Imagine waking up around 5 a.m. for a weight training session an hour later, or practice two hours later.
Now, imagine doing that every day while traveling — sometimes across country — to play against some of the nation’s top basketball teams. Oh, by the way, good luck finding the time to keep up with school and study for final exams.
That’s the challenge both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Long Beach State have to tackle.
Amanda Sims, a sophomore transfer and guard on the women’s team, said time management is the key.
“We’re up at like 5 something (in the morning) to get to weights by 6,” said the child development major, who is taking 14 units this semester. “Then we have class all day and then practice. And if we’re traveling, it’s even more hectic.
“But just setting that time aside to get out the books, or get out the laptop, and get to studying is very important for us.”
Junior guard Larry Anderson of the men’s squad said the players spend as much time in mandatory study hall as enjoying the next city.
On a five-day trip to the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam tournament from Nov. 18-22, Anderson said the players were in study hall on four of the nights.
“We’re making sure we get our work done, too, while we’re out there having fun,” he said.
As a result, the student-athletes sometimes have to trade off a few days in paradise for a shorter deadline to turn in schoolwork.
“Some teachers are lenient, so they’ll let us turn it in when we get back,” Anderson said. “More so, the teachers let us know to do it ahead of time. I know I had a project due before we went to the Virgin Islands.”
The days leading up to finals week did not get any easier for the men’s team. LBSU played three road games — at Boise State, Utah State and North Carolina — in a six-day stretch up to the Saturday before finals week.
Head coaches Dan Monson and Jody Wynn are just as involved with their players’ off-court responsibilities.
“We’re very aware of it,” Monson said. “We conduct study halls on the road and make sure [the players] e-mail their teachers.”
Both teams have already had two-week-long absences on the road this season. Wynn said the travel schedule takes into account her team’s classroom duties.
“Academics is first, and foremost,” she said. “We try to miss a minimum in the fall semester when it’s the [nonconference] schedule. Like our trip [for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown in] Hawaii, we went during Thanksgiving break.”
Wynn added that the players receive letters to give their professors at the beginning of the semester, outlining the days they are expected to miss for team travel.
“It’s so they can make sure that they get all the material that they might miss,” she said. “Or take an exam before we leave, or take a proctored exam on the road, or turn in a paper from the road — whatever the case may be.”
Despite the challenge of balancing both duties, Wynn —a student-athlete herself at USC in the mid-’90s — said she doesn’t want her younger players taking a “woe is me” mentality.
“During finals week, our practice schedule is obviously modified,” Wynn said. “We don’t travel at all during finals week, we don’t have a game at all during finals week. If there’s a final exam that somebody needs to take during practice, then we will arrange practice around that final exam.”
The players do have one example to draw from as a success — both on and off the court. Sims’ older sister, Lauren, was a senior and starter for the 49ers last season, as well as a Rhodes Scholar candidate and academic All-American with a 4.0 GPA.
“My sister was a biology major, so her finals were like a make it-or-break it sort of thing,” said Amanda Sims, who added that her toughest exam will be her astronomy final.
There is a bit more to these student-athletes than just pick-and-rolls and zone defenses. But that can be tough to remember, at times — even for some players.
Tipesa Moorer, a junior forward on the women’s team, said that forgetting the first half of the term “student-athlete” has happened before.
“You’re not supposed to say athletics come first, but, yeah, sometimes I do forget I’m a student,” Moorer said candidly. “I’ll be like, ‘OK, I’ve gotta practice.’ And then after practice I’m like, ‘I’ve gotta go to sleep’ — but then I’m like, ‘Wait! I have homework to do!’ So it is a second thought, sometimes.”
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