A dive into the recruiting pipeline between WSU and Wichita’s Sunrise Christian
Since Gregg Marshall took over at Wichita State, the Shockers have expanded their recruiting pull from coast to coast. But their biggest pipeline is just five miles north of Koch Arena.
Bel Aire’s Sunrise Christian Academy is the No. 4 high school boys basketball program in the U.S., according to MaxPreps. The tiny, private K-12 school has produced seven scholarship pledges to WSU since Marshall’s hire in 2007, according to ESPN. Zach Brown and Rauno Nurger were the first in 2014, and three more have chosen the Shockers in the last two recruiting classes.
The list:
Grant Sherfield, 2019
Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, 2018
Chance Moore, 2018
C.J. Keyser, 2016
Eric Hamilton, 2015
Zach Brown, 2014
Rauno Nurger, 2014
In 2019, Grant Sherfield became the latest to make the move from Sunrise to WSU — and the first to do so without spending a year on Sunrise’s post-grad team. As a true freshman, Sherfield is averaging just over 25 minutes a game: 8.1 points, plus 3 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He has come through multiple times in critical situations for the Shockers in just 30 collegiate games.
On Jan. 12 at UConn, Sherfield struggled at times but made huge plays late to help secure an 89-86 overtime win for WSU. On Dec. 14 against Oklahoma, he came off the bench halfway through the second half and provided the offensive spark WSU needed.
After the game, he said playing at Sunrise helped prepare him for such moments.
“At Sunrise, we traveled across the country and played against some of the best teams every day,” Sherfield said. “We’ve played in front of 13,000 fans before, so coming to this stage isn’t that big of a deal, honestly. When you’ve played in front of big crowds, it doesn’t really faze you, so you’re able to just go out there, calm down and have fun playing the game that you love.”
What is Sunrise?
Sunrise is made up of three basketball teams: high school varsity, high school select and post-grad. All three are made up of players from across the world looking to take the next step in their basketball careers.
The program has produced players such as Buddy Hield, who played at Oklahoma and was selected No. 6 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. As of the 2019-20 college basketball season, Sunrise has 41 alumni on national title-contending teams like No. 1 Baylor, No. 5 Florida State and two on the No. 23 Shockers.
Sherfield was originally pledged to UCLA. When he reopened his recruitment, Sunrise coach Luke Barnwell said WSU came calling, “and why wouldn’t they?” The Shockers needed a guard, and Sherfield was arguably the best available guard in the country. Even better, he was just two miles away.
Barnwell is an alumnus of Bishop Carroll, a private catholic high school in Wichita. He said programs like Sunrise are becoming the new normal in college basketball recruiting. He said he receives 25-30 requests to play at Sunrise every month. Some of those come from kids in Kansas, but Barnwell said it takes an outstanding player to get on the floor in his program.
In the same way, only the best college basketball players in the country crack WSU’s starting five. Four of the seven who have come to WSU from Sunrise have earned at least one start for the Shockers.
Sherfield started the first seven games of his Shockers career and has returned to the starting lineup recently, with five starts in his past seven games. Barnwell said Sherfield was the most Division I-ready player Sunrise has sent to WSU.
Zach Brown was the most prepared on the defensive end, Barnwell said. Brown came off the bench as a WSU freshman but then started almost every game for the rest of his college career. In 2017, he was named to the Missouri Valley Conference’s All-Defensive Team. He was a four-time NCAA Tournament qualifier.
Nurger was probably WSU’s the next-best producer from Sunrise. He came to Sunrise from Estonia and played on the program’s post-grad team. He was a four-year letterman and made the MVC All-Bench Team in 2017, with five trips to the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t know if the word is ‘acceptable,’ but it’s more desirable to be at a place like ours than ever before,” Barnwell said. “The pool of players that want to do this is growing. I think that’s going to continue.”
A budding relationship
It wasn’t always this way between Sunrise and WSU. Both programs entered the national spotlight around the same time, but WSU missed on a couple of Sunrise’s first premier players. Barnwell said the Shockers called about Hield before he chose to be a Sooner, and Rafael Akpejiori picked Miami over WSU.
As the Shockers continued to improve under Marshall, especially with his first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012, going to WSU became more appealing to Sunrise’s players, Barnwell said.
“First of all, they (Sunrise) play a big-time schedule, and there’s a lot of Division I players in every practice,” Marshall said. “But they have to go to school, and it’s a very good school, as well, so they get the combined full prep school experience. It’s not just a basketball factory.”
Not every player at Sunrise becomes a Shocker, Barnwell said. It isn’t a feeder program. But he likes to take his team to WSU practices at least a handful of times every year
“I go because I know I’m going to take something from what they’re doing every time,” Barnwell said. “A large portion of the drills that we do come from them. We’re not exactly the same. I have a little different defensive philosophies, but drills, practice, organizationally, there is a reason they (the Shockers) are really good.”
The proximity to campus and similarity in competition and structure are natural recruiting pluses for WSU, but that isn’t the only factor for Sunrise players who migrate to Marshall’s program, Barnwell said.
On this year’s high school team at Sunrise, there is one player from Kansas (Ty Berry of Newton). Five hail from the rest of the U.S., and seven come from points around the rest of the world, including three from the Democratic Republic of Congo. After leaving Sunrise, some want to see other parts of the country or return home, Barnwell said.
Kansas isn’t always the final stop in their pre-professional basketball careers.
Barnwell estimated that about 80 percent of coaches from the Shockers’ opponents reach out to him regarding potential prospects. Oftentimes his team is on the road when they want to come visit, but some get creative in order to watch Sunrise in action.
WSU played host to East Carolina and coach Joe Dooley on Jan. 1 to open this year’s AAC schedule. The Shockers won 75-69 that night at Koch Arena, a Wednesday. Instead of flying right back to Greenville, N.C., Dooley was at Sunrise the next morning, Barnwell said.
“Every program seems to filter through Wichita,” Marshall said. “We’ll see guys who want to come to our practices. ‘Where are you coming from?’ (They say) ‘I’m here recruiting.’ ... You know where they are.”
What’s next?
Next year, Wichita State has just one scholarship available.
Barnwell said it would be a waste of time for Marshall’s staff to recruit his entire roster, even if every player he’s coaching was capable of playing at the level WSU has come to demand.
But when the timing lines up, Sunrise has proven to be a valuable resource to the Division I program playing at a high level just down the road.
“It’s circumstantial plus a mutual respect,” Barnwell said. “I know kids are going to go over there and get coached. They’re going to get better. I think everybody in the country knows that.
“And I would hope they say, ‘We’re getting a kid from Sunrise. They’ve been coached. They know how to play and know what to expect.’ “