Last season was not the year anyone on the Michigan basketball team anticipated.
For then-sophomore Stu Douglass, it was constantly perplexing and he shot just 33% from three-point range and 33% from the field.
This summer, he’s taken the initiative to do something about it.
Douglass began working out at the Indianapolis-area Champions Academy last week to refine his game.
The Academy, run by former Wright State coach Ed Schilling, has become a hotbed of Midwest talent this summer as Douglass is working alongside a number of Purdue players – E’Twaun Moore, Keaton Grant, Chris Kramer – and likely first-round pick Gordon Hayward among others.
That’s created some interesting moments, like he said this morning when he was trying to defend the 6-9 Hayward in the post on one play then handle speedy guard Devan Downey soon after.
“It’s already helped a lot,” Douglass said. “Ed works a lot with creating space and helping with the mid-range game. He does a set workout with everyone that changes as you go.”
The six sessions a week are intense but Douglass saw this as a chance to push him game forward and it didn’t take much convincing to have his parents pay for it.
The program is supposed to last a month but Douglass said he may continue there until it’s time to return to school near the end of June, he said.
“Last summer I was coming into it and I wanted to work out more, but it wasn’t enough,” Douglass said. “I’m self-motivated but this is really helping me as well. They help you develop toward your goals. There’s a couple drills that are really easy to bring with me and I can show them to some of the guys. Everything from ball-handling to anything else.”
While most of the morning group is headed to play professionally – it also includes Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson – Douglass has blended in well to the “boot camp,” Schilling said.
“He’s really made a commitment,” Schilling said. “It’s really hard and physically challenging for anybody. He’s going through it through two a days, 4-5 hours a day.”
With the Academy only a 20-25 minute drive from his Carmel, Ind., home, Douglass is making the most of his time away from Ann Arbor and making an impression.
“Oh my goodness, he’s not even the same player,” Schilling said. “Out of high school I knew he could shoot, but honestly may have been a little bit of a stretch play in Big Ten, getting quality minutes as a freshman and sophomore. To see the difference between last year and this year is night and day. People are coming in to watch (the potential pro players) and they ask who that guy is. He looks like one of the guys who’s going to play professionally. He’s now able to create, shooting off ball screens, guarding people. He’s really worked on his game from the time the season ended.”
He’s not the only one with local ties. Former Oakland guard Johnathon Jones has played in the afternoon group, along with Butler’s Willie Veasley among others. Schilling, who also was an assistant a few times under John Calipari, runs most of the sessions himself as there are only 11 to 12 players at a time, though he’s occasionally assisted by former Oakland assistant coach Devon Smith.
Former WNBA player April McDivitt Foster, runs the women’s side for Schilling.
Source: U-M Sports Blog