CORVALLIS – For a two-week stretch in September, a nightly text would buzz on the phone of each Oregon State men's basketball player.
The message arrived with the plan for the coming day, one that required players to wake up before sunrise, throw on custom short-sleeve camo T-shirts and black athletic shorts and report to the Sports Performance Center just west of Gill Coliseum no later than 6 a.m.
On the back of each shirt read the same slogan: "Band of Brothers."
This was "boot camp," the brain child of head coach Wayne Tinkle and associate head coach Kerry Rupp, meant to get a youthful group with developing talent but short on experience working together, building mental toughness and leadership.