You will begin in October and end in February; this team will become your family and closest friends; you will spend more time with them than anyone else; there will be thirteen players and three coaches; there will be two lower level teams and a whole school looking up to you; you must make good choices; lead by example; go to practice Monday through Saturday for two to three hours; two-hour practices will be considered short; 6 A.M. practices will become your favorite; you will love showering in the school showers and will often shower there more than in your own home; Sunday is your day off use it wisely; every practice is mandatory; but what if I have a doctor’s appointment?; no excuses are acceptable; there will be two to three games per week and six to seven tournaments through out the season; Thanksgiving and Christmas you will have off but you will be in the gym the day before and the day after; your schedule will consist of eating, sleeping, and playing basketball; you have to believe that you can beat every opponent that you face; you will have a role on the team which will be your responsibility to fill; your role will be different from everyone else’s; everyone is important whether you are a starter or the last person off the bench; if you don’t give hundred percent effort you will never achieve greatness; you must put the team before yourself; every practice and every game you must be completely focused; everyday will be a competition; who will start in the next game?; you will learn nine offenses which you must be able to run perfectly to a tee; running the fast break will become second nature to you; defense will be your best friend; press will give you joy; stay low, hold your follow through, finish everything, good passes and stay low; box out; if you don’t box out you will be out scored; every possession matters and breaks are not allowed; you must love to run; If you don’t stay low you will get beat; set your goals as high as possible, never give up; push yourself; never cut corners for you will be bringing your whole team down; if everyone doesn’t finish this in one minute you will go again, faster, faster, faster catch her; one, two, three go!; conditioning is a privilege and something you should love; to come in first will be a struggle; to come in last will be defeat; you will live for the moments when your heart is racing and you are extremely out of breath; if we don’t improve we will run the difference; a minute will never feel so long; ladders will be considered easy; the words, “get low” will have a whole knew meaning to you; we may not be the best team skill wise but we will be the hardest working; but why do you do all this?; In the end you will love every minute of this; you will be apart of something so special and unlike anything you will ever be apart of again; when March roles around you will miss those three-hour practices, hour-long bus rides, and ten in ones.