See what success WSU’s six basketball 2018 recruits have had this season

Wichita State men’s basketball fans will devote their attention this week to the careers of the Shockers’ six seniors.

But in a month or so when the NCAA Tournament has been completed, fans will turn their attention to the 2018-19 Shockers. That team will feature a new cast of characters.

In November, Gregg Marshall and his staff locked up his most heralded recruiting class — the Sensational Six of Alex Lomax, Chance Moore, Erik Stevenson, Morris Udeze, Isaiah Poor Bear Chandler and Jaime Echenique. Here’s a recap on how all six of WSU’s recruits have fared in their final year before heading to Wichita.

Alex Lomax

▪ Vitals: 5-foot-11, 190 pounds

▪ Star power: 4-star by ESPN and Rivals, 3-star by 24/7

▪ College position: Point guard

▪ School: Senior at Memphis East High School

Lomax is a 2-time Mr. Basketball in Tennessee and plays point guard for Memphis East, which has been one of the highest-ranked high school basketball teams in the country this season. Lomax plays with several high-major Division I prospects and has led Memphis East to a 24-3 record and a return trip to a AAA region championship game on Thursday with the chance to head back to the Tennessee state tournament. Lomax, who has recorded three triple doubles this season, is averaging 14.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 3.6 steals. Lomax is coached by former NBA star Penny Hardaway.

Chance Moore

▪ Vitals: 6-foot-7, 180 pounds

▪ Star power: 4-star by ESPN

▪ College position: Shooting guard

▪ School: Post-grad at Sunrise Christian Academy

After graduating high school in Louisville, Moore decided to go the prep school route before choosing WSU over Butler and Virginia Tech. He was originally slated to play for Beckley Prep in West Virginia, but ended up at Sunrise Academy in Wichita playing for the prep team for coach Achoki Moikobu. Statistics on the post-grad circuit are sometimes an inexact measure – a player may play 30 minutes one game, then sit out the next. So instead of focusing on Moore’s stats, I asked Moikobu about Moore’s progression with Sunrise. He said their season has wrapped up and Moore is back home in Louisville preparing to come back to WSU for this summer. The following are Moikobu’s thoughts on Moore, who received a 4-star rating from ESPN before the season:

“He can really, really score the ball. Scoring is in his DNA. It’s almost effortless how he does it at this level. He’ll be able to help the Shockers from Day 1 in terms of scoring. He’s got great range and a great layup package around the rim. He gets to his spots on the court and he just understands how to put that orange ball in the basket.

“Defensively, he needs to get better at understanding where he needs to be and why he needs to be there. Just his overall urgency on defense needs to be better. And then just like Isaiah (Chandler), I think his maturity level. Handling himself on and off the court in a way that represents Wichita State well at all times. I think they both got better in that aspect in their time here.”

Erik Stevenson

▪ Vitals: 6-foot-4, 180 pounds

▪ Star power: 3-star by ESPN and 24/7

▪ College position: Shooting guard

▪ School: Senior at Timberline (Wash.) High School

Stevenson has forced his way into the conversation as one of the greatest players to come out of his area in Washington. Stevenson is averaging 24.7 points on 49 percent shooting, as well as 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3.0 steals, and 1.7 blocks. He has led Timberline to a 20-6 record back into the Class 3A state tournament in Washington behind a 43-point performance. Stevenson was a dominant player for four years at Timberline and holds the school’s career mark in scoring. Timberline coach Allen Thomas sounded certain Stevenson is ready to make an immediate impact for the Shockers.

“He’s having a great year scoring for us, but it’s not just scoring with him. He’s having a great year rebounding the basketball, sharing the basketball, and actually on the defensive end stealing the basketball. All of his numbers have increased from last year. So he’s not just a scorer. We’ve really been trying to get him to play multiple positions and this year he’s shown an ability to defend multiple positions. He can be a really smart defender.”

“I definitely see him as a shooting guard at the next level. He’s a great shooter with range. He’s a guy who can come off the screen and shoot and he can also shoot off the dribble. I think he can run the offense if he has to, but I definitely think he’s going to spend the majority of his time on the wing.”

