At first, the test in front of James Southerland was merely paper. The SATs were the only thing holding him back from Syracuse, the school he committed to at age 16.

But now, as the official forms are turned in for the summer semester, the test shifts to the hardwood. Southerland now spends his days sprinting up the hills surrounding Notre Dame (Mass.) Preparatory School with a truck tire strapped to his back, building strength for the rigors of the Big East.

‘There’s still a lot more work to do,’ Southerland said. ‘I’m still working on my strength. You can’t go in there with a 175 (pound) body frame at 6-foot-8. I just have to get stronger.’

Southerland, a three-star recruit on Rivals.com, will be the third piece of Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s 2009 recruiting class. He was originally planning on joining the 2008-09 Orange squad but had to defer his enrollment after twice falling short of NCAA regulations for SAT scores. After another season in prep school, Southerland has the requisite SAT score and said he plans to enroll at SU during the summer.

Increasing his power and explosiveness has been a huge focus of Southerland’s practice routine throughout his final year at Notre Dame Prep. After making a living off a dominant finesse game at Cardozo High School in Queens, N.Y., Southerland is looking to add a fresh aspect to his repertoire in order to thrive amongst tougher competition.

‘James has all the talent in the world,’ Ron Naclerio, Southerland’s coach at Cardozo, said. ‘He has that set of skills, but basketball is more than just basketball talent. He can put the ball on the floor, but he just has to continue to work on it.’

Naclerio recalls Southerland’s high school career – it was too easy for him score. A rarity in the New York basketball scene, Southerland’s smooth jump shot and unbeatable baby-hook, coupled with his 6-foot-8 frame, allowed the forward to average 17.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He was a ‘two-tool’ player, Naclerio said.

‘He’s a big kid that can really shoot the 3,’ Naclerio said. ‘And down low he has the jump hook that you can’t stop, he’s a nice kid.’

It wouldn’t take long for Southerland to get hot from 3-point range, but that’s when the problems started. As the defenders stretched out to the perimeter to stop him, Southerland would spend more time under the hoop and begin to see the facets of his game he needed to improve on.

‘It’s going to be a big adjustment,’ Southerland said.

With that realization came the increase in training. At Notre Dame Prep, a small, approximately 30-student institution in Worcester County, Southerland began to take his game to the next level.

Twice a week, Southerland straps on the truck tire and runs it up one of the signature steep hills of Fitchburg, Mass. Pulling the massive heap of rubber helps build leg strength and results in an increase in explosiveness under the basket.

But the tire-pull is just the cap on the end of conditioning sessions for Southerland that feature a weight-training program, squats and jump rope.

‘It gets tiring,’ Southerland said.

Naclerio knew Southerland would survive the tire-pulls, he said. At Cardozo, he had the same mentality toward his player, testing him during drills to give him new challenges.

‘He could do whatever we told him to do,’ Naclerio said. ‘Whether it was something beneficial, or something we just told him to do to con him into working harder.’

After a year of strenuous workouts, Southerland said the training is working. He sees a tangible improvement in the way he approaches the basket, but he’ll be quick to point out it’s not quite yet at the level of some current Syracuse basketball players.

‘I don’t know about players like Paul Harris, man,’ Southerland laughed. ‘But I’m sure I can get strong enough to take contact. That’s what I’m working on, building enough strength to help me go up strong.’

The development in Southerland’s game is apparent to others around him too. His father, Jim Southerland, made the four-hour trek from Queens, N.Y., to Notre Dame Prep multiple times over the last season and saw a better all-around player on the floor.

‘The year at prep did help him get a little strength,’ Jim Southerland said. ‘It helped him get a little more confidence too – if he needed that.’

James Southerland could be seen going to the basket more this year than any other. He’s had more dunks this year than any other he can remember. Although his dad said he never remembers his son being the inside threat, he knows the hard work will pay off.

Discussions of becoming ‘the complete player’ have been a focus of Southerland’s since he began to consider basketball at the next level.

Not all the changes to Southerland’s game are welcome, though. With players like Harris and Jonny Flynn already well-versed in the art of slam dunking, the Orange coaching staff isn’t sure if they can tolerate another rim bender now that Southerland has become more comfortable with the inside.

Jim Southerland said Orange assistant coach Mike Hopkins took notice of the transformation and decided to call his recruit in order to keep him in check.

‘Well the dunking, that came with the strength,’ Jim Southerland said. ‘But even Hopkins called and said, ‘Don’t get too happy dunking on people, because your bread and butter is the jump shot.”

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on April 10, 2009 at 12:00 pm