The RoundHouse | 10/15/2024 9:42:00 AM
By Paul Suellentrop
It is Year Two for Wichita State basketball under new leadership and in the newly configured American Athletic Conference.
The adjustment period is over. Men’s coach Paul Mills and women’s coach Terry Nooner know what’s up for their second season leading the Shockers. On Monday, both talked about that next step during their Zoom interviews at American Athletic Conference Basketball Media Days.
“There’s nothing better than the experience,” Nooner said. “To see the league and see how people play and styles of play and how the season maps out. We gained a lot of experience.”
The Shocker men are picked fourth in the AAC coaches poll after finishing 15-19 last season, 5-13 in the AAC. The women, 10-22 and 5-13 last season, are picked 12th.
Both coaches recognized the need for experience and defense after their first seasons. Mills retained eight Shockers from last season and added four NCAA Division I transfers, all with at least two seasons of experience, and Matej Bosnjak from Croatia. Nooner brought in four from junior college and three with NCAA Division I experience to pair with six returners.
“We have a really committed group, an older group,” Mills said. “Wichita State has a very rich history. Playing in March is more of an expectation than it is an anomaly.”
Mills liked his first look at more athletic group in Saturday’s scrimmage vs. Oklahoma State at Koch Arena. He said he liked how his team matched up with the Cowboys.
“Physically, we were able to hold our own,” he said. “Having been in that conference for 14 years (at Baylor), you understand the physical nature of the Big 12. Could we keep a good team like that off the glass? Let’s see how well we compete based on where we were a year ago. We were more than competitive.”
“It’s a testament and a tribute to him.”@CoachMills on walk-on @Harlond20 pic.twitter.com/EavFPPyAvZ
— Wichita State Men’s Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) October 14, 2024
Mills said the Shockers made 77 percent of their free throws, a welcome sight after last season’s team shot 69.7 percent, 11th in the 14-team conference. According to Ken Pomeroy’s statistics, the AAC played the most close conference games in the nation. Almost 29 percent of conference games were decided by four or fewer points or in overtime.
“We’re going to have to win defensively,” Mills said. “We’ll be a better shooting team.”
Coaches emphasized defense throughout summer workouts and into the fall. Playing good defense usually relies on physical play and senior Harlond Beverly saw that against the Cowboys.
“I feel like all around we showed what we’ve been practicing as a team this summer and throughout this fall,” he said. “We rebounded it well. We shared the ball really well. We were physical. Our defense was really good.”
Nooner and the Shockers plan to use depth and athletic ability to play fast, pressure on defense and wear teams down. Guard Salese Blow, a sophomore returner, averaged 12.3 points and earned AAC freshman of the week honors three times. Junior forward Jayla Murray averaged 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds.
“With our ability to play faster this year, we’ll be a whole different team,” Blow said.
Both Shocker basketball teams plan on a much different type of season as they run it back with second-year coaches.
Shockers are playing fast, gritty basketball 🌾⚡️#AmericanWay x @GoShockersWBB pic.twitter.com/9kwmfXHXeO
— The American (@American_Conf) October 14, 2024
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
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