The Extended Bench – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
During the course of a grueling 30-plus game schedule, a deep bench can serve as a key determinate in the success or failure of a collegiate basketball team. Whether in a game situation or on the court during practice, significant contributions from each member of the 12-man roster can be critical in deciding a win or loss in any particular contest.
In addition to that sixth man, that ninth man and even the 12th player on the Buckeye depth chart is the Ohio State basketball support staff, which in various ways also helps determine a successful season for the Buckeyes. Even though the support provided by the group never shows up in the boxscore, it does influence each basket, each rebound, each assist and each win recorded by the Buckeyes every season.
In a time when the term “offseason” excludes the prefix “off” in the year-round atmosphere of college athletics, the support staff, which includes men’s basketball secretary Debby Cacchio, academic counselor Teri Casperson, director of strength and conditioning Anthony Glass, head athletic trainer Vince O’Brien and team physician Dr. Trent Sickles, is not only at its peek while the Buckeye players fill the bench during the season, but also throughout the months when the benches are empty inside Value City Arena.
“Actually, life can be more hectic and busy during the offseason than during the season,” Cacchio, who is in the midst of her 14th year with Ohio State basketball, said. “The offseason is filled with surprises. We have camps and recruiting that take up a lot of business for us.”
As the men’s basketball secretary, Cacchio is responsible for managing the basketball office on a daily basis, while also holding a range of responsibilities, including constructing team schedules, coordinating staff, player and recruit schedules, and also serving as the main correspondent for Ohio State basketball head coach Jim O’Brien.
“A typical day for me includes fielding all calls that come through the office,” Cacchio, who is in her 20th season overall at Ohio State, said. “I arrange all the schedules in the office for all the coaches and staff and deal heavily with recruiting.” The Buckeye basketball staff could not have selected a better candidate to coordinate the office as Cacchio actually helped show the coaching staff “the ropes” at Ohio State when O’Brien and his assistants first arrived in 1997.
Cacchio’s longevity at Ohio State aided in getting the staff acclimated to campus, the facilities and the city of Columbus.
“I have been here longer than coach O’Brien and his staff,” Cacchio, who also assisted former Buckeye and current Philadelphia 76ers coach Randy Ayers from 1990 to 1997, said. “So, I had to show him around during the first couple months he was here. Getting the new staff acclimated was a little hectic, but it was fun and has been terrific since.”
Joining Cacchio as a long-time member of the support staff is Casperson, who entered her 10th season serving in the Student-Athlete Support Services Office (SASSO) at Ohio State this year.
Casperson accounts for a critical role as she assists student-athletes in managing their time between classes, studying and athletics.
“There are a couple main points to my position,” Casperson, who also works with the women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s volleyball teams, said. “One, I monitor students and make sure they are aware of and meet the necessary eligibility standards for the NCAA, Big Ten and Ohio State.
“Secondly, I assure they are successful in their academic pursuits and make sure they make effective progress toward their degree so they are successful when they leave Ohio State.
“Third, I look over the educational setting and make sure they have all the resources needed to assist in fulfilling the pursuit of their degree,” Casperson continued. “I must keep the future in mind for our student-athletes and look past the current quarter and into the next class schedule to make sure all courses work in with one another.”
Much like the basketball season that continues far past the final game of the year, the academic season rarely takes any time off as well, as student-athletes are busy working toward their degrees on a year-round basis during the fall, winter, spring and summer quarters.
According to Casperson, the typical athlete is faced with the challenge of balancing countless responsibilities as they must schedule time for classes, study sessions, meetings with tutors and counselors, while also fulfilling the allotted practice time to succeed in their athletic endeavors.
Casperson also pointed out that student-athletes must account for the travel involved during their seasons.
“On top of all the other aspects is travel for the teams,” Casperson, who helped 33 student-athletes among her five sports gain academic All-Big Ten status during the 2002-03 athletic calendar, said. “We make sure to encourage the student-athletes to communicate with their instructors to assure they know when class sessions will be missed and how the coursework will be completed. I monitor that communication heavily during the season.”
Although much responsibility falls upon the shoulders of a student-athlete at Ohio State, each is provided one of the finest academic support facilities in the country in the Younkin Success Center.
According to Casperson, the Younkin Success Center affords numerous academic amenities to help a student-athlete reach a peek level of performance in the classroom.
