UC basketball strength coach Mike Rehfeldt holds keys to 'Monster Factory'

The most conscientious of workers, Mike Rehfeldt once missed a practice while on the strength and conditioning staff of the Cincinnati Bengals. He did so for good reason as he was interviewing for the University of Cincinnati's opening for a basketball strength coach.

One of his key functions during Bengals practices was being the "horn guy" for then-coach Marvin Lewis. As a period ended, Rehfeldt blew the horn as coordinated prior to practice with Lewis.

Except on the day he missed, leaving Lewis puzzled.

After hearing he was absent for the job interview, he pulled him into his office, then asked why he wasn't notified. The reliable Rehfeldt had told his administrator that he would be gone, but not Lewis directly. His thinking was an NFL coach need not be bothered by such things.

However, Lewis wanted to know and after Rehfeldt had met with Mick Cronin, Lewis called on his behalf.

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"Within a day or maybe even a day, he called Mick and gave his recommendation for me to get the job here," Rehfeldt said. "It was unsolicited. It speaks volumes for someone to go out of his way to do that for me, someone that's just running around with a horn."

The Lewis call helped and Rehfeldt was hired, remaining UC's basketball strength coach from 2012-2020. He left for a year as Connecticut's Director of Basketball Performance under Danny Hurley, then returned to the Bearcats in 2021 with the hiring of Wes Miller.

Wes says he's best

Miller is one of Rehfeldt's biggest fans and advocates.

"We say this all the time, we do have the best strength and conditioning program in the country," Miller said. "I can't imagine there's a better strength coach/performance coach than Mike Rehfeldt. If you look at the guys that have worked with him in a short period of time, they're improving. The guys that work with him over a long period of time, it's incredible!"

The making of the Monster Factory

Strength training and basketball is nothing new to Cincinnati which made people notice in the Bob Huggins years with such specimens as Danny Fortson and Curtis Bostic. Both were trained by current Ohio State Assistant AD for Football Performance, Mickey Marotti who covered basketball and football for the Bearcats in the 90s before joining forces with Urban Meyer and Florida and later Ohio State.

Later came Jason Maxiell and Eric Hicks, then Mick Cronin, a former Huggins assistant, took over and the process continued. Rehfeldt trained Sean Kilpatrick, Gary Clark, Troy Caupain and Jacob Evans III, all of whom made NBA appearances. As for the name in neon lights above the doors to Rehfeldt's office, "Monster Factory" originated with former Cronin point guard Caupain.

"He (Troy) would call it the 'Bounce House' and would call different machines different names," Rehfeldt said. "He started calling it the 'Monster Factory' in 2015-16 somewhere back there. Social media wasn't as big as it is now. Then we started using #monsterfactory in our social media posts and it kind of morphed into the Monster Factory."

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They've since branded it as such and find it fitting as the dungeon-like bottom floor doesn't have windows or sunshine.

Inspiration from NBA greats

Where years ago coaches worried that lifting would ruin their player's shots, now it's the norm. Though Rehfeldt came from a football background with the NFL's Jaguars and Bengals, he's become one of the more noteworthy basketball strength coaches which led to his promotion to Associate AD/Sports Performance.

He was drawn to UC knowing the history of dominating, physical play. Rehfeldt credits NBA legends Michael Jordan and LeBron James for changing attitudes on basketball strength work.

"Back in the day they showed the Michael Jordan videos of him lifting, getting stronger, so they could try to beat the Pistons," Rehfeldt said. "LeBron James spends millions of dollars a year on his body. Now the kids grow up seeing some of their role models have huge investments in their body, nutrition, sleep, strength and conditioning, those things that help them extend their careers."

The Monster Factory is Rehfeldt's laboratory for the men, but women's basketball, volleyball and some other sports also use the area. Further down the hall is the massive football lifting area which eventually will be relocated when the new indoor facility and performance center opens in the coming years.

Quick hits on some of UC's new players

DaVeon "Day Day" Thomas

The junior college transfer from Kilgore Community College recently set a Monster Factory record in a three-quarters court sprint in the Lindner Center practice gym. While Rehfeldt didn't want to divulge specifics in some cases, he acknowledged the 6-foot junior's speed raised some eyebrows.

