VICTOR OLADIPO's OFFSEASON WORKOUT SESSIONS WITH DWAYNE WADE - ALL-MET ELITE

VICTOR OLADIPO's

OFFSEASON

 WORKOUT SESSIONS

 WITH

 DWAYNE WADE 

 ALL-MET ELITE 

DEMATHA HS.

HYATTSVILLE MD.

Victor Oladipo and Dwyane Wade have been acquaintances since the former was in high school and the latter was a first-time NBA champion, and that friendship has only grown stronger through the years because they played for the same coach in college.

So it was only natural last summer, as Oladipo was coming off his first NBA season and preparing for the second with the Orlando Magic that he sought out the advice of Wade – a three-time champion and a 10-time all-star – with the Miami Heat. The two were a part of a large group of NBA players who convened at Indiana University for offseason workouts and Oladipo and Wade spent time together watching game footage and going through skills and conditioning drills.

``Most of it was just about us helping each other and working on our games,’’ Oladipo said of the sessions in Bloomington, Ind., where they drilled with coach Tom Crean – Oladipo’s coach at IU and Wade’s coach at Marquette. ``That experience of getting to talk to him was huge for me because it helped me with my confidence and my mindset.’’

Now that Oladipo is starting at shooting guard that means he will go head-to-head against Wade, something that Oladipo called an ``honor and a blessing.’’ Oladipo said he’s lucky to have the help of a superstar the quality of Wade, whom he called ``one of the greatest to ever play this game when it’s all said and done.’’


``Anything I can do to help him, I’ll do,’’ Wade said of assisting Oladipo. ``I can say that he was well-coached by Coach Crean. Knowing that we have similar styled games and he’s an attacker like me. Not only working out together, but we could see certain things just by talking to each other. He watched a lot of film with me and I’m sure he learned a lot. Whatever I can help with, I’ll do it.’’