Wichita State adds high-upside forward as sixth commitment of 2020 recruiting class
Jaden Seymour, a 6-foot-9 forward from Charlotte, North Carolina, became the sixth commitment to Wichita State’s 2020 recruiting class when he pledged to the Shockers on Friday.
The Shockers believe they just snagged another incoming freshman with elite athleticism and a high ceiling. It was just one year ago when Seymour was a rising prospect who was drawing interest from ACC programs when he suffered a torn ACL last April, an injury that derailed his recruitment and prevented him from playing most of his senior season at Northside Christian.
Corey Evans, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals, believes WSU just became the beneficiary of high-major programs scattering after the injury.
“I love his upside and he was just turning into a really good player before he tore his ACL,” Evans said. “Someone with his size, fluidity and ball skills is hard to find. His upside is tremendous and while I’m not saying he is this, he does have some Markis McDuffie dimensions. He’s a versatile wing forward that has his best days head.”
It was WSU’s commitment after the injury, an effort led by assistant coach Tyson Waterman, that convinced Seymour to want to become a Shocker. It also helped WSU’s case that Seymour’s former trainer in North Carolina was Gabe Blair, who played for the Shockers from 2009-11.
“Just the fact that they continued to talk to me and they recruited me hard,” Seymour said. “Gabe helped me in the process to make the decision. In the end, the (WSU) coaches are really what sold me.”
Seymour has the athleticism to play above the rim, which could make him a matchup nightmare for WSU’s opponents as a stretch power forward. In order to fulfill that potential, Seymour (6-9, 195 pounds) knows he has work to do in the weight room — something he’s looking forward to when he arrives at WSU.
Where that length and athleticism can translate right away at WSU is on the defensive end. At 6-9 with a long wingspan, Seymour has the potential and, just as importantly, the desire to become a shut-down defender at the Division I level.
“To me, defense is a mentality more than anything,” Seymour said. “You’ve got to have pride in your defense. As long as you have pride in your defense, then that is going to make it easier to guard anybody. To me, it’s fun to be able to lock somebody up. That’s so much fun to me.”
At the high school level, Seymour’s motor and athleticism were often times enough to excel. He’ll need to develop his skill set to become a potent scorer for WSU in the American Athletic Conference. He’s still working on tightening up his handle and improving the consistency of his outside shot.
WSU thinks its an ideal situation for Seymour. He has the potential to help the team right away, but there won’t be pressure right away with WSU planning to return Dexter Dennis at small forward and Trey Wade at power forward. Seymour will have time to develop his game, get stronger in the weight room and mature as he acclimates to the next level.
“I’m very versatile,” Seymour said. “I’m a two-way player and very athletic and can do a little bit of everything. I’m just looking forward to playing wherever they need me to be really.”
It has been a spring of landing first choices for WSU coach Gregg Marshall and his staff.
The first domino to fall was Connecticut point guard Alterique Gilbert, who was WSU’s top graduate transfer target. WSU also landed its top junior-college targets in guard Craig Porter and forward Clarence Jackson.
And now Marshall has been able to secure three off his wish list in the freshmen class, as he plucked his favorite guard (Chaunce Jenkins), his favorite wing (Ricky Council IV) and his favorite forward in Seymour.
Seymour said he was looking forward to playing for a coach like Marshall.
“I know he’s a pretty hard coach, and I definitely like that,” Seymour said. “I like a coach who is going to be honest with me and try to get the best out of me and not sugar coat anything. I’m looking forward to it.”
It has been an eventful offseason for WSU, which has had seven scholarship players leave the program in the last three weeks and the lone fall signee released from his letter of intent. Even after six commitments, WSU still has two scholarships remaining this spring.
That kind of turnover was one of Seymour’s questions for the WSU coaches, but the recruit said he felt comfortable joining the program after talking with Marshall and Waterman.
“I definitely asked about it because I mean, who wouldn’t? But it didn’t really bother me too much,” Seymour said. “Everybody has their own path, and if they feel like a different path was better for them, then that’s their own opinion. I believe this is my path.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 4:26 PM.
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