Mark Gottfried talks scheduling and impact transfers during summer press conference

Mark Gottfried met with the media Tuesday afternoon to discuss a bunch of topics, including his early impressions of the freshmen, the impact of transfers on the program, and his scheduling philosophy. The Wolfpacker has the recap of his remarks.

Among the notable items, Gottfried said that Trevor Lacey is down to 205 pounds.

"We talk to them every day about maximizing the year off."

He noted that Lacey went from a coach-estimated 230 pounds last year to 205 now, while improving his conditioning and stamina.

"The level of personal attention for that year becomes really valuable," he noted. "I thought it really helped Ralston a year ago and then we'll see how Trevor does this year.

It should be noted here that "coach-estimated" is not a brand of scale or otherwise accurate form of gauging one's weight. Lacey was listed at 215 pounds during his sophomore season at Alabama. (I like how these player bios seem to eternally float around the internet as live links, long after any trace of them is removed from team sites.)

Gottfried also praised Lacey for the work he did on the scout team during his year off. It's evident that Gottfried at minimum believes Lacey will be one of the main guys carrying the load, and probably expects him to lead the team in scoring. I bet that's how it will play out.

In touching on the schedule--the non-conference slate should be made public "soon"--Gottfried mentioned how important strength of schedule was last year:

"No doubt, this past year, that's what made the difference," he said. "I've talked with three or four people that were on the committee, and who we chose to play separated us from a couple of other teams and winning away from home separated us, too."

Plus an important BeeJay Anya weight update!

"Our goal for BeeJay is 280, that's what I think is his best weight. At one time at the end of this past season, he was at 349. He's made a great deal of progress and I'm very proud of him for doing that, but he's not there yet. He's making good steps."