For high school student-athletes, a heavy topic of conversation is playing at the next level, NCAA Division I, as close as it gets to the pros.

Those who have worked hard and are talented enough to have earned the privilege to play in the NCAA will soon enter a quick transition phase after graduation, featuring tougher physical, mental, social and academic standards all at once.

Athletes new to Eastern training for the fall sports season have encountered these tests and are moving through them right now.

Caelan ‘Kamu’ Grugier-Hill, a 6-foot 2-inch safety out of Honolulu (Kamehameha), may have the sharpest contrast of any incoming freshman.

“It’s really different,” Grugier-Hill said. “The people here are different. There are no mountains, no beaches; the food, the air, just everything.”

But in the past couple of weeks, things are starting to come together.

“I’m getting used to it. I’m feeling more comfortable now,” Grugier-Hill said. “When I first showed up I felt like I went to a different world, but it is getting better now.”

Men’s basketball player Alex Austin, a 6-foot 4-inch guard out of Chicago Mount Carmel, has found the transition favorable.

“It’s been fun so far,” Austin said. “It’s a little bit of an adjustment. It’s different than high school. You have to get faster and stronger to compete with the higher-level guys.”

Coursework requirements also force adjustments on new student-athletes getting their feet wet in post-secondary education.

“They expect more out of you, more work, more papers,” Austin said. “I’m just looking forward to the upcoming season and doing something special.”

Anthony Taylor, a wide-out from Montini, first noticed freedom on the turnaround from the prep level to the NCAA.

“It’s more spaced out,” Taylor said. “Not a lot of control from your parents and older people. So you’re really on your own, basically. You just have to stay focused.”

Taylor said the living and studying adjustments have gone well so far.

As far workouts, that is another level, Taylor said.

“The first couple of weeks were basically terrible,” Taylor said. “Adjusting to the college workouts is completely different from high school. They’re more up-tempo and more dynamic lifts. As we go on, we’ll get adjusted and it’ll get easier.”

As the six-week session draws on, these learning experiences could be the head start that these athletes need to make the start of class in August into a smooth first fall at Eastern.

Joshua Bryant can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].