How a move to the bench has helped unlock Grant Sherfield’s game for Wichita State
There is no assigned seating on the bench for the Wichita State men’s basketball players, but it’s not a coincidence that Grant Sherfield plants himself next to assistant coach Tyson Waterman at the start of every game.
Not only is Waterman a former point guard, but he is a former Gregg Marshall point guard from his playing days at Winthrop. He was brought to WSU because he knows Marshall’s system, his expectations and how to thrive under both. Waterman has taken a personal interest in Sherfield, the highly touted freshman point guard he helped recruit to the Shockers.
The bond between the two has helped ease the transition for Sherfield, a 6-foot-2 Wichita native, to help contribute for No. 23 Wichita State in its 17-3 start to the season heading into Saturday’s showdown against conference-leading Tulsa. Sherfield is averaging 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.0 steals.
“That’s as good of reference as he can have in Wichita, unless Fred (VanVleet) comes back during the All-Star break,” Marshall said of Sherfield’s bond with Waterman. “We’ve had some really good point guards and Tyson was one of them. That’s an invaluable tool.”
Sherfield was a heralded point guard prospect and immediately earned the starting role for the Shockers. But after seven games, Marshall decided to shake up the starting five and moved Sherfield to the bench.
That challenged Sherfield’s mental makeup, but Waterman said he came away even more impressed by how the 19-year-old freshman handled the situation. In his first game coming off the bench, Sherfield scored a career-high 15 points against Central Arkansas.
“Grant is a super-tough kid and a big-time competitor, but ultimately he wants to do whatever is best to help the team win,” Waterman said. “When we’re on the bench together, he asks me a lot of questions. He wants to be great and I think he will be great. He’s got that inquisitive mind.”
Sherfield’s playing time and production has improved since his move to the bench.
In his seven starts, Sherfield averaged 22.7 minutes, 7.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.0 turnovers and 0.9 steals. In his last 13 games off the bench, Sherfield averaged 26.6 minutes, 9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.8 turnovers and 1.0 steals.
“Coach Tyson has helped me out a lot and he’s a reason for a lot of my success here at WSU,” Sherfield said. “And it’s not even just at the beginning of games. It’s also going into the film room and watching film with him.”
A perfect example of the growth from film study came late in the second half of WSU’s 87-79 win over Central Florida last Saturday. Like most true freshman, Sherfield has his fair amount of lapses when he gets caught watching the ball instead of fulfilling his duties like boxing out.
Twenty games into his freshman season though, Sherfield is already taking lessons from the film room and applying them on the court. When UCF took a quick three in transition, instead of just turning his head toward the rim, Sherfield turned his head to locate his man to box out. The attention to detail paid off, as Sherfield had position when the ball caromed off his way and he maintained his box-out to secure a crucial defensive rebound for WSU.
After the game, Marshall singled out that play as a sign of Sherfield’s growth.
“You learn a lot here,” Sherfield said. “At the beginning of the year, I don’t think I would be able to make that play. But in the film room, coach drills it into you. I’m glad I’m able to make that play now.”
Even though he’s no longer starting, Sherfield is beginning to make an even bigger impact for the Shockers. He’s doled out 15 assists in the last three games and six of his eight double-digit scoring performances have come off the bench.
Waterman believes spending time on the bench at the start of games diagnosing the defense and analyzing plays from the sidelines has helped his development.
“He’s done an unbelievable job of picking things up on the fly,” Waterman said. “As a former player, I learned that watching from the bench you can see a lot of things that are happening that you might not if you’re on the floor. Now when he gets into the game, he’s aware of what defenses are doing in certain situations and he knows how to attack. He’s watching it and learning it and executing it and we’re really excited about what he can do for us.”
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