“The center is accessible to the students seven days a week,” Casperson said. “It is in the center of the academic area of the university and is a place where the students can make good use of the their time before and between classes and for study sessions. Tutors are available at all times in various subject areas, including math, business and writing. Also, my office is very close to their study areas, which provides easy access to come and talk.
“The center also features a computer lab, where the students can work on papers, conduct research, complete online work and communicate with professors and classmates through e-mail.”
While Casperson serves as the member of the support staff who assists the basketball team in strengthening and maintaining the academic end of being a successful student-athlete, Glass combines with Vince O’Brien and Dr. Sickles in building and sustaining the physical performance and health of the Buckeyes.
Much like a pit crew at the Indy 500, Glass, Vince O’Brien and Dr. Sickles keep the Buckeye basketball machine well oiled and running at full-speed before, during and after the season.
Glass, who oversees all strength and conditioning efforts for all sports at Ohio State (except football), conducts a year-round training regimen tailored to prepare the student-athlete for optimal performance at the onset of the season and continue to through the arduous Big Ten schedule and postseason play.
“We start after the season ends working out four days a week,” Glass said. “The main focus during that time is on speed, agility, balance and quickness. Our lifting concentrates on higher reps and building muscle endurance. After that period, the players then get two weeks off before we start the summer cycle, when they lift four days a week and condition two to three days. We focus on power and strength with players lifting at their heaviest.”
The offseason programs are crucial in improving a player’s strength, speed and overall performance heading into the preseason session where the athlete is structured to reach his peek.
“The preseason cycle involves lifting three days and running three days,” Glass said. “This is where our guys should make the biggest gains in strength or maintain the gains they made during the summer cycle.”
With the season looming, Glass tapers the training schedule to two days a week in order to keep his athletes at 85-90 percent of their strength throughout the season.
The in-season schedule created by Glass is set for maintenance. Much like Glass, Vince O’Brien also works to keep the athletes at that same peek level by preventing and treating all sorts of injuries.
Vince O’Brien’s duties include evaluating such injuries, designing treatment and subsequent rehabilitation programs.
“I meet with the position coaches and the strength coaches daily to talk about the conditions of the players,” Vince O’Brien, a 1991 health education graduate from Ohio State, said. “I then start treatment for about two hours before the typical two-hour practice and usually spend an hour after practice with treatment.”
Another main responsibility for Vince O’Brien is coordinating physician care with Dr. Sickles.
“Our working relationship is outstanding,” Vince O’Brien, who has worked along side Sickles for the past four seasons, said. “It is a relationship where you only reach success through communication. He trusts me with the decisions I make and I trust him equally as much. He is flexible to the point where he will see a player at anytime no matter what the injury.”
Although their duties include countless hours, the Ohio State support staff collectively agreed the rewards involved in their occupations are well worth the demanding work schedules.
“The rewards in this job are truly intrinsic,” Vince O’Brien said. “These players have the opportunity to be involved in something they love. When they lose that opportunity to injury, you see them at their worst. They not only are hurt physically, but mentally. What makes me proud is to see those players do the necessary work involved in overcoming an injury and getting back to their top level.
“That is how sports relate to life,” Vince O’Brien continued. “Sports pose the opportunity to overcome difficulties and succeed. When a player can overcome such difficulties in sports, he then knows how to relate that to life and overcome any hardships he comes across. Being a part of that is what is special to me.”
Casperson finds her sense of reward in a similar manner as her student-athletes overcome the obstacles along the way to earn their degree.
“That is the joy of this position,” Casperson said. “To be at graduation and see one of your student-athletes receive his or her degree is the most rewarding aspect of the job. To see someone one work hard and succeed at the end of their final quarter is such a great feeling. Meeting the diverse individuals in this job and helping to make them become champions on the floor and in the classroom is very special to me.”
Cacchio regards the opportunity to get to know so many players and their families as the most rewarding aspect of her position.
“The basketball team is smaller than most sports, which leads to a more family-type atmosphere,” Cacchio said. “Everyone is involved with each other’s families. I have always loved the opportunity to get to know the players and interact with their families. It serves for a very welcoming atmosphere. It is great to work in that type of atmosphere everyday.”
When all is said and done, it is coach O’Brien who is truly the one who reaps the rewards of the efforts put forth by the Ohio State support staff.
“I consider myself very fortunate to have a support staff that provides us with the resources they provide,” O’Brien said. “I think the staff we have is as good as any staff in the at the college level.”
