Head coach Cornelius Jackson walks the floor as the Marshall menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team conducts itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s first team practice Friday, June 14, 2024 at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.
Will Moore (12) stops to catch his breath after running through a shooting drill as the Marshall menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team conducts itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s first team practice Friday, June 14, 2024, at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.
Cade Gibbs runs through a drill as the Marshall men's basketball team conducts it's first team practice Friday, June 14, 2024 at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.
Head coach Cornelius Jackson walks the floor as the Marshall menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team conducts itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s first team practice Friday, June 14, 2024 at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.
Will Moore (12) stops to catch his breath after running through a shooting drill as the Marshall menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball team conducts itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s first team practice Friday, June 14, 2024, at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.
Cade Gibbs runs through a drill as the Marshall men's basketball team conducts it's first team practice Friday, June 14, 2024 at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” First impressions for a coach to his team, and vice versa, carry a lot of weight in the sports world.
Friday morning, Cornelius ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œCornyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Jackson ran his first team workout of the summer as Marshall UniversityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s head basketball coach with a roster full of new faces. Jackson said he was pleased with the result.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s new for them, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s new for me,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Jackson said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve had a couple of individual workouts but when you get together as a team itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a different vibe and a different atmosphere. I thought these guys brought the juice today and did everything we asked them to do.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Summer workouts began earlier in the week and teammates had a chance to bond with another by helping run ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜Herd Camp,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ which welcomed more than 70 youth to the Cam Henderson Center from Monday to Thursday.
But Friday was all about Marshall, and gave some players, such as Jakob Gibbs, their first taste of NCAA Division I college basketball.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œDefinitely a change of speed for me coming from the NAIA level but it was great to get out there and compete with the best of the best and getting to know the guys on and off the court has been awesome,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Gibbs said.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe coaching staff has really made it an easy adjustment but itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s super important to be comfortable with the people you are around because then relationships start to develop and everything else starts coming together,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Gibbs added.
Jackson said the coaches have come up with two goals for summer workouts, each of which centers on building chemistry within the locker room in hopes that it translates to the on-court product.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œOur coaches collective goal is to get better and grow,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Jackson said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe have several new faces so obviously we want to grow and are doing some things as far as team bonding this summer to try and get these guys closer. We have a group that IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m excited about.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Just six players return from last yearÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s roster, those being Wyatt Fricks, Creighton Thieneman, Nate Martin, Obinna Anochilli-Killen, Kycen Pruett and Ryan Nutter. The rest of the roster has been filled out by freshman and transfers. On Saturday, another addition was announced when University of Gelph (Canada) transfer Dezayne Mingo announced his commitment to the Thundering Herd.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore will reportedly join the team this coming week. Mingo averaged 20.8 points per game, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per contest last season.
Luke Creasy is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @LukeCreasy or reach him by phone at 304-526-2800.
