Summer practice heats up for Hilltopper MBB
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU men’s basketball head coach Hank Plona and the Tops treated the local media to an open summer practice on Tuesday morning.
There, News 40 Sports was able to catch some of the biggest offseason storylines surrounding the growth of this year’s team.
“ If you know me, I don’t talk much, so I like to lead by the way I do things, the way I act, and the way I carry myself,” redshirt junior guard Teagan Moore said. “I think that’s been a big thing for me this year is trying to be more vocal with the new guys and just guide them in the right spots and put them in the right positions.”
Moore is entering his fourth season in Bowling Green, already serving as a pivotal player in many contests for Western.
But with a new group coming to town, it’s time to lean into being a leader.
The group sees a majority of guys share the skill of playing many different positions, and that interchangeability is something Coach Plona is working to perfect in the summer months.
“If you watch the NBA, if you watch EuroLeague, like, that is what professional basketball looks like, so we try to play in a way that prepares these guys for what’s in front of them,” Plona said.
“I do think that, in today’s world, I think players enjoy playing with other guys that can all dribble, pass and shoot and kind of be interchangeable on the floor.”
Of the 13 players currently on roster, eight classify as sophomores or freshmen.
For the Tops, they believe that plays into their favor in more ways than one.
“I feel like we’re younger and we’re more aggressive and we just play harder more than last year,” senior guard LJ Hackman said.
“There’s a much younger group this time, so they say it’s a little easier to connect,” junior guard Sharron Young said. “I mean, we play the game, we go out to eat, get food, so I think it’s gonna be a fun year.”
With roughly three months until exhibition play, there’s still plenty of time to grow as a unit, and growing together is what WKU sees as a successful outcome of the summer.
“I think it’s just us, you know, being consistent every day, putting in the work, unseen hours and everything,” senior forward Emondrek Erkins-Ford said. “Iron sharpens iron. We’re all just going at it, competing and everything, and I think it’s been a great summer so far.”
As of publication, the first time you can catch the new-look Tops is October 25, when WKU travels to the Ford Center to face off with Indiana in Evansville.
Tipoff in the exhibition matchup is slated for 3 p.m.