“I really do feel like he’s picked the best school to go play basketball at. Wichita State fits everything he’s about. He’s a scrapper. He’s a tenacious competitor and I think he will fit right in with Coach Marshall’s style of play and fit in with that tough, hard-nosed style. I think he’s going to thrive in that environment. He’s a guy who’s willing to sacrifice scoring for the bigger cause because all he wants to do is win.”

Isaiah Poor Bear Chandler

▪ Vitals: 6-foot-9, 255 pounds

▪ Star power: 3-star by ESPN, Rivals, and 24/7

▪ College position: Center

▪ School: Post-grad at Sunrise Christian Academy

Like Moore, Chandler spent a year at Sunrise playing for the prep team. He did average 14 points and 9 rebounds as a high school senior at Omaha Central in Nebraska in 2016-17, as he was rated a 4-star recruit and the top recruit in Nebraska coming out of high school. Chandler signed with New Mexico on Signing Day 2016, but was released after a coaching change and committed to WSU last spring.

“Isaiah is a really, really good player and a talented kid,” Moikobu said, “but his maturation process was something that needed to speed up before he got to WSU. I think he was able to do that this year. Maturity-wise, both on and off the court, he should be more ready for what he’s going to see next year at WSU.”

“His overall skill level is just really impressive. He can score over both of his shoulders really well. As big as he is, he looks like he would be slow, but he’s pretty light on his toes and is able to exploit mismatches. He’s just a big, strong kid. He has kind of fallen in love with that 3-point shot. He can shoot it pretty well, but what we’ve done with him is tell him our goal is for every three rebounds he gets to take one of those.”

Morris Udeze

▪ Vitals: 6-foot-8, 240 pounds

▪ Star power: 3-star by ESPN and Rivals

▪ College position: Power forward

▪ School: Post-grad at Montverde (Fla.) Academy

Much like Chance Moore and Isaiah Chandler at Sunrise, Udeze played on the prep team at national powerhouse Montverde, and information is scarce. I couldn’t even get in touch with anybody from the school. But Udeze drew rave reviews on the summer circuit from national recruiting analysts who were already saying he is the heir to Shaq Morris at WSU. “There is no better prospect in America that displays the Play Angry manta that Gregg Marshall’s team have personified at Wichita State than Morris Udeze,” wrote Rivals analyst Corey Evans last summer. On Feb. 11, national analyst Adam Zagoria tweeted out that “Wichita State is getting a nice peice in Morris Udeze. Good hands, can score near the basket, getting good experience on the prep team.”

Jaime Echenique

▪ Vitals: 6-foot-11, 220 pounds

▪ Star power: Unrated

▪ College position: Center

▪ School: Sophomore at Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College

Echenique appears to be a bit of a project. He hails from Colombia and had a late start to playing basketball, but has rapidly progressed in his two years at Trinity Valley. Echenique is averaging 9.1 points on 58 percent shooting, as well as 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Trinity Valley just wrapped up a conference championship and is 25-3 on the season and ranked No. 6 in the latest NJCAA rankings. If Trinity Valley wins its qualifying tournament, it would play in Hutchinson at the NJCAA Tournament in March. I

“I think he’s doing great, Trinity Valley coach Guy Furr said. “We have a really good team this season and Jaime has done well fitting in. He works hard and we still believe his best basketball is ahead of him. He’s got great touch around the basket. He’s been a tremendous teammate and if things work out the way we’re hoping, then hopefully fans up in Kansas can get a sneak peak of him here soon.”

“When he has a chance to go up there this summer and get with the strength and conditioning coach, then I think you’re going to see him take off. He’s got all of the tools for success. He’s got a good attitude, a great body, and a good feel for the game. His body has got to continue to fill out and he’s got to get mentally and physically tougher. I think Coach Marshall will take his game to the next level. He’s already improved so much since he first arrived in the United States two years ago. He barely spoke any English at all. Now he’s one of the most popular kids on our campus. Our fans love the kid.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2018 at 5:10 PM with the headline "See what success WSU’s six basketball 2018 recruits have had this season."