Unlike most of the Penn basketball team, for freshman guard David Whitehurst, there is no off-season.
Within a week of the end of the basketball season, the point guard, who moved into the starting role at the end of the season, began to practice for track -- his other varsity sport. Whitehurst is a member of the hurdles team, a squad that has traditionally been very strong at Penn.
One would think that a basketball player getting significant playing time at the end of his freshman season would not be heavily focused on his college track career. However, running hurdles is not just exercise for Whitehurst. In high school he was ranked in the top five nationally for hurdles, and he does not want to give up his opportunity to be a track star. He has enough talent in both sports, and is keeping his options open by hurdling as well as playing basketball.
"Basically I'm playing two sports because I have the potential to do both," Whitehurst said. "I fared very well at both in high school. Being an All-American in track and also being an All-Prep basketball player, I had a chance to do both [at Penn]. I want to feel my way through which sport I want to pursue after a while."
While he can be a member of both teams, seriously competing in two collegiate sports has its drawbacks. Because of the basketball schedule, Whitehurst has gone a while without having the opportunity to hurdle, and he is not yet in competitive shape.
He does not miss any of the basketball season, but the long-lasting winter sport impedes on his pre-season track practice and rules out the indoor track season entirely. Basketball forces him to miss a chunk of the regular season as well, as the Quakers had their first outdoor meet last weekend, just days after Whitehurst practiced for the first time this year.
However, neither team can be upset with Whitehurst playing two sports because if it were not for his ability to play both, Whitehurst likely would not have gone to Penn. Few institutions, especially schools offering scholarships, were willing to let Whitehurst run track as well as play basketball, and Penn was one of the few that was going to let him try out both. The ability to play both sports gave Penn a recruiting edge over other schools that would normally pull the best high school track and basketball stars. This ultimately led to Whitehurst's decision to come to Philadelphia.
"Really that was the main factor," Whitehurst said. "I really wanted to do basketball and track so it made a big difference that [Penn] would let me do both."
Whitehurst was a hot prospect coming out of high school for both basketball and track and could have gone to a top school in either sport had he decided to stick with only one.
Besides Penn, only Rutgers and William and Mary were seriously considering letting him join both teams, and may not have given him a scholarship to play.
Had he wanted to only run track in college, he could have gone to schools like Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas or Stanford. Just as impressive, his options for basketball included Providence, Pittsburgh, Stanford and even Wisconsin, which was six points away from making the final four this year.
Few schools would allow Whitehurst to play both sports because of the time he has to miss due to the overlap of the two seasons.
"It might hurt my track ability, I'm not sure," Whitehurst said. "In my hurdle races I get off slow in the start, and the indoor season would have helped me out with that. Hopefully it won't affect me that much, but you never know my potential if I go all four years playing basketball."
Still, Whitehurst is clearly happy with his decision to go to Penn.
"It's a win-win, short run and long run. I already have a championship under my belt," Whitehurst said, referring to the Ivy League title won by the basketball team this season.
Because the basketball season lasted well into March this year, head track coach Charlie Powell is worried about Whitehurst's progression after missing significant practice time.
"Yes I'm concerned, but he's a great athlete, and we'll see what he can get done," Powell said.
It may not be easy for Whitehurst to return to his top hurdling form within a matter of days, but he hopes that he will make a smooth transition and progress quickly.
"Thursday was my first practice going over hurdles," Whitehurst said. "I made some headway, but other than that I was kind of struggling. The muscles I use for hurdling are totally different from basketball."
Powell is not sure how Whitehurst will progress this season, but he has done a good job of balancing the two sports the last couple of years.
"Playing basketball didn't hurt him in high school, but the basketball season doesn't go quite this long, so we won't know [how he will adjust] until he goes into the full season," Powell said. "We'll just take it day by day. It could be another week, it could be another month, it depends on what kind of shape he really is in."
The basketball team will be participating in off-season workouts, and while Whitehurst will be absent for many of these, Penn basketball coach Fran Dunphy is not concerned. He is certain that Whitehurst will be able to find the time to play on his own.
"I don't think that it hurts his basketball," Dunphy said. "He can still spend some time shooting shots and those kinds of things even though he is working on his track game, so I have no concerns."
Besides finding time to practice, the other major concern about Whitehurst's playing both sports is injuries, a coach's worst nightmare. Injuries are more common in basketball than in track, so they are probably more of a factor for Powell and the hurdling team.
"Everyone's main concern is possibly getting injured [while playing the other sport], but you can get injured even fooling around the dorm, or just walking down the stairs," Powell said.
In October, Whitehurst sprained his ankle and has not yet had enough time to rest it to the point of it fully healing. While the ankle should not hinder his hurdling, it will probably stop Whitehurst from doing any high jump this year.
Everyone wishes Whitehurst could devote all the necessary time to each sport. However, each coach is respectful of the other, and is supportive of his decision to run track as well as play basketball.
"He's an outstanding basketball player, and is a national calibre hurdler," Powell said. "It's not our decision, it's his."
Dunphy strongly backs Whitehurst's choice to play both sports.
"Any time you're a good enough athlete so that you can do a couple of different things, you should do your best in all of them," Dunphy said.
Whitehurst wants to keep playing both sports at the collegiate level because he has the potential to be great at both.
"To be honest, I feel I can go farther in track [than basketball]," Whitehurst said. "There's a good chance I'm not going to the NBA, but there's a better chance that I could make it to the Olympics for what I do in high hurdles.
Whitehurst is currently trying to regain his form from last year at Lawrenceville Academy in New Jersey, where he ran the 110-meter high hurdles in 13.82 seconds. The collegiate high hurdles are set at 42 inches, three inches higher than in high school, but Whitehurst is confident his 6-foot-3 frame will allow him to easily make the transition.
As for basketball, Whitehurst will find time to practice his game as often as possible.
"Lifting is the most important part," Whitehurst said. "I am only 190 [pounds] so I have to get stronger. I also have to work on my ball-handling."
But for the next two months basketball will be secondary, as Whitehurst will finally be able to focus on hurdling.
