Gregg Marshall gets to work with newcomers at WSU’s first basketball practice

The 2018-19 college basketball season officially got underway on Tuesday at Koch Arena, where the Wichita State men’s basketball team practiced in full for the first time.

But it was far from the first time coach Gregg Marshall has worked this summer with the Shockers, which feature nine of 13 scholarship players and two of three assistants new to the program.

Thanks to an NCAA rule change, Marshall has been able to work with the team this summer for up to four hours (up from two) per week.

“It was a godsend to be able to work with these guys for four hours instead of two all summer. It was tremendously helpful and it couldn’t come at a better time with our youth,” Marshall said. “We used those four hours to do some individual skill instruction, but a lot of team practice.

“We’re a little ahead of where we would be normally with putting in our stuff, but still the lack of experience that we have shows that we’re not quite where we need to be even with the additional time.”

Much of this summer has been dedicated to teaching for Marshall and his assistants, Isaac Brown, Lou Gudino and Tyson Waterman.

WSU is one of the most inexperienced teams in the country, returning just 11 percent of its minutes from last season. Outside of senior Markis McDuffie, no one on WSU’s roster has played more than one season of Division I basketball.

It has tested Marshall’s patience at times, but also rejuvenated him with the challenge.

“It’s given us the opportunity to really teach and really coach and we’re having to do that as hard as we can,” Marshall said. “The best thing these guys have going for them is they’re all very coachable and they’re super young. They want to get better and they want to please. It’s just a matter now of how quickly they please us.”

Marshall was complimentary of the team’s two seniors, McDuffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones.

Both are coming off disappointing seasons, but Marshall has been pleased with the play of both so far this summer.

On McDuffie: “We need him to be the Markis McDuffie of old. Last year he really kind of forced things and wasn’t the player we needed him to be. It hurt him and it hurt us. Ultimately, he’s a talented kid. He’s a wonderful young man. We’re excited that he has an opportunity now to shine his senior year and maybe get back on those (NBA) draft boards.”

On Haynes-Jones: “Last year he had physical issues that didn’t allow him to be on the court as much as we would’ve liked. He’s gotten over that. I don’t know whether its bad defense or inexperienced defense, but he’s getting buckets out here. He’s really looking like the player we thought we had originally. He’s quick, he’s fast. He’s shooting with confidence and playing with a lot of verve.”

Marshall declined to single out any of the newcomers, but he emphasized how big of a learning curve the six freshmen and two junior-college transfers face.

“Right now they’re all trying to play in our system and compete in college basketball on the defensive end and on the glass,” Marshall said. “Then take a deep breath and relax on the offensive end. That seems to be one of our main struggles right now is just not doing crazy things on the offensive end.”

WSU has a little less than two weeks of practice before going public at the Black & Yellow scrimmage, which will be held Saturday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. at Koch Arena. The Shockers play their exhibition game on Tuesday, Oct. 30 against Catawba.

Until then, class is in session for the newcomers at Koch Arena.

“All of them have had their moments,” Marshall said. “They’ve all shown the reason why we recruited them, but they’ve also had days where we walk off the court saying, ‘Man, this is going to be tough.’”

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 4:02 PM.