When Coach John Beilein led Richmond to the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament in 1998, he had so much time to fill between the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament and Selection Sunday that he took his players fishing.
Such is life for midmajor programs, which sometimes punch their tickets to the N.C.A.A. tournament a week — or more — before the major conferences have even gathered to crown their league champions. In that waiting period, keeping a team sharp can require coaching methods that have nothing to do with basketball. So there are fishing trips. And whiffle ball games. And intrasquad scrimmages.