Pleasant Home Eagles’ head basketball coach Troy Turman is entering his third year at the helm of his Alma Mater, and says his team has made tremendous strides this summer through the help of basketball camps.

“It has been a good summer so far,” Turman said. “We were able to play a lot of teams that have really helped us grow and improve.”

Last week, Turman took 11 junior varsity players and nine varsity players to Bruce Pearl’s basketball camp at Auburn University.

“Bruce Pearl’s camp at Auburn was a very good experience for us,” Turman said. “Junior varsity played six games and the varsity team played seven games.”

The Pleasant Home Eagles’ junior varsity squad finished the tournament with a 4-2 record and the varsity Eagles finished 5-2.

“We weren’t playing any easy opponents up there,” Turman said. “Five out of the seven schools the varsity played were bigger schools than us. Four of them were 3A schools. I thought we really held our own with all of them. The two losses we had were by a combined three points.”

One thing that impressed Turman at the camp was the way his team played while missing three key players.

“We had three key seniors that couldn’t make the trip and we still played great,” Turman said. “I know it’s not about wins and losses in the summer, but it always good when you can win more than you lose. At this camp, we had several young players step up.”

Turman said that he has been pleased with what he has seen from his players over the summer.

“I’m seeing a lot of improvement,” Turman said. “They want to get better and they are actively doing the things they need to improve. As long as we stay healthy, we should be much better this year.”

The biggest improvement Turman said he has seen is the mentality of his players.

“Confidence wise, our mentality has really improved,” Turman said. “We are making better basketball decisions. We are also maturing and we are bigger and stronger this year. This will be the most athletic team that I’ve had since being at PHS.”

Turman said a lot of that has come from the efforts that the players have put in the weight room.

“These guys have grown this year and are getting stronger,” Turman said. “Most of the kids have really bought into working hard. We still have some that we are trying to get to buy in, but for the most part they have. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve seen is that they are consistently working hard each day. We are working out everyday, there aren’t days off. We work out as a team, but I’ve also got guys that are working and improving on their own.”

This summer has really show what the Eagles are capable of, Turman said.

“This month of June has really shown me signs of what we can do this year and the next,” Turman said. “Now, we just need everyone to continue to work and not drop off.”