In this weeks episode of The Podcast, host Jay DeMayo sits down with David Ventress, strength coach for the University of Louisiana men's basketball program, to break down how speed work, movement training, and weight room design fit into a basketball culture. The conversation focuses on how to build acceleration and speed reserves, then carry those qualities into competition, conditioning, and team identity.David also explains how he adapts his programming to the realities of a team setting, from group-based sprint work to position-specific lifting for guards and bigs. The big theme throughout is simple: the program has to serve the culture, not the other way around. Key topics In this episode, David Ventress shares his background across Nicholls State, Tulane, South Alabama, and now Louisiana, where he is entering year two with the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball staff. Jay and David discuss why top-end speed still matters in basketball, even on a court where max velocity is less frequent than in field sports. David explains his view that exposure to higher speeds helps build speed reserves, improve hamstring resiliency, and support rate of force development. The speed program is built around two weekly days: one linear day focused on max velocity one change of direction and multi-acceleration day David says the biggest coaching challenge is not exercise selection but getting maximum intent from players, especially in a team environment. Group-based sprinting is used to drive competition, with three to four players going at a time, winners and losers called out, and built-in consequences or rewards. Rather than relying on timing gates, David uses competition as the main driver and believes the rise in performance within the same groups shows progress over time. In the weight room, the program shifts by position: guards get more eccentric, reactive, single-leg, and high-speed plyometric work bigs get more concentric, two-foot, and strength-focused work David uses jump mats and VBT-style feedback to gamify lifting, but he emphasizes intent and competition more than prescription by exact load or speed targets. As the team moves from eight-hour to 20-hour NCAA rules, the focus shifts from building speed reserves to repeat sprint ability and post-practice conditioning. David says practice itself provides much of the high-velocity exposure during the season through accountability, transition work, and down-and-back efforts.
