Wichita State’s Morris, Marshall want to push through past time limits

Gregg Marshall usually doesn’t call many fouls during practice. He is making an exception with Wichita State center Shaq Morris.

“Coach Marshall is quick with the whistle with anything when we’re practicing, if he sees me fouling at all,” Morris said.

Morris, a 6-foot-8, 265-pound junior, is WSU’s most proven player, yet also too unreliable for his coach’s taste. He is physically talented and gifted with a good shooting touch, one he expanded to include three-point range during an exhibition trip to Canada. What he can do on the court isn’t up for serious debate. It’s staying on the court that limits his productivity.

As a freshman, he played in 33 games and averaged 12.7 minutes. Last season, he started 29 games and averaged 15.6 minutes, 16.2 in Missouri Valley Conference games. Morris and Marshall want that time to rise to between 20-25 minutes this season. That requires a combination of better conditioning and health, which should help Morris avoid fouls.

Morris works with strength coach Kerry Rosenboom twice a day, starting with a cardio program in the morning. Rosenboom wants him at 255 pounds for the second half of the season.

“This is the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Morris said. “I think I will and can be able to be effective for over 20 minutes. It’s going to be great to see what can happen with me playing over 20 minutes.”

Morris averaged 6.8 points (7.8 in MVC play) and 3.6 rebounds last season. He made 56.6 percent of his shots and led WSU with 35 blocks.

While Morris is improving, he still is climbing to meet Marshall’s standards for playing through fatigue and pains.

“Conditioning-wise, he’s probably as good as he’s been since he’s been here,” Marshall said. “For whatever reason, either when he gets tired or loses focus, he’ll get in situations where he creates body contact. Generally, he’s the bigger body, so the other person will go flailing and the foul will be called on him. That would be a nice goal for him, 22 to 24 minutes would be nice.”

Back at Shocker golf — Judd Easterling didn’t always enjoy his early days as a Wichita State golfer. Coach Grier Jones told him he needed to work harder and learn how to compete — really grind through long days on the course — to improve.

Like most good high school golfers, Easterling thought he knew all that. Like most Shocker golfers, he learned that competing for Jones is different than competing for many coaches.

“When I came here as a freshman from Missouri, he and I didn’t get along at all,” Easterling said. “He didn’t wake up in the morning wanting to yell at me and wanting to get on me. But I deserved everything that I got. Now Grier and I are best friends. He just teaches you so much.”

Now it’s Easterling’s job to help Jones teach as his assistant, replacing Tony Blake. Easterling, a former assistant at Missouri and at Arizona State, golfed for the Shockers from 2001-05. He twice earned honorable-mention All-American honors and has a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial team.

“It’s really a dream come true,” he said. “If you can make it four years under (Jones), people look at you differently. That’s why I’ve gotten some of the jobs I’ve gotten — Grier Jones.”

Easterling, 34, has been around the team for the past two weeks as a volunteer assistant before WSU made it official. His job is take the lessons learned from Jones and help translate for his college golfers.

“These guys look at me now that I’ve made it through his program … and they really trust me to bridge the gap,” Easterling said. “They ask what we did when I was here, what we did before tournaments and what we did to get ready.”

November at Eck — WSU baseball starts its scrimmage series at 6 p.m. Nov. 3.

The best-of-3 series continues on Nov. 4 (6 p.m.) and Nov. 5 (11 a.m.). All games are nine innings. Admission is a can of food for the Kansas Food Bank.

The Shockers will hold their Halloween game at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 27. It includes an autograph session, trick or treating and Shockers playing in costume.

▪  WSU’s Alumni Weekend is March 24-25 during a series against Texas Tech.

The weekend includes golf at Willowbend Golf Club, batting practice and a dinner. For information call (316) 978-3636.

Worth noting — Marshall’s radio shows begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 31 on KNSS, 1330-AM from A.J.’s Sports Grill at The Alley at 13th and Greenwich. … WSU’s Tipoff Luncheon is at noon Nov. 3 in the Koch Arena practice gym. Tickets are $25 and are available through goshockers.com. … Tickets to the Dec. 10 WSU game against Oklahoma in Oklahoma City go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday through Ticketmaster.com. Prices range from $8-$36.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Wichita State’s Morris, Marshall want to push through past time limits."