Court Support: Practice Team Aids Aggie Win Behind The Scenes

Aggies around the nation watched as the women’s basketball team fought for a national title. They received attention on the national stage, and are one of the Aggie’s greatest sources of pride this spring.

Behind the scenes, the women’s team practices with a group of men every week. The guys on the team are picked through recommendations, and they work out with the women multiple times a week.

“Players on the practice team usually get picked through recommendations. After trying out for the men’s basketball team, I received an email from the women’s basketball department stating that they were looking for more practice players,” said Prince Woodrow, a senior computer engineering major.

The practice team works around their schedule, and each player attends practice at least two times a week. The purpose of the practice team is to give the women’s team tough competition. Members of the practice team said practices were hard every day, so it was constantly a good workout. Practicing against a men’s practice team allows the women to play against a team that is more physical.

“Most of the time, when men play basketball it is more physical, intense and at a faster pace, than when women play. It’s always helpful when you are going up against competition that’s going to make you work hard on a daily basis. That’s what the coaches want us to do as practice players,” Woodrow said.

At practice, the teams do a mix of scrimmages and drills that prepare the women’s team for big games.

“We do some drills and we scrimmage sometimes also … it’s a good mix of both,” said Will Allen, a freshman sports management major.

Being able to play with the national champions isn’t the only upside to being a member of the practice team.

“Even though the women players work hard in practice, they also have fun in the process. Plus a lot of the girls are characters. I don’t think a practice went by without me laughing. It was also fun just being able to play basketball.Both the girls and the coaches are very down to earth and are fun to be around. They tell the practice players thanks for coming after every practice. They are very appreciative of the practice players volunteering their time,” Woodrow said.

For the rest of the semester, the women’s team will be taking it easy. However, next semester the team will be returning to practices against the men.

“We don’t have practices right now because the girls are getting [some time] off, which is much deserved, but after their rest they will do individual work outs for the remainder of this semester and pick back up regular practices next semester,” Allen said.

The men’s practice team is an example of the Aggie spirit and the power of the 12th man. Skilled basketball players volunteer their time to stay behind the scenes and help their fellow students win games; proving that the support of the Aggie family is crucial to winning national titles.

“They’re going to be just as good as they were this year. Those four seniors were really good, but they still have a strong crew,” said Carson York, a practice team member and sophomore finance major.