Sept. 12, 2008
The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears weekly during the fall and into the basketball season and periodically from May through August. In this entry we visit with sophomore guard Corey Fisher.
The sprawling weight room that houses the Villanova men's and women's basketball squads is typically a hub of activity during daylight hours. There is often music on the sound system and images on the flat screen monitors as athletes, alumni and coaches make use of a vibrant area directed by strength coach Lon Record.
On a recent afternoon, though, there was a pause in the activity that allowed for a quiet conversation with Corey Fisher, the guard who came to Villanova as one of the country's most heralded prospects in 2007 from St. Patrick's High School in New Jersey. In at least one respect, there could have been no more fitting backdrop for the conversation.
"For me, this summer was really about getting stronger and faster," states Fisher. "I spent a lot of time here working on my body. I lost some weight and worked on my flexibility. I think I did a great job of that."
Indeed, the refinement of Fisher's frame is apparent at first glance. His body is leaner and more sculpted than it was in his debut campaign of 2007-08. After having seen firsthand the physical nature of college basketball in the BIG EAST, Fisher recognized the need to hone his phsyique.
Already he reports feeling an impact when he is on the court working with his teammates in open gym.
"I can see the results of all that work I put in when I am out on the court," he says. "I wanted to get stronger and quicker and I can feel it in my whole game. When I'm out there I want to be on the attack all the time.
"I just can't wait for the season to get here."
The toil in this room is not glamorous. There are no cheering students, no national television cameras to chronicle the action. It is sweaty and intense even in air conditioned comfort. What's more, the off-season work requires a commitment to be here on campus instead of at home for June and July.
"It's real hard," Fisher says. "There are family things you miss because you're here. But we all know how important it is to us getting better as individuals and as a team. We have that dedication and that can only help us."
Fisher has now been a Villanova fixture for just over a year. His freshman basketball campaign actually began a little earlier than it would typically have as the `Cats practiced and then headed north to Ottawa to play four exhibition games in Ottawa over Labor Day weekend 2007. That gave Fisher and classmate Corey Stokes a small head start but it could not disguise the fact they were still freshmen on a college basketball stage that tends to grade on a steep curve.
"A year ago, there was so much to learn," Fisher says. "You kind of hear about that coming in from high school but it's something you have to experience."
Like many of his fellow incoming rookies, the 6-1 guard who hails from the Bronx, N.Y., endured some peaks and valleys. After sitting out his opener with knee tendonitis, Fisher found an offensive groove in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., at the Old Spice Classic in late November. In the opener he scored 18 points to help VU down Central Florida 76-68 and then dropped in 21 points in the tournament final against N.C. State.
But there was an ebb and flow to it all as Fisher learned the ropes of what it takes to become a Villanova guard. His stat line in two January games against DePaul serves as an example. On Jan. 3, he led the Wildcats with 23 points in the BIG EAST opener against the Blue Demons at All State Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Thirteen days later, he did not score when the two teams met again at the Pavilion.
Now, Fisher says, it wasn't until the post-season that he felt completely comfortable in his on court responsibilities.
"It really started into fall into place around the BIG EAST Tournament for me," he says.
Fisher's best postseason tournament effort came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 5 seed Clemson. His 17 points included a series of critical free throws in the second half that helped rally the Wildcats past the Tigers after they had fallen behind by 19 points in the first half.
The word Fisher uses to describe his season is "decent."
That may be selling things a tad short. The 6-1 guard finished third on the Wildcats in scoring, trailing only Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham at 9.1 ppg. His 92 assists were second on the team and his assist-to-turnover ratio (92-68) was the best of any Villanova freshman guard since Jay Wright became head coach in 2001.
Last season, Villanova survived a five game losing streak to reach the Sweet 16 and Fisher believes the tenacity that allowed the `Cats to come through that experience will aid it as it approaches a season with loftier expectations.
"We saw that you can't let the things people are saying on the outside affect what we do every day," he says. "We kept a great attitude, listened to our coaches and the upperclassmen, and became a good team at the end of the year. Now, people will say we could be this or that and we have to put all that aside and keep working. This is a new season."
Fisher is convinced that the accomplishments of last March have only increased the appetite to achieve more in 2008-09.
"We're just hungry," he says. "Everybody worked on their bodies and their games this summer. We have the experience of playing together, which we didn't have at the beginning of last year. We all want to have a great year."
With the conversation complete, Fisher moves quickly out of the weight room to finish dressing for a workout. The room is again absent its usual buzz and that is how it will be when the games begin in November. But the baskets Fisher scores, the passes he makes and the charges he takes when the bright lights are shining, will owe a little something to those lonely hours spent here.
