High school varsity sports can be intense; the long hours of practice, balancing school work with skill, and the “off” season workouts that never seem to end. So how do these athletes transition from the already difficult lifestyle to one even more demanding?
High school senior Sean Day, who will be taking his basketball career further at Elmhurst University, speaks on what he expects to be different from high school to college.
“I feel like high school basketball is more for fun and experience and then college basketball is a big leap because it’s basically your job. Coaches will recruit people in your same position to beat you out and everyone is wanting to get minutes in college. You are also playing against people that are 24 or 25 years old and I’m 18 so the physicality is definitely going to be different.” Day said
Not only is college demanding when it comes to the physical aspects, but at the heart of college, there are also the heavy academics that don’t make the lifestyle any easier.
Antoine Hardin, who is committed to play football at College of Dupage, speaks on how he will be balancing the much more intense lifestyle of football and academics at COD.
“From what I’ve heard, college is, not easier, but a lot more different from high school and I feel like I’m just going to keep doing what I’m still doing when it comes to balancing those… but I think that it’ll definitely be a challenge in college saying as those I haven’t been there before.” Hardin said
College is a whole different world and balancing the intense lifestyle definitely won’t be easy, but Hardin is determined and confident in his abilities to manage both successfully.
Day previously hit on how he expected college to be a different playing field than high school, but he also highlights what his preparation will be looking like as college peaks just around the corner.
“Each day I try to get in the gym two times a day with at least one lift and two time skill work. So I’ll usually do a shoot around in the morning and work on my skills and work on my drills. After that I’ll do my lift… and then I’ll go home and eat, hydrate, and usually I try to do some live five-on-five stuff,” Day said
As these college athletes start their preparation early, it is evident that they will be challenged, but also successful in the long run. You can watch Hardin play football at College of Dupage located in Glen Ellyn IL, and you can watch Day shoot some hoops at Elmhurst University located in Elmhurst IL this coming school year.
