Players on Sacramento State’s men’s basketball team routinely stop into the Well and play pick-up games in their spare time.

They play with each other and against other students who just happen to be in the gym.

Senior pick-up basketball player Matt Boughlin said it is pretty easy to tell when he’s playing against a guy on the team because of the ability they display on the court.

Junior forward John Dickson said while playing scrimmages at the Well, the team does not play as hard as they would in a full practice.

“We probably go at like ‘five-speed,’ make a few shots, light sweat,” Dickson said.

Dickson said a lot of the guys he plays against at the Well try to prove a point against them.

“We really don’t pay no attention to it. We just play and do what we do,” Dickson said.

Boughlin said it’s motivational to play against a player he thinks is better than he is.

“When there (are) guys out there that are on the team, you’re out there thinking, ‘OK these guys have to be really good to have qualified to have even been on the team,’” Boughlin said. “So when you get out there, yeah it gets pretty intense. I definitely step my game up to the best of my ability.”

Men’s basketball head coach Brian Katz said the Well is a great place and thinks it is a positive thing that the players compete there.

“Having the Well has created so many more opportunities for everybody because it’s obviously created more gym space and more time,” Katz said. “So our players have more access to shoot the ball.”

Katz said since the Well has been completed, most of the intramural sports have moved over to the building, creating more availability in Yosemite Hall where the men and women’s basketball teams practice and play games.

Junior center Konner Veteto said he tries to go to the Well when the team does not have access to Yosemite Hall.

“(When) the girls are practicing, I’ll go over to the Well and shoot and do extra weight lifting,” Veteto said. “I’m glad we have it. It’s like a place where we have a good basketball gym, a good weight room, good atmosphere, tons of people. We go in there to stay in shape.”

Women’s head basketball coach Jamie Craighead said besides the men’s and women’s basketball teams sharing The Nest, they also share it with the kinesiology department, so the extra space helps.

During the team’s season, the Sac State basketball players do not go to the Well as often. Most of their pick-up games occur during the rest of the year when the team is not playing.

Freshman forward Magd Owayed said there is a risk of injury to play in the Well, but the risk will be there no matter where they play.

“Whoever we’re going play, it’s going to be competitive,” Owayed said. “There’s always risk to get injured. You just need to take care of yourself, and be careful.”

Veteto said sometimes the games they play at the Well are organized.

“One person will be there and call some of our other teammates up,” Veteto said. “We’ll go meet over there and play together or we go in there on our own time and if we’re like struggling or something we’ll go in there and work by ourselves. Like if you’re not making shots, you go in there and shoot by yourself, practice free throws.”

Katz said having the Well on campus also helps with recruiting. The 151,000 square-foot facility speaks for itself during campus tours.

“People see that thing and they’re excited about it,” Katz said. “It helps the situation with our gym, our gym being a sub-par Division I gym, the Well kind of offsets that a little bit.”

Veteto said the Well helps keep students on campus, which is important for a commuter school like Sac State.

“It’s good that we actually have a rec center now so people will stay in Sac and work out instead of (going) back home and (working) out,” Veteto said.

Katie McMillin can be reached at [email protected].