Team Immersed in Pac-10 Study Session

The Bruins are cramming for the start of the Pacific 10 Conference schedule. That means two- to three-hour practices, weight-room workouts and videotape sessions at night.

“This is a great time for us,” Coach Steve Lavin said. “With such a young team, we need a crash course in college basketball.”

The players gather their chairs in a semi-circle in the locker room and the coaches make like professors. They focus on familiar themes: passing the ball inside to Dan Gadzuric and Jerome Moiso, rotating on defense and guarding the opposing teams’ three-point shooters.

With real classes out of session for the holidays, players can devote their attention and energy to chalk talks.

“It’s good you know you can go back to your dorm room and sleep and not have to study,” freshman Ray Young said.

As far as Lavin is concerned, the next five days won’t last long enough. His team, however, is starting to think about next weekend when Arizona and Arizona State come to town.

“That’s what I’m really looking forward to,” Young said. “Then you put all the hard work into winning a Pac-10 championship.”