Events include the “Iron Cross,” a more than two-mile run up and down Crown Mountain in Dahlonega, Ga., carrying five-gallon water cans and sandbags. Also the “8 Mile,” a run at the Frank D. Merrill Army Ranger camp, focuses on team members finishing the event together, with the athletes carrying a telephone pole and six full water cans.

“I wanted to build championship teams, and I believed the only way to do that was to be creative and start a week of intense training that would make our teams tougher mentally, and stronger physically,” said Head Coach Buffie Burson , who started the program nine years ago.

Lt. Col. Billy Shaw , former ROTC executive officer at NGCSU, has incorporated U.S. Army Special Forces exercises into the week's events, helping train the athletes for the last four years.

DAWG Week also entails different sessions of basketball practices designed to teach the fundamentals and drills the team will use throughout the season.

“I believe there is a direct correlation between having DAWG Week and winning,” Burson said.

The teams' list of accolades under Burson's tenure are long, including five regular season conference titles, four tournament conference titles, and seven national tournament appearances.

The 36-year-old head coach, who participates in all of the events with the players, said the athletes develop a mindset and believe that they learn more about each other's strengths and weaknesses in one week when it takes other teams an entire year.

“I give so much credit to the training beliefs of the Army and Special Forces,” Burson said. “I believe in training our players to have a war-like mentality. Our DAWG Week shirts this year display the motto ‘Train hard, war easy.' With my experience it has worked in the past, and the players love it.”

North Georgia Lady Saints basketball begins Nov. 5 against Brevard College in Mount Vernon, Ga., at 2 p.m.

Story by Joshua Preston, NGCSU Public Relations Specialist