It's late June, and cousins Georges and Justin Serresse are the only two people in the Ben Avery Gym at Laurentian University. While their days as members of the Voyageurs men's basketball team are well behind them, their love of the sport as kept both men in the game.
A graduate of College Notre-Dame in Sudbury, Georges Serresse is preparing to return to Pays des Olonnes in France, a National II level squad.
"I want to gain some more experience in my second year at National II," he said. "After this year, I am probably going to try and make a push to move up even more."
With that in mind, the 6-3 swingman understands that limiting his focus to a singular facet of his game is somewhat counter-productive.
"A player is always going to find he can improve in every area," said Serresse. "I try and work on both my defence and offence. Offensively, it’s probably my explosiveness with my first step. Defensively, it’s a bit more complicated, but there’s lot of things to work on."
And while he hopes to tackle a larger challenge in 2017, it's a safe bet that his 30-year-old former teammate at LU is sure to be wading into somewhat unfamiliar waters.
An assistant coach with the University of Ottawa Gee Gees for the past five years, Justin Serresse was named to replace legendary Laurier Golden Hawks head coach Peter Campbell come September.
A one-time coach at Laurentian as well, Campbell retired from the post after guiding the Laurier program for the past 16 years. As for Serresse, he moved from France to Canada (Sudbury, more specifically) in 2006, and played two seasons with the Voyageurs.
Moving to Ottawa, he became a full-time assistant coach with U of O in 2011.
"My first year, I knew nothing," acknowledged Serresse. "As a player, I was a quote-unquote high IQ player. You think you know the game as a player, and then you start coaching and realize you don't know much."
Over time, that all changed.
"Six years with Ottawa really, really helped me, as far as taking on responsibilities, learning from my mistakes. I did a lot of video scouting, for upcoming games," said Serresse. "Watching the great teams like Carleton and Ryerson forces you to just learn.
"You start to understand why they are doing certain things, you start to think outside of the box and try and go above and beyond regular scouting."
Selected by Laurier among a pool of some 50 candidates, Serresse understands the role he inherits from Campbell is a different one than the Gee Gees job that he left behind.
"I don’t think it will be a big adjustment, because I’ve been through that in the past three years already," said Serresse. "We talk about assistant coaches being big brothers, and head coach being the father figure. You have to find a balance."
As for the Laurier team itself, Serresse is preaching patience, even if it is not the approach that comes most naturally to him.
"It’s a little bit of a rebuild," opined Serresse. "I’ve got a lot of third- and fourth-year players that I am trying to develop into pretty good players for the next 2-3 years.
"We might surprise some people within the next few years, depending on how our recruiting and our player development goes. It’s hard sometimes, because I want to win right away, and I’ve been with a winning program – but I have to have a vision for the team, and focus long-term, not just the first couple of games next year."
