STARKVILLE — David Deets has spent several years training college athletes, but he is no stranger to high school athletes.
The new Mississippi State Director of Basketball Performance — strength and conditioning coach — spent the last year in Oklahoma as the director of rehab and strength and conditioning for the Tuttle Public School district.
His experience with high school athletes and college athletes gives him a good balance to help the Bulldogs right away. Three freshmen – Malik Newman, Quinndary Weatherspoon, and Aric Holman – are already on campus and going through practices and workouts with the Bulldogs.
All three said the weight room was the biggest obstacle of their first day back in June. All three said the weight room was a second thought while playing high school basketball.
“It was a struggle,” said Holman who decided to sign with MSU in May after taking a weekend visit to Starkville.
Deets saw what high school athletes went through and what their tendencies were during this last year. His goal is take the freshmen out of their comfort zone early on and see how they respond.
“When they get uncomfortable, they want to kind of back off,” said Deets who also worked with teams at Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Northwestern State, and Texas Christian. “Getting them to work through that and getting them outside their comfort zone and them being able to come back and battle through that, that’s a big process.”
All three Bulldog freshmen were highly sought after recruits in high school, with Newman being a five-star guard, Weatherspoon a four-star guard and Holman a four-star power forward. They didn’t need the weight room in high school. They just relied on their athleticism.
Deets has seen that same mindset from other high school athletes, but he wants them to understand that won’t be the case in Southeastern Conference basketball.
Weatherspoon understands that fact.
“I know I was doing some things wrong, but I was getting away with it in high school because I was better than some of the other kids I was playing with. I know it will be different on this level,” he said.
Although the first day was a rough go for the freshmen in the weight room, Deets has seen drastic improvement since. That improvement has translated onto the basketball court.
“You can really see them start to get stronger (and) their bodies are able to get into better positions that they couldn’t hold four weeks ago,” Deets said. “When I talk about holding positions, if we’re in a defensive stance, being able to be in a correct defensive position for long periods of time. Or in a lunge position, where if I’m crossing somebody over, being able to maintain that without falling down.
“Their stability is so much better than it was four weeks ago. Same thing with their strength levels — (they) have really gone up the last two weeks. You can really see how much stronger they’re getting, their bodies are starting to change already.”
Deets takes over for long-time strength coach Richard Akins who announced his retirement in May. Akins spent more than 30 years with the Bulldog basketball teams.
Deets admires what Akins did, but the two coaches have different philosophies. Deets is not only having to teach his style to the freshmen, but the veteran players on the squad as well.
“This is all new for them because the style before was totally different. It’s about teaching the new style the new philosophy, the demands, what your expectations are, what the work ethic’s going to be like,” said Deets.
Deets said Akins instilled hard work into his players and he has seen that with some of the veterans like Craig Sword, Fred Thomas, Gavin Ware, and I.J. Ready.
That goes a long way with a new philosophy being implemented.
“That’s one less thing that you have to get over, hurdle you have to cross with them. They already know how to work from being around him,” Deets said.
Deets’ style hasn’t been a total overhaul of what Akins taught, rather there are subtle differences in the workouts.
“It’s just different movements and different things,” said Deets. “Once they see how it transitions to the floor, it’s pretty easy for them to buy in.”
First-year head coach Ben Howland reached out to Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson to inquire about Deets. Deets worked with Anderson at both Arkansas and Missouri.
Deets’ interview put him other the top with Howland.
“When David came in, he was so impressive,” Howland said. “He’s done a phenomenal job with our team in terms of the performance in strength training. As well as, really overseeing their diet and making sure they’re doing the right things dietary wise.”
Long, hot summer days
Despite the season not starting until mid-November, the Bulldogs, like many other teams, are taking advantage of the summer time allotted to them.
The players are excited to get started working for next season, but it may test their mental toughness as those days get longer and hotter the deeper they go into summer.
Deets believes these workouts and practices will go a long way in determining where MSU is in March.
“It’s not about today, it’s about that long haul,” Deets said. “Six months from now when we’re in SEC play, that’s going to transition to then – being able to stay healthy throughout the season.
“We’re doing the things now to set us up to be successful in conference play then also into tournament play. Everything’s geared toward what’s our end goal, now we’ve worked back from here until then.”
Full plate
Deets will not only work with the men’s basketball team, as he will have duties with the women’s team as well.
The 39-year old has worked with both men’s and women’s teams at various stops during his career including Missouri, TCU, Northwestern State, and Oklahoma State.
That puts a lot on his plate, but he has a graduate assistant to help him out.
“He does a great job of being the eyes in the back of my head and relaying the same message I’m giving them,” he said. “If there ever is a conflict, he’s able to help out and take some load of with both teams.”
His plate will be even fuller when both teams get their seasons underway. Deets will travel sometimes, but there will be times where he has to stay at home and work with the team who doesn’t have a road trip that week.
“When you have both teams and they’re both major sports, it does take some time,” Deets said. “I have to make sure my time management’s on or I’ll get stuck where I’m not prepared.”
He has found working with both head coaches – Howland and Vic Schaefer – a very easy process.
“They’re both great. They both trust me. They both let me do my job,” Deets said.
Deets said the women’s team – which made an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season – has also done a good job of buying in.
Ben Wait is a sports writer for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.