By Claire Latsko, Kitty Williams, and Henry Nickerson | Co-Editors-In-Chief, Associate Editor
As the Newport fog rolled into campus on September 26th, so did the Boston Celtics’ team buses. Salve students crowded around Rodgers Recreation Center with hopes of getting a glimpse of their favorite players and taking a selfie with them. Everyone on campus buzzed with excitement that their New England basketball team was holding training camp at Salve Regina’s facilities for the first time in three years.
The Rodgers walls were covered with the classic blue and green Salve banners as always, but the blue was quickly outweighed by the green as the Celtics jerseys flooded the gym. Warming up for their practice, the players were grinning as they dribbled, passed, and blocked. It was clear how intensely happy basketball makes each and every one of them.
Training camp was held over a three day period, in which the team practiced, ran drills, and participated in Q&A sessions with the press. Tuesday and Wednesday’s practices were held in the afternoon, and Thursday’s took place in the morning.
On Wednesday afternoon, Salve Regina President Sister Jane greeted the team as they entered for their practice and gave Head Coach Brad Stevens a Salve hat. Some players stopped briefly to speak with Sister Jane while others simply shook her hand and proceeded to warm up for practice.
Before practice on Thursday, the team took a morning excursion on the Cliff Walk. “You can’t come to Newport and not see it,” said Aron Baynes, center and power forward. “Most of the guys were talking about how the waves were a bit big, and I told them to come to Australia and see ours.”
Al Horford, center and power forward, reminisced about his college years during the Wednesday night Q&A sessions. “Well, those are probably my fondest memories, you know, just hanging out with my friends,” he said. “They were my roommates too, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green.” Horford recalled staying up late with them after practice, and all going to get McDonald’s. “Those types of memories are the ones that stick with you,” he said.
Horford said that it has been 11 years since his college days, and he and his friends still reminisce about the fun times that they had and the mischief they got up to. “There was one night we got into a huge food fight. We were throwing food and water. We made the dorm a mess,” he said. Thinking about how much has changed since he was in college really puts things in perspective for Horford.
With the upcoming season getting closer and closer, the press was most anxious to interview Kyrie Irving, the point guard who recently got traded to the Celtics from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Reporters crowded around Irving in a small mob during his Q&A on Tuesday, and many of the other players being interviewed were asked about Irving recently joining the team.
Jayson Tatum, small forward, had only good things to say about him, mentioning that he [Irving] is comfortable with the team and had the ability to make everyone around him feel comfortable as well. “I love going against him,” he said. “He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever had to guard in my life. That will make me a better player too.”
Salve Regina was happy to host the Celtics at Rodgers Recreation Center, and all of the students and faculty are excited for the upcoming season. The Celtics preseason games starts this Wednesday against Charlotte.
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