A quick look at the calendar tells us we’ve entered the month of June and that means the summer solstice is not far away. Not only does it signify the longest day of the year and the start of summer, but it’s also the unofficial start of the summer workout and conditioning program for the Flyer basketball team.

The summer months are where boys turn to men on the hardwood. Find a great player and all of them have one thing in common: they spent their summers in the gym ironing out their weaknesses and working on their strengths. There’s no better time to make a singular leap in talent; school is out, the season is on hiatus, and the coaches are limited to a handful of individual and group workouts strait-jacketed by the NCAA. In other words, players have the free time and don’t have the distractions. Summer separates the pack of college players from those who play a role to those write the headlines.

But it’s not enough to join a summer league and call it progress. Round-robin leagues like Deveroes and Worthington might keep the players in shape, but they don’t do much for the players looking to shed bad habits, embrace teamwork, and improve weaknesses. These leagues are what they are: 21st century re-enactments of Loyola Marymount vs. US International. Throw in a lot of uncalled travels, matador defenses, and ongoing dunking exhibitions and there’s little substance worth calling offseason progress. A college coach’s worst nightmare is finding out his star player pretzeled a knee while attempting to dunk a pass off the backboard. His second worst nightmare is welcoming players back on campus for fall practice and noticing his marginal talents in need of polish suddenly think they are Dirk Nowitzki after averaging 29ppg during the summer. Yet they show up in front of the coaches where things are more organized and they still can’t shoot free throws, rebound, or handle the basketball any better than when they finished up a year prior.

There’s nothing inherently evil about summer, or summer leagues for that matter. They are what college kids make of them. The players who want to be the best invariably embark on a personal absolution of one ball, one gym, and many countless nights alone honing their game. The recipe hasn’t changed. And as luck would have it, we uncovered UD’s summer study-at-home assignments that are worth your consideration. Since the newcomers are exactly that – new – their only assignment is to show up and show up hungry. For purposes of this exercise, they are omitted from the summer study session.

Brian Roberts – Rob received the least amount of home-study by virtue of last year’s extra credit for time served. In fact, Roberts is the only player asked to rest the legs a bit and regain the mojo. Asked to do so many things as a sophomore, Roberts ran out of gas late in the year and needed help that never consistently came through. He doesn’t have a glaring abscess in his game. The syllabus calls for continued improvement in all areas and a couple more pounds on the skeleton.

Monty Scott – First and foremost, heal the foot. Aside from that bad pun, Scott needs a mechanical overhaul because much of last year reminded fans of Barbero in the Preakness. With good health in 06-07, it’s up to Monty to make the most of his final season. Every year fans say “this is the year Monty makes a living at the foul line.” So Scott’s assignment is to dribble, dribble, and dribble some more to find ways of getting to the hoop. More practice at sealing off down low for turnaround bank shots is a must. He must also compliment Roberts as the second primary go-to player. Repeat after me, “I am Monty Scott and I’m All-Conference. Seize the day.”

Jimmy Binnie – JB was given a book on the exploits of Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb. In it, he’s been asked to find inspiration and also find the jumpshot that went missing in his sophomore season. We’re talking 500 reps a day from inside the arc and another 500 outside the arc. Binnie’s game is not one-dimensional, but it appears like it when his jumpshot isn’t falling. Tony Stanley became one-dimensional when his jumper failed him too. A re-calibrated Binnie will make the Flyers infinitely better overall because he’s a Brian Gregory type of player. And when his jumper is going down, defenders tighten up and become exploitable to the dribble drive.

Desmond Adedeji – Fans will know how much Baby Diesel wants to terrorize A10 opponents by the conditioning he undertakes this summer. The workload calls for endless sprints up and down Stuart Hill. If there’s no puke, there weren’t enough reps. Standing in the way of Big Dez blossoming faster than Sean Finn is 35lb of Jell-O and 35lb of muscle. Relegating him to a 240lb center would take away much of his upside: he’s a big kid and tough to move around. But he’s not in shape yet to make opposing coaches go through the hassle of scouting a defense against him. A quicker Adedeji off the floor means fewer rejections by 6-5 wing players. He has a plethora of tools but they are hidden and must be uncovered. We’ll know just about everything we need to know about the college potential of Adedeji by November 15.

Charles Little – One thing Charles will not be doing much of this summer is pumping iron. Not that he shouldn’t, but he’s already chiseled like Hercules and other parts of his game need attention. Four times a week he’s been assigned to hang out with Jimmy Binnie and develop a jumpshot. Binnie can shoot, he just can’t find his shot. Charles needs a shot to begin with. Luckly, there’s not much else he needs and he’s going to take more of a step up this year than anyone else on the team. The other three days a week, Little will concentrate on post moves and finishing everything within eight feet with a dunk. He knows nobody is in his athletic zip code and that strikes fear into opposing teams. Last year he didn’t know how to treat it. This year he will.

Norman Plummer – Like his name implies, Norman is a blue-collar player who punches a timecard and puts in a day’s pay. But an added 10-15lb would make Norman All-Conference and that’s why he’s not allowed to leave the weight room until September 21. Finishing near the basket has been problematic at times and more muscle in the upper and lower body will turn those misses into and-ones. On a team thin on proven frontcourt players, Plummer must put a little more power into the power forward role, without sacrificing quickness and occasional jumpers on the wing.

Nick Stafford – I saw more potential in Stafford as a RS freshman than a number of other frontcourt prospects that have matriculated through the Flyer program in years past. But the details have been lost in translation for most of his career. Stafford’s career is winding down and he’s come to the alter as a sacrificial lamb of sorts: specialize in something and become the team-best at it. It’s probably too late to round off all the rough corners, but it’s not too late to take a needed team skill and have Stafford try to perfect it. This summer’s assignment is shot-blocking. The Flyers don’t have one. The Flyers need one. Stafford has the athleticism and reach to be a capable shot blocker. Leading the team in swats would be a sacrifice fly to get the runner home. It’s not glamorous, but every one of them helps.

William Brady – It’s no secret – not even to William himself – that he only sees the floor when UD is mopping the floor or taking a nosedive into the side of a mountain. That said, making everyone around him better is the only homework on his plate. How does he accomplish this? That’s up to him. Motivate, support, show team spirit, and remind everyone that if they play like a walk-on, that’s when the walk-ons see the floor.

Grades are due by November 15.