For most students at Ohio, the summer means enjoying time at home with family and friends, new job experiences and vacations, but for Bobcat athletes, it is a new routine.
Ohio redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton said the football team received about a week to go home after the end of Spring Semester, but then many had to return to campus for the first summer session.
“I usually take the time after the spring to go home, be with my family, and get away from school and football for a little bit,” Tettleton said. “But after that we have to be back for the first session of summer.”
However, the men’s basketball team’s schedule is different, as most went home for the first session and then returned to Athens to take classes for the second session. Senior forward Ricardo Johnson said he went home for the first session of summer classes and worked out on his own until the team reported for the second session the first week of July.
“We either take classes (for the first session), or go home for two months and report later for the second session,” Johnson said. “We get a workout packet for the summer that tells us what lifting and conditioning stuff we are to do each day.”
This summer is different for the incoming freshmen, though, as those on the football team reported June 27 and started attending summer classes July 1 for the second session of classes.
Incoming freshman wide receiver Justin Wyatt said before his arrival in Athens that he was excited to start his career with the Bobcats this summer.
“Once I get to Athens for the summer, I’m going to be training, studying the playbook, and preparing to make an impact for the upcoming season,” Wyatt said.
Fellow incoming freshman wide receiver Cedric Brown was occupied competing in track for his high school in the time leading up to his report date. But like Wyatt, staying fit and getting comfortable with the team is his priority when he gets to campus.
“My main goal this summer is to stay healthy, and I’m really looking forward to working out with the guys,” he said.
Because a minority of students remain in Athens during the summer, leisure activities are limited, but Tettleton said he enjoys a round of golf while away from the gridiron.
“I play golf and try to go to a pool when it’s hot; some of the guys live at The Summit so we go up there every once in a while,” Tettleton said.
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