Meet the 'torture device' that is unlocking Marquette basketball player David Joplin's potential

The machines look so innocuous, tucked away in the corner of the weight room at Marquette's Al McGuire Center.

Long and skinny, they wouldn't appear out of place in a training montage from a 1980s boxing movie. Other equipment might be bigger or more high tech, but the VersaClimber holds a dreaded place among Golden Eagles basketball players.

"The VersaClimber is the worst thing we got in the weight room," junior guard Kam Jones said.

MU head coach Shaka Smart is a true believer in the power of the VersaClimber, going back to when he was a young coach at Virginia Commonwealth. This summer, he put junior forward David Joplin through a rigorous program on the machine. The reigning Big East sixth man of the year is in line for a starting spot and a bigger role this season, and he attacked the challenge alongside walk-on Cameron Brown, who was recovering from a knee injury.

The results are striking, with Joplin noticeably leaner and more explosive. That funky-looking machine might be the key to helping MU reach its Final Four potential.

"It’s one of those torture devices that it’s as hard as you make it," Smart said. "You can go all out on that thing and you are basically climbing up a hill with your arms and your legs."

LeBron James and Shaka Smart are big fans of VersaClimber

LeBron James has long extolled the virtues of the VersaClimber.

Smart is just as enthusiastic. He cites the use of the machine as a big reason Mo Alie-Cox, his former player at VCU, developed the motor to go from rugged college basketball forward to NFL tight end.

So when Smart became head coach at MU in 2021, he was happy to find out from Todd Smith, the associate athletic director for applied sports science and performance, the school had five VersaClimbers at the Al McGuire Center and eight at the Athletic and Human Performance Research Center.

“He definitely let me know how he felt about it," Smith said. "He loves them. We would throw curveballs at the guys and they would have to do a certain amount of whatever feet in a minute or total feet in such of time.

"And that would get them out of something or get them into something in terms of workouts. So we definitely used them as a curveball. He’s been doing it a long time."

Using it looks like you are climbing an endless ladder.

"It's total body," Smith said. "You got to pull with your arms. You got push. It's everything.

"I like it because it's hard. And getting through hard things is a big deal."

Smart also shared with Smith a 15-week program developed by Smart's strength and conditioning coach at VCU and Texas.

"It is progressive," Smith said. "So it increases for three weeks, then it will step back the fourth week but then it will start increasing again. And as you go on, the rest time goes down. It’s hard."

They settled on the perfect candidate to be the first MU player to do the whole thing.

David Joplin ready to step into starting role with the Golden Eagles

Joplin has never lacked for confidence. His easy three-point stroke at 6-foot-8 makes him a tantalizing talent, but MU coaches have long been after him to improve his fitness and defense.

Before his freshman season, Smart challenged Joplin to run a mile up a seven-floor parking ramp in 5 minutes 45 seconds, another idea the coach used with Alie-Cox at VCU. Last summer, the stakes were raised with the VersaClimber program.

"For me, three years of college so far, that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done," Joplin said.

At least Joplin had Brown, who was working his way back into shape after his knee injury, next to him.

“There is strength when you’re suffering when you’re together with somebody,” Smith said.

Joplin embraced the challenge because he knows what is at stake. With Olivier-Maxence Prosper leaving for the NBA, there is a bigger role to grab.

The Golden Eagles had the same starting lineup every game last season on a team that went 29-7 and claimed the Big East regular-season and tournament titles: Jones, Prosper, Tyler Kolek, Stevie Mitchell and Oso Ighodaro. According to hoop-explorer.com, a statistical site that compiles lineup data, that quintet had an elite net rating of 33.5 in 728 possessions together, with their offense averaging 126.7 points per 100 possessions and the defense yielding 93.2. Those numbers take out "garbage time" (possessions after the game has been decided). The net rating was the No. 4 mark in the nation of any lineup that played at least 300 possessions together.

Kolek, Jones, Mitchell and Ighodaro are all back. When Joplin played with that group (72 possessions on offense and 70 on defense), the Golden Eagles had a net rating of 4.6. They were awesome on offense at 129.2 points per 100 possessions, but really struggled on defense by giving up 124.6.

Joplin knew he had to get better on the defensive end, and that required a better motor. So he climbed on the VersaClimber.

"It’s brutal," Joplin said. "It takes you to that vulnerable place. But it just lets you know that you have more in you."

Joplin actually weighs more now, but feels better

The program was no joke.

"It’s basically climbing," Joplin said. "The program we did, it was based on your heartrate. So we’d have a day where we’d be at 85% for a little longer period of time. And then you’d have a day where you’d have max heartrate where you’d try to go as fast as you can for two or three minutes."

Joplin's body composition changed; he is leaner but stronger. Interestingly, he is listed at 225 pounds, up from 220 last season.

"He's playing with more force," Smith said. "He's able to sprint the court easier and more. And he's trying to dunk way more often than he has. I think (MU's foreign trip to) Italy was the first time he's dunked in a game for us."

Yes, amazingly, Joplin is still waiting for his first dunk at MU. Being more athletic should also help him finish better on shots around the rim, an area where he was just 32 for 63 (50.8%) last season.

Joplin said he wants to earn more trips to the free throw line. He shot 48 free throws compared to his 269 field-goal attempts last season, a paltry 17.8 free-throw rate that showed Joplin relied on mostly jump shots. Prosper was the team's best player at drawing fouls last season, with a 51.5 free-throw rate.

Then there is the defensive end. Prosper was MU's acknowledged perimeter stopper last season. Joplin seems committed to improving.

"It’s an every day thing, really," Joplin said. "Every day in practice. There’s going to be times in the games where they try to go at me or whoever.

"And you got to have that confidence in yourself. But you got to have those reps, just going as hard as you can every time. I believe if I play as hard as I can on defense, I can guard anybody."

After conquering the VersaClimber, Joplin can play harder for longer on both ends of the court.

"The growth that comes from it is major," Joplin said. "It helped me a lot. I’m never really tired.

"My legs feel great. I’m jumping higher. I’m jumping more. I feel quicker. Everything. And confidence as well, just knowing I have more in myself whenever I do feel fatigue."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's David Joplin in elite shape thanks to VersaClimber program