‘A beautiful thing’: Brother of current Shocker is latest to commit to WSU basketball
The brotherhood of the Wichita State men’s basketball team will have an actual pair of brothers next season for the first time in three decades.
Trevin Wade, the younger brother of current Shocker senior Trey Wade and a 5-foot-10 guard who earned second team All-American honors for Georgia Highlands College, announced he has signed a letter of intent with Wichita State on Friday. He is the seventh member of WSU’s 2020 recruiting class, leaving the Shockers with one more spot remaining for their 2020-21 team.
The Wade brothers, from Marietta, Georgia, will be the first brothers to play together at WSU since Dwayne and Dwight Praylow from 1985-89.
“My parents would describe this as a beautiful thing,” said Trevin Wade, who will be a junior for WSU. “They’re going to get to watch both of us together and hopefully have a really strong year and make a deep run in the tournament. And especially with everything that’s going on right now in the world, this makes it easier on my parents and us as a family.”
Trevin Wade knows many will question if a 5-10, 170-pound guard can hold his own in the American Athletic Conference.
Questions about his size are something he’s faced his entire basketball career. All he’s done is win a national championship at Montverde Academy his senior year of high school, then average 17.6 points, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game this past season at Georgia Highlands to earn All-American and conference player of the year honors.
“It doesn’t really bother me anymore,” Trevin Wade said. “My response to that question is just watch me. After you watch, you tell me if size matters or not. I know I might seem small, but if you’ve ever seen me leap, you know I can get up with the best of them.”
That’s a mentality he had to develop at an early age growing up the youngest of four siblings, including three brothers. Being separated by less than three years, the childhood games would always feature Trevin, Trey and Antonio. Trey, who grew to be 6-6, was always bigger than Trevin and Antonio, who just wrapped up his career at Oklahoma Baptist, was two years older and more mature.
“My brothers would never let me play with them and their older friends,” Trevin Wade said. “I wanted to play so bad, so I had to develop the mindset of playing bigger than what I was. I definitely think that edge in me was developed at an early age and stayed with me and benefited me throughout my career.”
“His size is kind of like a disguise,” Trey Wade said. “He may look small, but he doesn’t play small. Guys think they can play that bully ball with him, but I know first-hand that his defense is lockdown. He’s just hungry. That’s the biggest thing when it comes to defense. Are you hungry? And he’s hungry.”
Despite being 5-10, Trevin Wade has developed a reputation as a high-flying act as a dunker. Combined with his affinity for defense, Trey Wade believes his brother will be a fan favorite at Koch Arena.
He was originally committed to Eastern Kentucky, but decommitted on March 8 and has been in touch with WSU ever since.
While Connecticut graduate transfer Alterique Gilbert is penciled in as WSU’s starting point guard for this upcoming season, Trevin Wade will be able to compete for minutes at the position with fellow junior-college transfer Craig Porter, who is also capable of playing off the ball.
“He’s a hard-nosed player who loves to play defense, which is just how the Wichita fans like it,” Trey Wade said. “And he can jump out of the gym. He’s kind of like Dex (Dennis) with it, except he’s smaller. He’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
“Trevin is coming off a great year at Georgia Highlands,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said in a release. “Through our relationship with Trey, my staff has monitored his progress. He is super athletic, handles the ball well and can score it in a variety of ways.”
This isn’t the first time the Wade brothers have played together in college, either.
They were teammates in the 2018-19 season at South Plains College, where Trey was the star forward and Trevin was a backup point guard. The team finished 28-6 that season and reached the semifinals of the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, losing to the eventual national champion Vincennes, which featured Porter as a starter.
Reuniting again wasn’t always the plan, but the opportunity was too good to pass up when it became available when WSU had seven scholarship players enter the NCAA transfer portal after a 23-8 season. Trey Wade released a message last week on his social media stating that he was eager to return to the Shockers.
“I committed to Wichita State and I want to see it through,” Trey Wade said. “I understand that everybody has to make the best decision for themselves, but I think the best decision for me was to stay. I believe in what coach Marshall is doing. The winning and the program’s history don’t lie. So I’m going to trust it and I think it’s going to work out the best.”
Trevin Wade was able to observe last season from watching the games on television and talking with his brother. While he had some questions about the mass exodus, he also trusts his brother’s judgment and said the opportunity to come to WSU was a no-brainer.
And now, one last time, the Wade brothers will be able to wear the same uniform and play basketball together.
“I was able to follow the program and I saw and heard great things about Gregg Marshall and great things about the Wichita State program,” Trevin Wade said. “It wasn’t a head-scratcher for me at all seeing all of those guys leave, I saw it more as an opportunity for me.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 5:02 PM.
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