Bennett seeks ‘optimal athleticism’ for players

One of the hallmarks of the Dave Leitao regime was a number of guys who looked more like professional bodybuilders than basketball players.
Lars Mikalauskas, Ryan Pettinella, Will Harris and Tunji Soroye were just a few Wahoos who — when their basketball careers were over — might have found success on the Mr. Universe circuit.
Each player bulked up tremendously under the guidance of former Virginia strength and conditioning coach Shaun Brown, who was carrying out Leitao’s wishes for larger-sized players.
The strategy’s success was debatable.
Certainly, all of the aforementioned players gained strength and, in some cases, confidence that they never had.
However, in other instances, players developed an assortment of
injuries — many involving the back — and seemed to lose quickness and explosiveness.
With the hiring of strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis on Monday, the question begs: what exactly is new Virginia coach Tony Bennett’s philosophy when it comes to weight training?
“The philosophy is – become a basketball player,” Bennett told The Daily Progress recently. “Become as strong and as athletic, with
functional strength, that you can – with quick agility stuff, explosiveness, getting strong in the core, the hips — all those things.
“But everybody’s different. Some guys need to add bulk and mass, while other guys don’t need that. They need to trim down and become as quick as they can…getting to your optimal athleticism is what it’s all about.”
Having worked for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies and most recently the University of Michigan, Curtis, a former Virginia player — he was a captain on the 1997-98 squad — certainly has an impressive resume.
A couple of Curtis’ most important projects will be big men Assane Sene and John Brandenburg. Sene still needs to add muscle to his sinewy 7-foot, 234-pound frame, while Brandenburg might need to go in the other direction.
Last season, the 6-foot-11 St. Louis native said he didn’t feel comfortable with the over 25 pounds of weight he had added to his frame in just a few months on grounds.
Curtis, who is from Richmond, earned a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine from Virginia in 1998 and a master’s degree in exercise physiology in 2000.
“The University of Virginia is an extremely special place,” said Curtis, in a press release. “I don’t think anyone knows that better than an individual who had the opportunity to be a student and an athlete at UVa. I can’t put into words my level of excitement about returning to help coach Bennett and his staff with the men’s basketball program.
“It was a difficult decision to leave a great institution like the University of Michigan and a fine coach in John Beilein, but the state of Virginia and the University are, and always will be, home for me.”