21 July 2023
EMPORIA (KSNT) – College basketball season officially begins in the winter, but Emporia State women’s basketball has a road trip in August.
The Lady Hornets have three exhibition games in Italy, two months before basketball season usually becomes a reality. For head coach Brian Ostermann, the trip gets his new team bonded quickly.
“It’s that time to build your team in the summertime and install some base offense, base defensive-type things that will carry over to October and November,” Ostermann said.
Ostermann had a similar trip in 2017 when he coached at K-State, so he’s familiar with getting a team ready for competition months before the season begins. However, DII doesn’t allow athletes to participate in team practices during the summer, unlike DI. The Lady Hornets will have 10 days to prepare for their exhibition games.
“When we get to Italy, we want to be prepared to play a 40-minute game right out of the shoot,” Ostermann said.
The team will do a lot of sight-seeing in Italy, too. Starting serious practice early in the year and being overseas together will give the Lady Hornets an edge heading into the season.
“There is an advantage to working on things before October,” Ostermann said. “We saw it in 2017 and I think we’ll see it with the Lady Hornets in 2023.”