The Arizona Swish 2010 and GSB teams opened spring training Sunday night with a private practice session at ASU’s Student Recreation Center. There are new faces, but the vision remains the same: DO WORK! The team objectives are very simple and also never change; Play hard. Play smart. Play together. Have fun. This approach promotes maximum effort from all members of the team, and as a result, they play up to their potential.

     Strickling led conditioning and defensive drills for the majority of the evening, taking time to remind the players that college coaches will choose to attend the Arizona Swish games because they know that is where they will be able to get the “…gun powder and raw meat…” At the end of the workout, the teams met at half court and were again led by their coach, only this time it was prayer and not drills. He encourages his players to devote themselves to God, family, school, and basketball. Everything else must come after these. He feels those with a strong spiritual conviction are better able to meet life’s challenges than those without one. Athletes who are loyal and devoted to their families are more capable of becoming loyal and devoted members of the team.  The willingness to work hard on academics makes it more likely that they will work hard toward becoming a better basketball player and helping the team. A strong commitment to basketball is a necessity. Under the tutelage of the Team GSB coaching staff, players demonstrate these priorities and are far superior to those with talent who do not have such leadership or objectives.

The young coaches firmly believe in “squeezing” their players until they conquer the place that they wouldn’t allow themselves to go, well beyond their comfort zone. This develops a hard work ethic and a winning attitude and tradition. “It ain’t for everybody,” Strickling can be heard echoing during practice, referring to the high standards and expectations in each drill. The numerous full court and 17’s sprints, Sparq drills, full court tip drills, close out drills, defensive slides,  one-on-one drills, and continuous full court offensive three-on-three drills were visibly exhausting, but the players ran them all at full speed, encouraging each other, and giving everything they had every second out on the basketball court. It was apparent that their vision and focus are clear. They come to DO WORK! Tradition never rebuilds. It reloads.

Sophomores;  5-10 Simone Westbrook (17.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 4.0 spg) - Desert Vista, honorable mention 5A All-State, honorable mention All-Tribune and 6-3 JeZhe Newton (10.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.2 blk) – Chandler, honorable mention 5A All-State, honorable mention All-Tribune and juniors;  5A2 State Champion 5-8 Syerra Davis (13.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.8 stl, 2.1 apg) – Tolleson, honorable mention 5A All-State, 6-2 Raven Anderson (Chandler) and 6-5 Alex Coleman (Chandler) join juniors;  4A State Champion 5-11 Lexi Kresl (27.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.0 apg, 5.9 spg) – Shadow Mountain, 1^st Team All-Arizona , 1^st Team 4A-All-State and  5-6 Monique Abbs (18.2 ppg, 2.4 apg) – Moon Valley, 2^nd Team 4A All-State and freshmen 5-6 Sydney Wiese (10.5 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.8 spg, 62

3fgm) – Pinnacle, honorable mention 5A All-State, 6-0 Katie Werner (Xavier), and Britta Nordstrom (Pinnacle). Due to a recruiting trip, Coleman was the only GSB team member who missed the high energy workout due to a recruitment visit this past weekend. All of the young Team GSB players have received interest from Division 1 colleges and many have been received offers from elite Division 1 college programs.