Samajae Haynes-Jones battles back from a low to help WSU to victory

Samajae Haynes-Jones may have never been more frustrated as a basketball player than he has in the last three weeks.

Before exploding for 27 points off the bench on Tuesday in Wichita State’s 89-80 victory over Arkansas State, Haynes-Jones had played a total of 15 minutes in the last four games. The reason? A mysterious stomach ailment that had put Haynes-Jones in a funk.

“He got a little bit out of shape because he literally couldn’t do anything,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “He couldn’t practice. He couldn’t work on his conditioning.”

“I didn’t really know what it was at first,” Haynes-Jones said. “I was trying to go out and practice and play hard like I do every day and when I go out there I don’t feel the same way. I can’t run like I want. So I started throwing up and I had to figure out what it was and find some medication to help it out.”

A couple trips to the doctor’s office has solved the problem and Haynes-Jones said he no longer feels uneasy when he’s playing. Tuesday was the first time he has felt close to 100 percent since the start of the season.

It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Shockers – WSU played without senior guard Conner Frankamp, who was sidelined by a migraine headache. The Shockers had to rally in the second half behind Haynes-Jones’ 27 points to stave off a surprising upset bid from Arkansas State.

“He’s a confident player and he’s a good player and we know how good he is,” WSU point guard Landry Shamet said. “If we can get him healthy, that was the only thing holding him back really. He’s still the same player. Now he’s feeling better, hopefully we can keep him doing what he did tonight.”

Haynes-Jones’ former coach at East, Joe Jackson, was in the stands for Tuesday’s game against Arkansas State. He still stays in contact with his former player and it’s been difficult to see him go through a low.

“I knew he was sick because there’s nothing that’s going to keep Samajae off the basketball court,” Jackson said. “If something does, then it has to be serious.”

After making 11 of 17 shots, including four three-pointers and 70-percent shooting inside the arc, Haynes-Jones showed the potential ways he can help WSU.

His career-high of 31 points came against Savannah State, another overmatched team. The goal now will be for the Wichita native to deliver a similar performance against top-tier competition.

“He can do some things that I truly believe are going to help the Shockers out this year,” Jackson said. “It’s definitely a lot of fun to see him in his element and back to watching him play basketball the way we all know he can and love him for.”

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Samajae Haynes-Jones battles back from a low to help WSU to victory."