WSU’s C.J. Keyser stays patient waiting for production to match potential

C.J. Keyser’s production on the court has yet to match his potential at Wichita State.

Coming out of Baltimore in the class of 2015, Keyser was rated by ESPN as a four-star recruit, the No. 2 prospect in Maryland, and the No. 20 shooting guard in the country. He ended up attending a prep school in New Hampshire, and a video of him jumping high enough to kiss the rim went viral.

But Keyser, now a WSU sophomore, remains somewhat of an enigma for Wichita State. He has averaged 8.6 minutes in the seven games he’s appeared in this season.

“I wouldn’t say I’m eager to prove anything,” Keyser said. “Right now we have an amazing team. I understand how everything goes. As long as we’re winning and we get to play in March, you can’t complain. I mean, I get to play for the No. 9 team in the country.”

One explanation for Keyser’s limited minutes: WSU is loaded at the guard position with Landry Shamet, Conner Frankamp, Austin Reaves and junior-college transfer Samajae Haynes-Jones all ahead of him on the depth chart.

But Keyser did not improve his stock by missing WSU’s two exhibitions and first four games of the season due to a suspension – to resolve “personal issues” was WSU’s official stance.

WSU coach Gregg Marshall explored the topic on his radio show earlier this season.

“I have to be able to trust C.J. Keyser and trust him in every phase of his life and be able to count on him,” Marshall said. “He’s a good person, but he’s made some mistakes and he’s paid for those mistakes. Now he’s got to beat somebody out. He’s got to show me in practice he’s better than whoever.”

Teammates say Keyser has flashes in practice and can do things no one else on WSU’s roster can do thanks to his athleticism. Many fans know that from Keyser’s show-stopping dunks in the warm-up line before games, but his teammates say he is much more than just a dunker.

“The most underrated thing about C.J. is he’s actually a really, really good passer,” WSU guard Kaelen Malone said. “The times he gets to play on the ball in the pick and roll, he’s a really good passer and he’s a willing passer. A lot of scorers aren’t willing passers, so that’s one thing that a lot of people don’t really get to see with him.”

“He usually plays the best player on the other team for us every day in practice, so he gets a lot of reps and he can defend really well and score it really well,” Frankamp said. “He just needs to do exactly what coach (Marshall) says and he’ll start getting minutes, for sure.”

It’s difficult being outside of the rotation and trying to prove your worth in short stretches. Keyser said “sometimes human nature takes over” and he is tempted to chase the spectacular play.

The results have been mixed. Keyser has had promising stretches when he can use his athleticism going toward the basket, either on cuts or dribble-drives. But he’s also struggled with turnovers and fouls, as he has per-40 minute averages of 4.8 turnovers and 7.5 fouls.

“He’s playing behind some really, really good guys and sometimes you try to get it all in just a few minutes,” Malone said. “But when the game slows down for him, he’s going to be unbelievable.”

Like any player, Keyser wants to be playing more. But any individual concerns have been trumped by the satisfaction of playing a role on a top-10 team.

”You start playing for each other and that individual stuff just fades away,” Keyser said. “When I go in the game now, I want to play for my team. I want to play great defense, rebound, and just play extremely hard.

”I’m a sophomore and it’s still just the middle of the season, so there’s a lot of time left for me.”

And when Keyser isn’t trying to prove himself on the floor, you can count on seeing him celebrate his team’s successes on the bench — a role he’s more than happy to serve for his team.

“When I’m on the bench, my role is to keep positive energy and keep positive attitudes going,” Keyser said. “I’m the energy guy. I have to make sure we keep bringing the energy.”

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 1:57 PM with the headline "WSU’s C.J. Keyser stays patient waiting for production to match potential."