasha Kaun could run all day it seems.
“Sasha runs really well. If he got tired you couldn’t tell,” Robinson said.
Of his own performance, Robinson said: “I was definitely faster than what people thought. I knew the tricks. I had Wayne Simien to learn from. I watched him jump the rope (part of daily Boot Camp drills) and knew how not to mess up.
“The first Boot Camp … I sort of breezed through it. It was easy for me because I came from a high school running background,” New York Rice High graduate Robinson added. “After that first one ... all the other ones, I got through it.”
Regarding his own effort, Case said: “I was OK. I know I made all my times.”
Robinson said he and his 2008 title team teammates understood the value of Boot Camp.
“It’s the last time you have got to think about any cardio,” Robinson said. “That and after Christmas break. It’s a good thing to be done with cardio (because) practice is hard.”
Case said Boot Camp drills are a vital preseason exercise.
“It’s a tradition at KU,” Case said. “Obviously if you had a choice you’d say, ‘No we don’t want it.’ At the end of the day it’s a badge of honor, moreso a pride thing.”
Both players said the KU newcomers are in for a shock on Monday morning. First-time Boot Camp participants will be Bryce Thompson, Gethro Muscadin, Tyon Grant-Foster, Latrell Jossell and Dajuan Harris.
Mitch Lightfoot, who redshirted last season, will be taking part in his fifth Boot Camp. Marcus Garrett, Chris Teahan and Silvio De Sousa will be participating in No. 4.
“Once you get here, it’s part of it, part of KU and our team,” Case said. “It’s one of those things like an initiation thing. You’ve not done anything until you’ve done Boot Camp.”
Asked to give advice to the newcomers, Robinson said: “I would say go out there and earn respect of your teammates. It’s the first impression you are able to give to your new teammates and coaches. This is one of the easiest ways to get in good with the coaches.”
Boot Camp will run Monday through Friday, then after the weekend off, continue Monday through Friday the following week. The official start of practice this year is Oct. 14.
Assistant coach Townsend said he’d be pleased if this year’s team fared as well at Boot Camp as the ’08 squad.
“They definitely did it. I think it helped like every year it helps,” Townsend said. “It gives them mental toughness, a feeling, ‘We did something hard together.’ It’s great as far as team unity. Most importantly, it gets them in unbelievable condition. As much as coach emphasizes defense in those morning workouts — they are all defensive drills — I think we were one of the better teams in the country that year. Surely Boot Camp’s a part of the reason.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Will Self’s Boot Camp help the 2020-21 KU team? Just ask the 2008 national champions."
