Lucas: Summer offers connection, hopeful optimism for Ford and Pritzl
July 22, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Badgers focusing on health and preparing for basketball – whenever it can happen
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — During the initial quarantine phase, Aleem Ford returned to his parents' home in Georgia and worked out on his own or with former high school friends when feasible. While completing the semester academically online, he had to be creative with the available resources.
"When I was at home for about three months, I was improvising and trying to make the most out of what I could," said Ford, who's from Lawrenceville, 30 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. "I felt like I was a kid again if I was doing some basketball workouts.
"I was putting out the cones and the chairs and trying to create different scenarios and trying to benefit from it all. It was difficult to find access to a gym because that's when things were completely shut down at that time. It was mostly outdoor training and finding outdoor courts to shoot on."
Along with enjoying quality time with his mom, dad and sister ("That doesn't happen too often when we're all together and we get to hang out"), he adhered to the local coronavirus guidelines and wore a mask in public ("It was a little uncomfortable at first, but now it's accepted nature").
He loved being around family. But eventually he felt the need and urgency to return to Madison.
"I just wanted to get back to where I could get outside and hang out by the lakes and have better access to the gyms here," he said. "I've been working out with Brevin (Pritzl) and with Samad (Qawi) — occasionally when he can — but mostly Brevin. I've spent a lot of time with those guys."
Conscious of the COVID-19 reality, he brought up something else without prodding.
"I've been doing my part to stay away from everyone," he said, "and social distance."
• • • •
The distance between De Pere, Wisconsin — where Pritzl was raised and scored nearly 2,000 points as a prep star — and Belgrade, Serbia is almost 5,000 miles. Last Thursday, Pritzl got a promising call from his agent. A pro team, not far from the Serbian capital, had expressed some interest.
"We're just waiting and seeing if they are going to offer me a contract," said Pritzl, the lone senior in the UW's playing rotation last season. Since mid-March when the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments were canceled, he added, "I've been staying in shape for when the opportunity presented itself."
It has been a long wait after a very abrupt and unfulfilling end to the season. "I thought we still had so much more to do and so much more to get (as a team)," said Pritzl, who acknowledged that the challenge since then has been "accepting how it ended the way it did and moving on to what's next."
Since mid-summer, Pritzl and Ford have been diligent in preparing themselves physically for whatever is next on their own respective paths in the coming months. To this end, they've teamed up again by working out together, meshing goals and expectations, with the backdrop of a global pandemic.
"I definitely feel we've grown closer just through the sheer volume of hours we've spent together," Pritzl said of a unique stage in their friendship. "It has been a lot of fun to get to know him better and go through all the trials of the whole COVID quarantine while still trying to be an athlete.
"We work with a trainer out of Sun Prairie three days a week. And then we lift in Fitchburg two days. That gym has a small court. We've been trying to do anything that we can to keep in touch with the game. We haven't been able to play any five-on-five, so it's tough to know if we're in game shape.
"The only thing I don't have right now is my usual cardio ability. Other than that, I'm doing really good. My skills are a lot more polished now than they have been in a long time. I know Aleem looks great. And he's playing with his strength and using it now more so than ever before."
Since redshirting as a true freshman (2016-17), Ford has been maturing his game and frame.
"I've had a lot of time to work on my body (since March)," conceded the 6-foot-8, 217-pound Ford, who started all 31 games as a redshirt junior and averaged 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds. "There are a lot of things that you want to do during the season that you can't do just because of your busy schedule.
"This summer, I've been able to focus on certain things. Like mobility, flexibility and just being stronger overall with my core and legs. I feel 100 percent better physically. Adding weight hasn't been my focus. I've been doing a lot of skill work making sure my body is healthy and strong for the season."
There was a reflective pause.
"It all happened so suddenly …"
One moment, they were anticipating their first Big Ten tournament game and a deep NCAA run.
The next moment, they were leaving campus at spring break and going their separate ways.
"It will be nice getting everyone back together, coaching staff, everyone."
He would pause again upon more reflection.
"It honestly seems like such a long time ago."
Ford was referencing a 60-56 win over Indiana in which he had three triples and 12 points. That was on March 7 and culminated an eight-game winning streak. With the victory in Bloomington, the Badgers gained a piece of the Big Ten championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
Everything crashed to a halt shortly thereafter in college basketball.
