The 2023-2024 Pepperdine Women’s Basketball season came to an end in the first round of the WCC Championships after a loss to the University of San Diego on March 7. The Waves’ ended their season with a 5-25 record.
This prompted change for the Waves, who brought in a new head coach, Katie Faulkner who aims to make Pepperdine an elite women’s basketball program, according to previous Graphic reporting.
As all sports fans know, success comes from hard work, and hard work starts in practice. But Pepperdine’s fans might not be aware of the other people working hard on the court during practice.
The Women’s Basketball team has a practice squad that consists of a group of male Pepperdine students. The practice players help the team prepare for their opponents.
“Us doing well or even having the kinds of intense practices that we have, I don’t think it would be a possibility without them,” senior guard Helena Friend said.
When Women’s Basketball meets for practice, certain coaches have a scouting report ready for the team to train with ahead of their matchup. The coach who has the report then prepares the practice players to impersonate the Waves’ upcoming opponents — helping the team prepare for their matchups.
“They do an impeccable job scouting for us. When we’re playing these teams, they’re in the gym practicing with us every day, they’re acting as these girls,” Friend said. “They’re going to make it as real as possible, and they’re going to make it challenging for us.”
Senior Sam Chung has been on the practice squad since his freshman year. Chung happened to be in the right place when the squad was being assembled.
“One day, I was playing in the gym freshman year, and the coaches kind of just came up to me and a couple of other friends of mine and asked if we wanted to do it,” Chung said. “They had never had practice players here before, and we jumped on the opportunity.”
Friend is currently the only player on the roster who’s been with the team for the last four seasons. She’s seen the evolution and growth of the practice squad.
Friend pointed out that she believes the practice squad this season looks like the best she’s seen.
“I’ve been in practice scenes where it’s like they’re there for the free gear, they’re there for the early registration,” Friend said. “But specifically this year our practice guys, you can tell they really, really care.”
Sophomore Luke Bell joined the scout team this year, and his entry into the squad was different than Chung’s.
“I have a friend who was a practice player last year. His name is Isaiah Dean, and he’s now a walk-on this year,” Bell said. “I was wanting to become a practice player. He just gave my information to coach, and then she reached out to me.”
Chung talked about how the practice players take pride in a winning result from the Women’s Basketball team. Although they’re not on the actual roster, Chung spoke about the effect the squad has on the team’s training.
“Our goal is to make them better. That’s the whole goal of being a practice player, right? Make the girls better,” Chung said. “Make them smarter on the court, and hopefully, the result is a win.”
Friend and Chung both spoke about the difference the practice players can bring for physical reasons. While the practice players’ main role is to impersonate the players the team prepares for, they offer a different angle due to their physical attributes.
The Women’s Basketball season is underway, and the Waves are 1-2. Only time will tell the results of the changes during the offseason, but the practice squad and players continue to work, growing with each other along the way.
“Their hunger and just their ability to make us better, it’s beyond what I think we could do for each other,” Friend said.
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Email Nick Charkhedian: nareg.charkhedian@pepperdine.edu
