After a silent winter, Wichita State men’s basketball is back in the recruiting game
It has been a mostly silent fall and winter on the Wichita State men’s basketball recruiting front.
Understandably so, as WSU had to adjust once longtime coach Gregg Marshall resigned just before the season and former assistant Isaac Brown was promoted to interim coach.
After not making any scholarship offers since the season began, the Shockers’ recruiting silence ended in a big way this past weekend, as WSU extended scholarship offers to four players in the class of 2021 and 2022.
Recruiting during a pandemic with an interim tag have made for challenging conditions for Brown and his coaching staff. But there are still ways to recruit, like selling potential prospects on WSU’s long history of success.
And with Brown and his staff navigating so many obstacles this season to have the Shockers (12-4) playing for first place in the American Athletic Conference this week against Houston and within range of an NCAA Tournament berth, there’s a possibility Brown could earn the head coaching job on a permanent basis.
In terms of the recent offers, WSU once again made a strong push in North Carolina where assistant coach Tyson Waterman has had plenty of success recruiting for the Shockers.
WSU offered two of the top point guards in North Carolina in Elijah Jamison, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound prospect from Louisburg, and L.J. Thomas, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound guard from Charlotte. Both are currently in the class of 2022, although Jamison clarified in a tweet that WSU made the offer contingent on him reclassifying to 2021, which he has not yet done but he is “very open” to.
Neither prospect has been evaluated by a major recruiting service, although Thomas has recently been offered by Houston, Virginia Tech and USC, while Jamison has recently been offered by East Carolina and Middle Tennessee.
WSU made another offer — a re-offer in this case — to a North Carolina player in Kuluel Mading, a three-star 2021 prospect who WSU has previously recruited but stopped when he committed to Howard. Mading recently decommitted from Howard and reopened his recruiting, as the Shockers became the first team to offer the 6-8, 175-pound forward who plays for The Burlington School since he decommitted.
The final offer went to D.J. Jefferson, a 6-5 wing in the class of 2022 from Richardson, Texas attending Minnesota Prep Academy. Jefferson, who has yet to be evaluated by a major recruiting service, also mentioned Waterman in his scholarship offer announcement on Twitter.
WSU’s current roster features two scholarship seniors in point guard Alterique Gilbert and forward Trey Wade, although the NCAA has announced that this season will not count against current players’ eligibility — meaning Gilbert and Wade will have the option to return to the Shockers next season.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 11:59 AM.
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