Spiders Conduct First Full-Team Workout of 2020-21

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -- Seven weeks after players returned to campus, the Spiders men's basketball team held its first full-team workout of the 2020-21 season Wednesday at the Robins Center. While COVID-19 restrictions have forced the Spiders to spend most of their time focusing on strength and conditioning and working out in small groups since arriving in Richmond in July, Wednesday's workout included the entire team and was closer to an in-season practice than a small group session. The 80-minute program included a rigorous warmup, team defense and team offense periods, and four-on-four games that provided the best glance to date at what this season's Spiders might look like.

"I thought it went really well," said coach Chris Mooney. "I think we've been here [on campus] long enough that there isn't any rust or anything like that. Obviously there's a lot of excitement and enthusiasm with everybody here. One person's enthusiasm complements the next guy and energizes everybody else so it was great to be out here with everybody."

"To have all the freshmen here and all the guys in one area was really good and made it really competitive," said senior guard Jacob Gilyard, who guided his team to a win in one of the two games of four-on-four. "I like what I'm seeing out of the team, especially after one workout."

Mooney said that in addition to stressing that the session was competitive, the staff also wanted to make sure that the team's freshmen had a chance to be exposed to what parts of an in-season practice are like.

"It wasn't as confusing as I expected," said freshman forward Andre Weir. "[The freshmen] definitely weren't perfect and made some mistakes but we're looking forward to having a chance to get better at it tomorrow."

"My role is to be a veteran. A leader," said Gilyard when asked how he's trying to help the freshmen class get acclimated. "It's to help them out with everything they're going through, not just on the basketball court but off the court. Obviously freshmen are going to go through slumps so I'm just here to let them know that I'm here for them so that when [the seniors] leave they're ready to take the ropes next."

The Spiders will work out in small groups on Thursday followed by another full-team workout Friday afternoon.

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Jacob Gilyard

Andre Weir

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