Making Tornado tough

By John Enrietto
Eagle Sports Editor

BUTLER TWP — Welcome to Camp Clement.
The Butler High boys basketball program is undergoing a new look with Golden Tornado graduate and retired major league pitcher Matt Clement now running the show.
"With any new coach comes new philosophies and a different way of doing things," Clement said.
In Clement's case, that philosophy is conditioning, more conditioning and still more conditioning.
"Hard man-to-man defense, working hard, intensity —that's what this program will be about," Clement said. "We want to outwork the opposition and to do that, we have to be in better shape than the opposition."
From his first meeting with the players until now, Clement indicated how his preseason regimen — from open gym through the scrimmages — was going to be.
Of the original 34 students who came out team, there are 19 left.
"Some kids decided this wasn't for them and that's fine," Clement said. "I respect that and I respect them."
A common part of Butler basketball practice is suicide drills, which consists of running from baseline to baseline, then back.
"We have to do 20 of those things," junior center Bobby Swartwout said. "The goal is for every player to be able to do one in less than 30 seconds.
"When we first started, only two or three guys could make that time. Now, everyone but two or three of us can do it," he added.
Senior guard Logan Renwick said Clement is stressing defense more than anything.
"Defense is the No. 1 priority," Renwick said. "Coach Clement wants us to be in their faces all the time.
"The practices haven't been easy, but it's all about making us better. I think it's all going to pay off in the long run," he added.
Senior forward Brian Jendesky said he was excited about playing for Clement because of the coach's experience as a professional athlete.
"He's obviously been around and worked with a lot of coaches, seen a lot of things in sports," Jendesky said. "It's all about developing work ethic. It paid off for him and it can pay off for us."
Butler has been to the WPIAL playoffs once — the 2007-08 season — since reaching the WPIAL Quad-A championship game in 2000. Outgoing coach Joe Lewandowski was 74-88 with two winning seasons in seven years at the helm.
The Golden Tornado were 7-14 last season with no returning lettermen on the active roster. This year, everyone is returning.
Renwick was picked to be a captain by the coaches. Jeff Tompkins and first-year varsity player Eli Christy were voted captains by their teammates.
"That shows what the kids think of Eli's leadership qualities," Clement said. "We picked Logan because he busts his butt every day in practice, stays afterward to work on his game, never misses a practice and is willing to do whatever it takes to become a winner.
"That's exactly the kind of player we want to mold in this program."
Renwick said Clement "wants us to approach every practice and every game as if it's the last day we'll ever play basketball."
At the end of each practice, Clement picks a player to go to the free-throw line. With the rest of the team lined up along the baseline watching, the player takes a foul shot. If he makes it, practice is over.
If he misses, the entire team does a suicide drill. Then another player goes to the line to repeat the process.
"You want to get your players to experience pressure situations as often as possible," Clement said.
He divides the roster into three different teams during practice "because I want everything to be a competition," Clement said.
Clement plans to use the experience on his roster to play as many players as possible each game, keeping a fresh five on the floor to maintain a high-energy style of play.
"There's been more losing than winning going on at Butler in a lot of sports," he said. "These kids are sick of it. These guys are still here because they have the heart, desire and will to win. That's the kind of team I want.
"I'm going to make mistakes. But I'm not going to make the same mistakes two or three times."
Before practice ended last Friday — on the eve of Butler's first scrimmage — Clement had a message for his team.
"The other team should be leaving this gym never wanting to come back here," he said. "Other teams should dread coming to Butler. This gym should be a nightmare for them. That's the goal."