After an outstanding prep career where he was named a McDonald’s All American and Mr. Basketball in the State of New York, Tobias Harris spent his lone season of college at the University of Tennessee before being selected 19th overall this June. First selected by the Bobcats before being trading to the Bucks on Draft Night, the Dix Hills, N.Y. native is ready to go. So after following his career since before he even entered high school, we decided there was no one better to turn to for the inside scoop on the life of an NBA rookie. In his second entry, the man they call “All Business” talks about lockout life, going back to school and working our with NBA legends.
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It’s been an interesting couple of months since I last checked in. For those of you living under a rock, there is currently an NBA lockout, and for the first time in a very long time I do not know the exact date my basketball season will start.
In this time of uncertainty I decided to make my mother proud (hi mom!) and go back to school. Earning my degree is definitely a goal of mine I plan to achieve, and since I left Tennessee after my freshman year I certainly have a lot of credits to make up. I’m not going to lie – I was a little concerned that I’d feel weird going back to school after being drafted, but it feels good to just be a 19-year-old student sometimes.
I have been taking full advantage of the facilities here on a daily basis, and I find new ways each and every day to motivate myself.
A typical weekday of mine starts out at 6 a.m. in the gym for a shooting workout with NBA great Dale Ellis. Being able to workout with Dale has been an amazing experience. Between the number of shots I get up daily, his vast knowledge of the game and attention to detail, I am no doubt getting better daily. Dale’s workouts are pretty intense and serious except when Tupac starts playing on my iPod and Dale starts loosening up and nodding his head.
From my workout I head to a day of classes. I am taking 12 credits this semester, so each day is pretty much a full day of classes.
Straight from class I am in the weight room for my afternoon lift. My trainer, Britton Kelley, has me on a strict training schedule that I wrap-up everyday with wind sprints on the football field. These lifts are sometimes tiring, but I like to look at them as a warmup for my afternoon shooting workout with Dale.
At the end of a long day I’m usually beat and ready for some sleep. I usually crash on my couch watching Hardwood Classics.
It’s been a great opportunity to use this time to gain strength, work on my game and get better each day. Every now and then on the weekends I take a trip to San Antonio to workout with George “Iceman” Gervin. George is a great basketball mind with an extreme amount of knowledge of the game of basketball, and for him to give some tips and pointers has been very helpful in taking my game to the next level.
Whenever I can, I try to catch George playing in his prime on Hardwood Classics. There’s so much in his game to appreciate I try to take in as much as possible.
Until next time…
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