Shockers hope to bring Echenique’s parents from Colombia to Wichita for senior night
It’s not uncommon for Jaime Echenique to drop by coach Gregg Marshall’s office, but his recent visit wasn’t about basketball.
Echenique has two home games left as a member of the Wichita State Shockers men’s basketball team. He has been a picture of consistency for a program that has needed it, with 11 freshmen and sophomores on the roster. But he hopes to change things up for his final night at Koch Arena.
“We sat and chopped it up a little bit,” Marshall said Tuesday. “I’m trying to help him, through our diplomatic ties, to get his parents a visa, so that they can come watch him on senior night and/or graduation.”
Echenique is from Barranquilla, Colombia, a 10-hour flight from Wichita. If his parents, Jaime Echenique and Lidia Salinas, can attend, it would be their first time seeing their son in a Shockers uniform.
Along with being alone in Kansas, away from his family, Echenique is alone in his senior status on the team. Marshall said that has been hard on him throughout the 2019-20 season.
Marshall hasn’t had just one senior on his roster since Clevin Hannah in 2009-10.
“He (Echenique) remarked how it is different for a senior, that he now realizes that,” Marshall said. “He wishes there were other seniors that could help carry the water.
“It’s tough. Tough hearing that from a kid.”
Echenique came to WSU from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas. He played here last year and was the Shockers’ leading rebounder.
He entered his second season at WSU as one of the team’s leaders and someone whose role if the Shockers were to be successful on offense this year. He was the team’s third-leading scorer last season.
And he wanted to redshirt.
Echenique felt he would have a stronger chance to reach the NCAA Tournament next season with those 11 first- and second-year players and four rising seniors. Echenique was probably right, but as of Tuesday, the Shockers were still predicted to make the tourney as a No. 11 seed, according to ESPN.
Much of that has to do with Echenique averaging 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He hasn’t gone more than three games without reaching double-digit points, and he hit a career-high the most recent time WSU played its next opponent.
Echenique scored 20 in a loss at Temple on Jan. 15. Since then, he has scored at least 10 in six games, including another 20-point performance Thursday against South Florida. He increased his stamina and ability to stay mostly out of foul trouble have enabled him to remain on the floor for extended runs this season.
The urgency is on more now than ever for Echenique, who has talked about winning this season rather than gearing up for whatever comes next. With a couple of home games left, Marshall said his lone senior has tried to push that message out to his teammates.
Marshall said Echenique talked about how he feels like a graduate transfer looking for one last shot at reaching the NCAA Tournament.
The coach hopes WSU can send him out properly.
“I just think he’s a really neat young person,” Marshall said. “I’ve enjoyed coaching him a lot, and I wish he was going to be around here another year or two. He wishes that as well, which is kind of ironic. Most guys are ready to move on and do the next thing. I’ve enjoyed watching him prosper and develop as not only a player but a person.
“I’m just hopeful that we can get his parents here.”