Q&A With U.Va. strength trainer Shaun Brown

By Ed Miller
The Virginian-Pilot

Shaun Brown, 40, grew up near Buffalo, N.Y., and played football at Canisius College before earning a master's degree in exercise science at Ohio State.

In an 18-year career as a strength and conditioning coach, he's worked at Ohio State, Rutgers, Providence College, the University of Kentucky, and for the NBA's Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors. He came to the University of Virginia in 2005 and has been whipping the basketball team into shape since.

Q. How did you get into strength training?

A. I went to school to get into teaching. Strength training was a relatively young profession, and it was really starting to turn the corner as far as jobs being available. Like all Division III football and basketball players, you think you're better than you are and you can find some secret formula by working out. I researched it and really fell in love with the profession and said I could envision myself working with high level athletes on a daily basis.

Q. Why basketball?

A. I did football at Ohio State. I did football at Rutgers. There was a job opening at Providence. It was a chance to kind of run your own program. I never thought I would get away from football; they just didn't have it. I quickly found there weren't a lot of guys doing basketball.

Q. How does training basketball players differ from training football players?

A. Obviously, the lack of contact is the biggest thing and there are things you don't put as much of an emphasis on. Like neck training, which can be life or death for football and wrestling. Also, basketball is the only sport on campus where kids are playing on a hard surface. So in devising a program of kids running, and conditioning, there's been a big shift toward non weight-bearing stuff.

Q. How has the profession changed since you broke in,

A. There was a point in time where guys that were strength coaches were just the guys that could lift in the gym. Now, it's a competitive profession, and as much science as there is to it, the guys that are good are the guys who can coach. There's an art to it.

Q. What misconceptions do people have about what you do?

A. That there's much more glamour to it. You've really got to like what you do, because it's anything but 9 to 5. It's not just a profession; it's a way of life. It's every day of the year, whether it's Christmas morning or the 4th of July, and you build your life around it.

Q. What happened to the old adage that building too much muscle ruins a player's shooting touch?

A. There's validity to it, because if all you do is lift weights and don't shoot, it'll mess you up. If you shoot while you lift, you're always fine.

Q. How is working with college players different than working with NBA players?

A. Exceedingly different. In the NBA, you really do have some freaks of nature, at every position. It's a business. If guys have to put on 15 pounds, they'll find a way to do it. You've got guys that will shoot for hours. You become very good at dealing with injuries, working around them and working through them, because you have to.

Q. Who was your biggest rags-to-riches success story?

A. A kid that always sticks out for me is Walter McCarty at Kentucky, who went on to a long career in the NBA. When he came in he was 6-10, and 170 pounds. He left at 237. Even after putting on all that weight, he still ran a 4:48 mile.

Q. What non-traditional training methods do you use?

A. We've got this parking garage at (John Paul Jones Arena) and I drive it every day. In my mind, I know we're going to have a wheelbarrow this summer and we'll have a timed push through it. I'm sure the players are going to send me flowers for that one.