"This whole year has been a lot of ups and downs," Ford said with a sigh. "But it is really cool to look back and watch those games and see how we bonded together (during the win streak). Obviously, we're excited to get back to work now and re-create those experiences that we had this past year.
"Can we get back to where we were? I feel like we'll be even better and even hungrier than before. I feel like everyone is going to have even more of a chip on their shoulder because we have unfinished business. We're hungrier now because we know what we're capable of doing."
Pritzl can attest to that hunger after taking part in group chats with returning UW players.
"It's interesting to see where their heads are at and how they've been communicating as all of this has gone down," he said, alluding to the virus uncertainty clouding the future. "You just have to stay as ready as you possibly can because if that opportunity to play comes you have to be ready for it.
"I think everyone has taken a step forward in terms of maturity."
That was his perception given the circumstances and what he was hearing from everyone.
"With dramatic things," he offered, "it shifts your mentality and you learn and grow from it."
In this realm, Pritzl and Ford have had conversations about the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
"We kind of talked about life," Pritzl said, "and what it was like growing up."
He also noted that they talked about "what we can do to better the UW-Madison community."
From that standpoint, Pritzl and Ford have been encouraged by the positive direction taken on issues of diversity and inclusion. Specifically, they endorsed the campus decision to adorn UW uniforms with a university crest logo featuring a black "W" as a sign of solidarity among Badger student-athletes.
"It's a really great first step," Pritzl said. "I look forward to seeing what more we can do."
"Definitely a first step," Ford agreed. "And part of a bigger process and picture of everything."
Perspective can be timely and useful while engaging in potentially difficult conversations.
"When you come from a place like where I grew up and there's not many people of color, you just kind of live in your own little bubble, your little shell," Pritzl confided. "It has been great to be able to communicate with people and learn more about how you can do your part."
Ford's home in Lawrenceville is about a 35-minute drive from the Atlanta fast food parking lot where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed on June 12. Whereas Lawrenceville is almost five hours from Glynn County, Georgia where a 25-year-old jogger, Ahmaud Arbery, was shot and killed on Feb. 23.
Ford's social justice awareness has been fine-tuned by the events of 2020.
Nationwide after protestors hit the streets — including Madison streets — and marched following George Floyd's killing in late May, Ford admitted, "It all really started to hit home with me more when I was able to experience (the protests) and see things going on rather than it just being on TV."
In the aftermath of the demonstrations, whenever Ford has walked on State Street, he has been moved by the messaging on the boarded store fronts and the depth of the artwork on the plywood canvases. Over 100 artists were commissioned and responsible for creating over 100 murals.
"It's really cool to see how people are using their talents to memorialize those who have lost their lives," Ford said. "The coolest part is seeing families with their kids walking up and down State Street and taking pictures and relaying the messages to a younger generation."
Current events have opened or reopened lines of communication for many college athletes.
"Being here with Samad and Brevin, I've been able to hang out with them a little bit and discuss things and get their points of view," said Ford, a communication arts and radio, TV and film major. "We've just fed off each other and talked about things that have been going on."
Pritzl shared some good news with the group recently when his brother, Brandon Pritzl, was named an assistant coach for the Green Bay men's basketball program headed by Will Ryan, the son of former UW head coach Bo Ryan. Pritzl joins another former Badger, Freddie Owens, on the staff.
'I'm very excited for him because he's on a great staff with great people around him," Brevin said of Brandon, who has been an assistant at his alma mater Hillsdale College, a Division II program in Michigan. "Growing up, he was very important in my development."
Brandon Pritzl, a three-year starter at Hillsdale, is the third-leading all-time scorer at De Pere.
In high school, the Pritzl's accounted for 3,057 points (Brevin with 1,720; Brandon with 1,337).
"In the later years," Brevin said of his own UW career, "he became a confidant.
"If something wasn't going right, we were able to talk about it."
The talk now is about the questions that abound for both brothers moving forward.
"I just focus on every day," Brevin Pritzl stressed, "and let it take me wherever it takes me."
It's no different for Ford. Will it all lead to a Badger basketball season at the Kohl Center?
"For sure, that's the only way to be," Ford said of his mindset. "You prepare as if the season is going to happen. I'm optimistic. I'm not saying it's going to be a season like the year before. But hopefully it will be along those lines. I truly believe we'll figure out something to have a season."
