The first thing Omar Sellers told University of Richmond basketball players Sunday night was "Tie your shoelaces together." About 20 pairs of eyebrows raised, but each Spider bent and connected his inside laces.

They then assumed boxer stances, with Sellers' guidance. "Stand like that and a baby could knock you down," Sellers said to improperly aligned David Gonzalvez, a UR guard.

The Spiders practiced boxing footwork, with tied shoestrings a constant reminder to maintain a balanced base. They learned how to throw crisp left jabs into Sellers' hand-held pads, then powerful right crosses, then jarring left hooks, all while following Sellers around a Robins Center workout room.

"As I move, you move," Sellers said. "Don't reach, step! Fire that jab! Keep me at the end of your punch!

"Easy now. One-two-three, flow, like you're drinking water."

The 35-year-old Sellers, a former boxer who is a sports-performance coach in Raleigh, N.C., was invited to UR by friend Jason DeMayo, the Spiders' strength-and-conditioning coach for basketball.

DeMayo is constantly seeking fresh ways to physically upgrade the Spiders during the offseason, away from the basketball court, apart from the weightlifting routine.

"These guys play [basketball] all summer, and they go pretty hard," he said. "So if we were to run them on top of what they're doing, we'd probably be looking at a lot of overuse-injury things."

DeMayo introduced the Spiders to yoga, then asked Sellers to provide some boxing basics on which UR's players could build as they prepare for the season. The reaction of Richmond basketball coach Chris Mooney when "boxing" was first mentioned, according to DeMayo: "Move forward cautiously."

There was no contact Sunday night, other than Spiders' punches smacking Sellers' hand pads.

Said UR guard Kevin Smith: "There are a lot of things that go into boxing, stamina-wise, a lot of upper-body strength. Those things can help us on the court. I was really excited when I heard about this."

Sellers, who provided instruction without remuneration and offered to return at no cost, believes that if the Spiders stay with the boxing workouts, they will become more explosive, increase endurance, improve hand-eye coordination, and gain muscle.

Near the end of the 90-minute session, Sellers was helping redshirt freshman Josh Duinker polish his left hook. Sellers made a request to which Mooney, if present, would certainly have objected.

"Make yourself shorter," the 5-6 Sellers said to the 6-10 Duinker.