Wichita State uses off week for important individual instruction

Tekele Cotton hears the words over and over: slide, slide, slide, left, right.

Good job.

It is Thursday morning in the Koch Arena practice gym and Cotton, a Wichita State senior guard, is working on an hour-long shooting session with assistant coach Greg Heiar. Heiar plays point guard Fred VanVleet, passing and instructing, while manager Chad McGibney rebounds. The goal is to send Cotton, a 29.2-percent three-point shooter, into the NCAA Tournament with visions of the ball going through the net firmly imprinted in his mind and his technique sharpened.

“We try to stress around here that every shot is a make,” Heiar said. “When you have great technique you’re normally a really, really confident player. It’s about repping confidence.”

It is almost irrelevant whether or not the basketball goes through the hoop. Heiar says “Good shot” while the ball is in the air. If Cotton’s footwork and tempo is proper, the result is good most of the time. He holds his follow-through to hit the teaching point of reaching into the cookie jar and focusing on the center of the rim.

A good shooting performance from Cotton could be the difference between a satisfying NCAA stay and disappointment. He made 37.1 percent of his threes last season. A return to that form remains a possibility worth extra work.

“He makes it every time when his feet are ahead of his hands with great rhythm,” Heiar said. “You want to slide, slide to create your rhythm and then the left, right footwork. Get it off quick. You don’t even have time to think about it. And it goes through the basket.”

Cotton’s morning session is typical of the individual workouts the Shockers do throughout the year, like most teams. The week in between the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and NCAA Tournament selection day, time with no opponent in mind, is traditionally a period when players and coach brush up on those skills. Those individual drills are of growing importance in the recruiting battles, because recruits often work with specialized coaches and trainers in one-on-one settings.

“Coaches are on the hot seat a lot more to illustrate what they do with player development,” said Eric Bossi, national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. “It used to be you could just tell a kid. More than ever, kids are really watching. They really want to know about player development.”

Recruits ask questions about a college’s individual workouts and want to watch the sessions on visits. Winning, facilities, campus life and academics are still important. So is the reputation for taking an unfinished product and turning out a refined athlete ready for a higher level.

“When (recruits) get on campus, they’re going to ask other players,” Bossi said. “You’ve got to be able to show that this kid came in and we did this. It’s about footwork. Can a big man score over both shoulders? Do they teach guards balls screens? Is the gym always open?”

At Wichita State, the proof of their player-development cred is most easily found on NBA and professional rosters overseas and the NBA Development League. Around 19 recent Shockers are playing professionally.

“We start with a good base,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “They work every day. I’ve had some great coaches that teach good, fundamental basketball. This stuff is going to help you get better if you’re diligent.”

Toure Murry, now with the Washington Wizards, came to WSU in 2008 as a two-star recruit. New York Knicks rookie Cleanthony Early played at an NJCAA Division III school. While both started with significant talent, they made progress at WSU on the court and in the weight room.

So did many others.

“They start to see it pay off,” Marshall said. “Think about how many pros we’ve had around here. It whets their appetite.”

The individual sessions aren’t limited to shooting. The Shockers work on passing, defense, ball-handling and other facts, often after Heiar concocted a drill after watching an NBA game or browsing YouTube. He loves watching NBA stars such as Stephen Curry and Chris Paul to mine their habits for tips he can pass on. Players listen when they hear LeBron James works on ball-handling this way.

“A lot of times, you’ll be like, ‘This drill is crazy,’” Cotton said. “Once you get the hang of it and you’re able to put it into your game, you see. He puts you in a position where the drills are very difficult. When you actually play, the game is a little bit more simple. “

The work with Shocker freshman Zach Brown is more fundamental. At 6-foot-7, he needs play with his hips lower to the ground and keep the ball inside his body to take full advantage of his athletic skills. His toughest drill is when Heiar puts a chair on the court and tells Brown to squat over the chair, barely touching, while dribbling.

“That does a number on your legs,” Brown said. “I need to make sure I do all my moves low and in my stance. I’ll be able to go by people a lot easier.”

Heiar tells players that the ability to move and score in congested areas, such as the lane, separate average from great. The hard work of scoring at the rim and drawing fouls is done in a pack of defenders.

“Most guys can’t play in traffic,” Heiar said. “The lower man always wins. The emphasis of the drill with Zach is to teach him how to be lower and more explosive. A chair makes you sit down and be in a basketball stance.”

Last summer, former Shocker guard Malcolm Armstead stopped by Koch Arena for a tuneup session with Heiar. Past and present Shockers swear by his knack for improving their games.

“Greg, he’s so enthusiastic and he gets out there and sweats with them,” Marshall said. “The guys really like working with him.”

Heiar loves his time alone with a player in the basketball lab, too. The players know him as a coach who stays up late to watch a est Coast game and comes to the office the next day with a new drill.

“It’s simple,” he said. “They love basketball. They want to be great players. They’ve got that refuse-to-lose mentality. They’ve got that refuse-to-let-you-outwork-them mentality, too.”　

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Wichita State uses off week for important individual instruction."