As N.C . State basketball begins its journey through the competitive ACC schedule, key players will be required to dig deeper to pull out wins as the rotations get tighter.
Players spent the offseason preparing to push themselves to the next level, and in the case of men’s junior forward Richard Howell and women’s sophomore center Kody Burke, their offseason weight loss has helped them find the next level in their game.
According to Howell and Burke, both have lost around 30 pounds each to date, but have taken different approaches to the process. Howell enlisted the assistance of a nutritionist that has not only helped him lose weight, but gain energy as well. Burke focused her efforts towards her conditioning regimen to drop the pounds.
“I have a nutritionist that I was meeting with once a week,” Howell said. “She helps me eat the right food, not only to lose weight, but to also keep the energy when I’m not eating as healthy as I was. The food she has me on right now has definitely helped me out, some fruits and stuff like that.”
“Diet didn’t really change, but I did up my workouts,” Burke said. “Over the summer I played a lot of pick up, so that was a lot of up and down sprints and that kind of increased my metabolism. I also did a little treadmill work just to kind of tone up a little bit but I didn’t go crazy with it.”
Along with conditioning on the court and the treadmill, Burke also credited one particular summer workout that helped her condition for the season.
“I still wasn’t in the best condition,” Burke said. “When I got here, we did a lot of conditioning summer workouts and that’s what helped me get to where I am today. Summer workouts we had to do four 400s and for each lap we had to make it under a minute and a half. It seems easy because it’s an endurance thing but you have to be quick.”
So far, both have experienced success on the statistical front. Howell, who pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds against Campbell, is currently pulling down 9.5 boards per game, which leads the Pack and ranks third in the conference as well. Burke ranks second in rebounding for the Pack and third in scoring.
Aside from the statistical accomplishments so far, both claim that the weight loss has helped them prepare for the rigorous conference schedule.
“And now we’re in the ACC, I mean the girls are fast,” Burke said. “To be able to keep up with them this year makes me feel really happy, but I would also like to be a little [faster] up and down the court.”
Howell cited a highlight play during the Pack’s ACC opener against Maryland that displayed how his weight loss impacts his abilities in conference play.
“It’s a huge change,” Howell said. “I saw it in the second half when I went up and dunked it on vert . That is something I couldn’t do my freshman year because I was too heavy. For me to lose that weight, it definitely made it easy for me to get up and down the floor and get off the floor quicker.
“I feel like, with the weight loss, I have a lot more energy on the court. I can stay on the court a lot longer instead of coming off every time out.”
