Given that Strus received just one Division I offer (Chicago State) coming out of high school in Palos Hills, Illinois, that confidence could have easily been filed under the category of “irrational.” But Strus buoyed that confidence with his relentless work ethic. To this day, former coaches and teammates wax poetic about Strus’s habits. Before one home game during Strus’s freshman year, Henshaw decided he was going to impress coaches by getting to the gym two hours early to warm up. “I walk into the gym and think I’m the first one,” Henshaw said. “I look over and Max is working out with one of our assistants, and Max has already broken a sweat. “His work ethic rubbed off on us.”