"Most of it is recruiting," Rehfeldt said. "If the coaching staff recruits physical players, they recruit fast players, they recruit players that are long and strong, it's obviously going to help me do my job."

From there he says it's how they can develop their physical qualities and retain them. The NCAA transfer portal makes it important to offer players the best training opportunities to keep them.

"Moving to the Big 12 has kind of changed the athletes we're getting," Rehfeldt said.

Jamille Reynolds

Reynolds had 23 points in two games against the Bearcats last season playing for Temple, making 10-of-14 shots from the field. It's believed he came in with close to 300 pounds on his 6-foot-10 frame but has since been streamlined. He recently displayed an impressive vertical leap with his head well above the rim.

"He's lost quite a bit of weight," Rehfeldt said. "I can't take 100% credit. I'm here to guide him, give him supervision, give him structure to his daily plan so he can blossom. I give him full credit for changing his body and we have more to come."

Aziz Bandaogo

The 7-footer who scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds with four blocks in UC's NIT quarterfinal loss at Utah Valley is thankfully now in red and black. The Bearcats have not yet had a player of this length and athletic ability.

"I've been doing this 11 years at the college level and eight years in the NFL," Rehfeldt said. "I've had two guys who were able to clear the Vertec, our measurement for vertical jump, with no step. He's one of them."

Edgerrin "Jizzle" James Jr.

Yes, he is related to the NFL Hall of Famer. It's obvious the work ethic has been passed down as Wes Miller has commented that James does not look like your typical freshman. He recently has gone over 200 pounds on his 6-foot-1 frame and enjoys the work.

"There's some kids that come in the weight room that give me energy as a coach, he's just positive every day," Rehfeldt said. "He's very consistent in that. He has a real passion for it and loves to train. He's a physical specimen. I'll share this number, he's at a 43.5" max vertical in his testing and he's only been on campus eight, nine weeks."

Monsters of the week

Since summer began, Rehfeldt has handed out honors to his top workers with the list including Kentucky transfer C.J Fredrick, Dan Skillings Jr., freshman Rayvon Griffith, Viktor Lakhin, Chase Kirkwood, Josh Reed, Ody Oguama and John Newman III.

"It's all about buy-in," Rehfeldt said. "I'm recruiting those guys every day selling them on what we do so they have the buy-in and like coming in here. If they walk out of here thinking they got better at basketball or have better resilience to injury, then we're doing something. Every college is lifting, every college is running, but do players feel like I have to come in here or do we get to?"

He hopes to have long-term 'Monsters'

"Rayvon and Jizzle are freshmen, so I've had eight, nine weeks with them," Rehfeldt said. "With Ody (Oguama) and John Newman III it's two or three years. I had five years with Tre (Scott). Every year they're exponentially more comfortable. That's one thing I fear with the transfer portal having too many of those. We have a really good mix now, but having those two to three-year guys really does help."

By Rehfeldt's account, both Newman and Oguama look great and have displayed notable leadership.

Did he expect to have a Monster Factory?

Rehfeldt is pretty low-key in his work, but very effective and dialed in whenever you see him on the court before a game getting guys stretched out and ready for battle. He's not as loud as football strength coach Niko Palazeti but recognizes him as a good hire with a different approach down the hall.

Both are well-liked by their players and deserving of the accolades they've achieved to this point.

"There's no finish line when it comes to that stuff," Rehfeldt said. "Now it's more about cutting down nets, chasing championships, putting UC basketball where it needs to be."

Some of his work has won a national championship

Rehfeldt spent the pandemic season of 2020-21 with Connecticut and Dan Hurley and worked with four freshmen that played in last April's national championship win over San Diego State as 2023 juniors. Included in that group were starters Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson Jr.

"I knew they were going to be very good in their culture," Rehfeldt said. "I'm very happy for them."

He also owns something that's been difficult for many UC coaches: a win over Xavier at the Cintas Center. With Hurley's Huskies, Rehfeldt was able to snare a Victory Parkway triumph on Feb. 13, 2021.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How UC's men's basketball strength coach develped a 'Monster Factory'