Freshmen players click with veterans in practice

First impressions can make all the difference.

It seems the three newest additions to the UCF men's basketball team have taken this to heart.

Rod Days, Wayne Martin and Kasey Wilson have all arrived on campus as three-quarters of Donnie Jones' first true recruiting class as the head of the Knights program. Michael Chandler, the fourth and highest-rated member of the class, is still working to qualify academically before the fall semester starts.

Since arriving, the three recruits have displayed a combination of their work ethic and eagerness to learn to leave a good first impression with their teammates, who have taken notice.

"The biggest thing for me is they're humble," senior point guard A.J. Rompza said. "I think that's the key to freshmen when they come in."

Humble might be a good starting point for a class coming in with fairly high expectations. The three players, all forwards, fit the mold of what is expected to be a staple of future Jones recruiting classes. They're tall, long and athletic. It's an observation that has not been lost on their new teammates.

"I know Wayne is coming back from his Achilles injury, but he is a freak athlete," sophomore forward Tristan Spurlock said. "Some of the stuff he can do, I think everybody will be really wild about."

During the summer, players are not allowed to work with the coaching staff per NCAA rules, barring a ten-day period before the team embarks on an exhibition tour in Canada in mid-August. Instead, players are allowed to use the facilities to play pick-up games on their own and train under supervision.

To this point, the freshmen have taken advantage of the facilities available to them, only adding to the rave reviews from teammates.

"You can tell that they want to get better," Rompza said. "Every time I come to the gym, they're at the gym; just shooting and getting stuff up."

The tour, where the Knights will play three games against Canadian college teams, is expected to be beneficial to the whole team, but perhaps most beneficial to the new additions.

"It [the practice time and games] gives us a chance to play guys in different situations and spots and see how the freshmen respond to playing with certain guys," Jones said in a release.

Many of the returning players, remembering their experiences as incoming freshmen, noted that the biggest adjustment is the speed of the game.

"For them, more so, it's not lack of skill or lack of hard work, it's just lack of experience," Spurlock said. "They still have got to get used to the physicality. They've got to get used to how fast the game is going to be. It's going to be a big difference between high school speed and college speed; it's not even close."

But because of good first impressions, the returning veterans seem eager to help out and welcome in Days, Martin and Wilson.

"I've talked to them already and told them that if they need anything, whether it's basketball or off-the-court stuff, just call me or text me," said Rompza. "They're fun to be around, and they're cool to hang out with."