Photos by Lee Pellegrini
A half-dozen young men in workout gear鈥攌nee braces, high-tops, baggy shorts鈥攃limb the stairs out of Conte Forum鈥檚 Power Gym one November afternoon and make their way down narrow interior hallways until they reach the basketball court in Conte Forum. 鈥淚鈥檓 so nervous!鈥� says Jack Beck 鈥�21, a communication major. He鈥檚 half-joking, because they are here only to practice. And yet a game atmosphere is undeniable, with championship banners hanging from the rafters and the sharp blast of the shot-clock buzzer periodically splitting the air.
The men, all undergraduates, are here to block shots and sink threes against the varsity women鈥檚 basketball team. They鈥檝e watched film of the Eagles鈥� next opponent, Holy Cross, and each has been coached to emulate a particular Crusader. Now, the women鈥檚 head coach, Joanna Bernabei-McNamee, will conduct an intensive three hours of drills and scrimmaging. 鈥淐oach Mac鈥� is in her first year at the Heights, having guided the University of Albany women to a record of 45鈥�20 over two years. She and three assistant coaches (AJ Cohen, Yolanda Griffith, and George Porcha) shepherd the players, who have donned mesh jerseys, into their respective corners of the court; the men wear white, the women wear maroon and gold.
Taylor Soule (foreground, left) looks to get off a shot against Wajdi Ahemed 鈥�21, watched by (from left) assistant coaches Andrew Cohen and George Porcha, Georgia Pineau 鈥�20 (partially obscured), Marnelle Garraud 鈥�22, and Taylor Ortlepp 鈥�20.
鈥淗ere comes 25,鈥� says Cohen, taking hold of Beck by his jersey and pulling him into place like a live chess piece to demonstrate a Holy Cross offensive play in slow motion. At Coach Mac鈥檚 whistle, the court erupts in shouts and sneaker squeaks as the men try to put over the play for real.
And they succeed, passing the ball again and again to a shooting guard who sinks three-pointer after three-pointer, to the women鈥檚 groans. (When the guard bobbles the ball and boots it out of bounds, the women cheer.) At intervals, Coach Mac whistles a stoppage and breaks down what went wrong in the women鈥檚 play, offering praise when warranted, while the men stand in place and wait. Then the drill begins again. Mostly, the action takes place in the half-court, with the women executing plays for a score or working through their defensive plans. In a game known for trash talk, the exchanges at this practice are nearly all business.
Cohen, who followed Coach Mac from Albany, has the assignment of coaching the men. 鈥淕ood job,鈥� he tells one of them during a pause. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e playing just like 22, brother.鈥� Cohen was a practice player himself as an undergraduate, running the court with the women鈥檚 team at the University of Louisville. Other NCAA assistant coaches have gotten their start similarly. Indeed, male practice teams have been common across Division I women鈥檚 basketball for a couple of decades. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck 鈥�97 practiced with the women hoopsters of 涩里番下载 before he went to the National Football League.
The practice squad is recruited from the club and intramural basketball programs on campus鈥斺�漺hich are highly competitive at 涩里番下载,鈥� says assistant athletic director Stephanie Tunnera in an email. There are generally 15 men on the roster, with a core of five or six players who show up regularly. They are all volunteers. Most played competitively in high school. Beck, a point guard, was captain of the varsity boys鈥� team at Saratoga Springs High School in New York. Michael Fredericks 鈥�22 is the son of Kathleen Sweet 鈥�87, who, as a center on the 涩里番下载 team, won the Women鈥檚 Big East Scholar Athlete award her senior year (and now practices law). Some of the men could have played for a Division II or III men鈥檚 basketball program, says Cohen, but they chose 涩里番下载 for its academics and reputation. 鈥淚 thought about doing the D-III route,鈥� says Garrett Ganley 鈥�21, who captained his varsity team in Leesburg, Virginia. 鈥淏ut I really wanted to go to a bigger school, a well-known school.鈥�
As coach Bernabei-McNamee watches, Crowley passes over freshman Kate Klimkiewicz (#24) to Mak at left. Ganley stands ready at right.
The women improve their game by going up against the 鈥渟peed and quickness鈥� of the men, says Coach Mac. And the men 鈥済et to play high-level basketball,鈥� says Cohen, and enjoy some measure of the discipline and the coaching that entails.
鈥淚t鈥檚 cool being within a big-time Division I program,鈥� says Beck. He and Ganley are sitting at a table upstairs in Corcoran Commons a month into the season. Beck cites the energy level at practices and says, 鈥淚鈥檓 still competitive, and I still want that kind of competition.鈥�
The women 鈥渆xpect us to go as hard as we can and try to beat them,鈥� responds Ganley, who is 6鈥�4鈥�. 鈥淚鈥檓 used to being a big dude,鈥� he says, but he is often bumped and outmuscled by 6鈥�3鈥� Emma Guy, an Eagles鈥� starting forward. 鈥淪he always bodies me and gets up a shot.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e always catching elbows,鈥� adds Beck.
Guy 鈥�20 laughs over the phone when she鈥檚 told of this exchange. 鈥淕arrett and I go at it a lot in practice,鈥� she concedes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great having the practice players. They bring a whole new level of intensity than when we鈥檙e just playing against each other. They鈥檙e bigger and stronger, so it鈥檚 just really useful to play against them in preparation for upcoming games.鈥�
Coach Mac has been known to tell a practice player: When a varsity member is barreling by you, let her go. Don鈥檛 step in with a block and risk injuring her. And at times the men do need to cut their strides. At practice Cohen shouts a reminder to one player, 鈥淪peedy, slow yourself down!鈥�
鈥淚f you鈥檙e faster than the woman who鈥檚 guarding you, and you can go by her every time鈥攖hat鈥檚 not making her better,鈥� Beck says. 鈥淢aking them better is helping them work on what they need to get better at.鈥�
According to Cohen that awareness颅鈥斺�漷he understanding that there are no practice-player All-Americans鈥濃�攊s key. 鈥淪elflessness is important, and our group has that.鈥�
The practice squad doesn鈥檛 travel with the team, but at the first home game of the second semester, on January 17, a Thursday, Beck and Ganley are in the stands. The women are taking on Florida State University (FSU), a perennially troublesome opponent, and Beck points out a couple of the Seminoles. In practice, he says, 鈥淚 was number 12, Garrett was number 32.鈥� (These are a 5鈥�9鈥� guard and a 6鈥�3鈥� forward, respectively.) The men had run FSU鈥檚 鈥渓oop鈥� offense, and throughout tonight鈥檚 first quarter the preparation seems to be working; the Eagles鈥� defense keeps FSU to within a few points. Eventually, though, FSU starts to pull away, eliciting groans from the two men and handing 涩里番下载 its fifth loss of the season amid 13 wins. Before college, Beck hadn鈥檛 followed women鈥檚 basketball. But being part of the women鈥檚 hoops program has 鈥渁dded another sense of community here,鈥� he鈥檇 told me earlier. 鈥淲e know all the players, we cheer for them and follow their season.鈥�
鈥淵eah,鈥� Ganley added. 鈥淭here have been times on the weekends when our friends are watching, say, a men鈥檚 Duke-Kentucky game on TV, and we鈥檙e over in the corner watching the 涩里番下载 women鈥檚 game on our laptop. It鈥檚 super fun.鈥�
Patrick L. Kennedy 鈥�99 is a writer in Boston.