By BOB THOMPSON
of the Tribune's staff

Peak performance is the goal, and Missouri basketball strength and conditioning coach Jeff Watkinson has it down to a science.

When he's not supervising one of his brisk, intense individual off-season workout sessions, Watkinson sits at his desk in the corner of MU's basketball weight room on the second floor of the Hearnes Center and fills out progress charts and studies performance indicators for each one of his players.

The 29-year-old fitness guru joined Quin Snyder's staff from Clemson University with one directive from his new boss - maximize each Tiger player's individual growth and athleticism on the basketball court.

Throughout the off-season the players are required to meet with Watkinson at least four times per week, although many of the Tigers have been in to see him more frequently since he took over for Bob Jones in early April. The workouts last about 40 minutes as Watkinson monitors each repetition, the amount of weight and even the rest intervals between sets.

"My job is to make them all as athletic as possible - run faster, jump higher, be in better condition, stronger and leaner - all those qualities that are going to contribute to a higher level of performance," Watkinson said. "As far as athletic development goes, I'm really training them all the same way, although the specific programs and the focus is different for each player."

The Tigers work with medicine balls, free weights and dumbells. They work on their vertical jumps by jumping onto boxes of various heights, sometimes wearing weighted vests. They run wind sprints, they work on their flexibility by moving over and under hurdles. They do sit-ups, squats, lunges and stretches - all under the watchful eye of Watkinson, who submits reports to Snyder weekly.

Because of his background as a former baseball player at North Carolina State, Watkinson can relate to the problems of a major college student-athlete. He studied pre-med at N.C. State, then earned a masters degree in exercise science and human performance at Indiana University.

Although he's worked with all types of athletes during his career, he's becoming an expert on basketball training. He has had stints at College of Charleston and North Carolina-Charlotte - neither school has a football program - and worked with both the men's and women's basketball teams at Clemson. At MU, he will work exclusively with the men's basketball program, which will enable him to stay more involved with each player's progress.

"It's pretty intense," sophomore guard Wesley Stokes said. "You get pretty tired in there, but he always finds a way to get you motivated to keep going. It was rough at first, but now, since we're getting used it, we actually look forward to going in there.

"Jeff's a good teacher. He laughs and jokes around with us, but when it's time to get serious, he knows how to get serious too."

Watkinson said the players have bought into his program and are genuinely excited about their progress so far. Senior captain Clarence Gilbert has led the squad in trips to the weight room and has gotten measurably stronger and quicker. Others, such as sophomore forwards Travon Bryant and Arthur Johnson, have seen their body-fat percentages shrink and their stamina increase during players-only pickup games at night.

"I can really tell I've gotten a lot out of it, especially with my upper-body strength," Stokes said. "Everybody's been pretty enthusiastic about the results, and you can really tell during our games at night. The games are being played at a pretty high level, and everybody's taking the ball stronger to the basket."

Watkinson gained three new trainees earlier this week when freshmen Najeeb Echols, Jeffrey Ferguson and Duane John arrived on campus and began their introduction to the program. Center Uche Okafor is expected to join the workouts in early August.

Watkinson said most of the exercises and drills aren't directly transferable to the court, but having leaner, stronger and better-conditioned players can only help Missouri's performance this winter.

"It's not going to necessarily improve their jump shots - they still have to get out there and play and put in the work to do that on their own," Watkinson said. "But if we can get certain players to run faster down the floor and to do it more frequently, then that's going to contribute to them getting more out of their game.

"They all realize that what they do in here individually during the summer is going to carry over to what the team is able to accomplish."

Reach Bob Thompson at (573) 815-1781 or bthompson@tribmail.comBT">.