Trust the Process

 “I am going to give the credit to Austin Lietz,” assistant coach Jason Wakenight said. “He started it by just putting his hands together and saying trust the process because there are times when things get difficult and you really do not have a lot of fun at practice. Practice hurts and you’re going to be tired, so you just need to trust that at the end of the day, you’re going to get better.”
 
Lietz, a freshman from Sherman Oaks, California, came up with the saying and it has resonated with the team.
 
“Every day we come out and coach Wakenight gives us these ridiculous workouts and we turn to each other and say trust the process,” Lietz said.
 
The saying first started during hot fall days when the team was in the thick of offseason training and Wakenight gave a speech.
 
“He said that we come out here every day and it’s hot and humid, but we need to come out and trust what he is telling us and trust his training program,” Lietz said. “Then someone said ‘Yeah, we just have to trust the process.'”
 
Despite the term first gaining popularity by the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, Iowa takes the idea seriously and not just as a punchline to mock a basketball team.
 
“Coach Wakenight’s group may be a group that likes to joke around, but even though we have used it in a joking manner, deep down it means something very serious,” Lietz said.
 
For the coaches, they know the process is important and having their athletes buy in makes it that much easier for each athlete to take the next step.
 
 “You’re supposed to have a peak and we set up training so that athletes peak and we have been successful doing that,” Woody said. “Athletes need to trust that and when they do they will have great success. Trust the process.”
 
The Hawkeyes’ process takes them to the Iowa Open and Alex Wilson Invitational this weekend. The Iowa Open is the Hawkeye’s final home indoor meet of the season.