Navy SEALs emphasize communication, leadership with Purdue basketball: "It was an incredible experience"

It’s approaching 5 a.m., but those nestled inside the Mackey Arena locker room no longer comprehend the concept of time.

Phones were taken away. Clocks were removed. The players on the Purdue basketball team only know it’s dark outside and colder than when they entered the facility the night before.

The alarm clock was a combination of air horns and whistles.

“You don’t know that it’s 5 a.m., until you step outside or they yell at you that it’s 5 a.m., and you need to be outside by 5:15,” sophomore Raleigh Burgess said.

This was part of the team’s routine recently, a four-day session with a group of Navy SEALs focusing on communication, leadership and team bonding.

The group spent two nights inside the locker room as part of the exercise, emerging back into the outside world with a series of strenuous activities.

They executed cadence push-ups where everyone had to be in sync, carried weights, ran the steps inside Mackey Arena, plunged into swimming and diving drills at the Aquatic Center, conquered an obstacle course and hauled 350-pound logs to the Engineering Fountain, where they were drenched with water.

It’s all designed to provide mental and physical tests and push boundaries.  

“There’s a lot to take away,” said Daniel Jacobsen, who missed nearly all of last season with a leg injury. “It was an incredible experience. Those dudes are special, and the ability to meet them and learn from them was awesome.

“We got a lot closer as a team. It tested our bodies but pushed ourselves to the limit. I think the other thing was the communication required really helped bring us together. I think it translates to basketball.”

That’s the goal, and it should set a foundation for what’s to come.

Matt Painter has assembled a team oozing with talent and experience, poised for a major run through the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament, but improving communication was an impetus for bringing in the SEALs. This is the third time Painter has used the program and first since the 2019-20 season.

The SEALs live in a different world compared to Painter’s program, but leadership and communication are common traits both organizations need to succeed and survive.

“They do such a good job explaining their world and trying to relate to our world, which they’re two different worlds,” Painter said. “When it comes to leadership, it’s not. When it comes to communication, it’s not. There’s a lot of things that are on the same plane, even though it’s two different worlds.”

The Boilermakers know their world, but absorbed plenty of knowledge of the SEALs’ universe and how it applies to them.

“There were a couple of drills, lessons we did where me and Braden (Smith) were the main vocal guys, and everybody’s pitching in and doing their thing, but at the same time, we’ve all got to be great listeners,” senior Fletcher Loyer said. “You can be a good communicator, but you’ve got to be a good listener as well.

“That’s huge because when you get in a huddle and everybody’s trying to say something, you’re not going to figure anything out in 30 seconds to a minute. Take your time, listen and execute.”

“WE BONDED AS A TEAM”

Burgess compared the two nights in the locker room to a sleepover.

“You feel like you’re at kids camp again,” he said.

Said Loyer: “You learn quite a bit about a group of grown men after having a sleepover with them and no phones.”

The Navy SEALs were all business, but a youth camp element was present once they entered the locker room.

The players brought in a mini-hoop for one activity. There were board games, including Monopoly, as well as ping pong, magic tricks and chess. They even played hide-and-seek.

Standing 7-foot-4, Jacobsen’s an easy find in the hide part of the game.  

“I was the seeker,” Jacobsen said.

On the second night, Smith and freshman Antione West Jr., left the locker room and started the game. Those who attempted to find the pair had only 30 minutes to do so.

MORE: Surprise! Four Purdue players making bigger splash than anticipated | The 3-2-1: Talking Ryan Browne, ferocious LBs and MVP punter | Checking under the hood: Four items on Purdue’s off-week to-do list | Rising 2027 in-state linebacker Sean Fox recaps Purdue visit

“We all tried to find them in the facility, but we weren’t able to,” sophomore CJ Cox said. “Braden was on the second floor, underneath the Mackey stairs in some random room.”

But Cox pulled an upset at the ping pong table, defeating Trey Kaufman-Renn, who has legendary status inside the locker room. Cox is the third person to defeat Kaufman-Renn in ping pong, according to the senior.

“Shout out to CJ,” Kaufman-Renn said.

No disgrace, Loyer said about the loss by Kaufman-Renn, who remains the champ in his eyes.

“Trey is really good at ping pong,” Loyer said. “After watching him play about five straight matches, he’s legit.”

Mainly, though, the time in the locker room was spent trying to enhance and develop relationships and create unbreakable bonds that will last beyond this season.

The Boilermakers welcomed back a core group, with Smith, Loyer and Kaufman-Renn having been around for a long time. However, there are also three transfers looking to ingrain themselves into the culture.

“A lot of times we’re just talking about life and just things we want to accomplish as a team and joking around a bit,” Cox said. “I feel like we bonded as a team by not having any phones or electronics. We were all able to talk and socialize together.”

‘IT WAS A GREAT CULTURE BUILDER’

There’s a common characteristic of the current group of players, and it was likely prevalent last season, prompting Painter to seek a solution.

“I think we are, by nature, just a quiet team,” Burgess said.

Painter often brings up the communication element during practice, especially on the defensive end, where everything needs to be connected when dealing with ball screens and switches.

“If we’re doing a certain drill and we’re supposed to be talking about where we’re supposed to be on the court and we’re not doing that, then he’ll reiterate that to us and let us know,” Cox said.

It was a four-day stretch unlike anything Burgess and other players have experienced.

“It was tough,” he said. “I thought it was a great culture builder, though. I think that’s what they laid down, how we start to build a player-led culture and what that looks like.”

Numerous lessons will emerge from the sessions, but sticking together is the underlying theme that should remain with the Boilermakers throughout the season.

“It just brought us together and just reminded all of us that it’s going to take an effort from each one of us to reach our goals,” Jacobsen said. “Everyone’s going to be able to contribute and have a piece in our success.”