By Rachel Veslany and Jill Gattens
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
It’s one of the final weekday practices before Towson begins the 2019-2020 season. The coaching staff is making sure players are accountable for their actions on the court.
First-team mistake: Pushups are the punishment. Second-team mistake: Timed suicides commence.
Brian Fobbs, a senior and pre-season all-CAA player, is right there with the unproven underclassmen doing the conditioning drills. Fobbs knows that for the season ahead, there’s plenty of work to be done.
“I am just trying to work on every facet of my game offensively,” Fobbs said. “Working on ball handling, shooting, coming off of pick-and-rolls, post-ups, just every little thing I can do to get better at my game.”
Fobbs’ game was plenty good last season — his first at Towson after transferring from junior college. He averaged a team-high 17.5 points. His 561 points tied for 10th best ever for a season at Towson. He was one of the top scorers in the CAA and was named to the all-conference second team. He was the only player to start every game.
“It felt great to be named to the first team,” Fobbs said. “I was excited for everyone to finally see what I am capable of doing. It’s been a long journey, and I am excited to play. I have worked on a lot of things in the off season, so I am ready to start playing.”
While Fobbs had a successful junior year, his team didn’t — finishing 10-22 and 6-12 in conference play. The Tigers have a chance to get off to a stronger start Tuesday as they host George Washington (7 p.m., SECU Arena).
Head coach Pat Skerry said Fobbs is set for a big year.
“He is an awesome guy to coach,” Skerry said. “Not only is he talented, he’s got a great level of humility. He’s an unbelievable worker. He does what he’s supposed to do. He’s primed for a big year. Hopefully he gets all that recognition. He also knows the more we win, the more he’s going to gain.”
Fobbs said he’s ready for the challenge of being a leader. And he expects the team to improve.
“For sure we are definitely ready,” Fobbs said. We have to get better at a few things, but we have definitely grown a lot since the summertime and getting to know each other. So I think we are going to have a lot of fun and play good this season.”
Fobbs said team chemistry is key to a rebound season.
“I would say playing more together, communicating to each other [are important],” he said. “I know when we get tired, it’s hard to talk and hard to communicate with people especially in loud gyms. Like when we play in Florida in a couple weeks, I know we are going to have to talk more, communicate and be loud.”
Skerry believes his leadership on the court will play a big role in the upcoming season.
“[Fobbs] has done more on the court to be vocal — it’s not really totally who he is,” Skerry said. “He’s a pleaser, I mean that in a good way. He gets along with everyone. We’ve tried to push him to be a little bit more type A at times. He’s more of a by example guy. He’s an unbelievable gym rat. He really works at it and it shows. He’s gonna have a really great year for us.”