What Wichita State basketball coach Isaac Brown is selling on the recruiting trail
There’s no time to rest for Wichita State men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown after a whirlwind season that saw him start as interim coach and end with a five-year contract after leading the Shockers to an at-large NCAA Tournament berth and their first American Athletic Conference championship.
Brown showed his coaching chops as a first-time head coach during the season. Now he’ll have to show his recruiting chops as a first-time head coach during this offseason.
After spending six seasons as WSU’s lead recruiter under former coach Gregg Marshall, Brown is now the one expected to close the deals for the Shockers. As it currently stands, WSU will have five scholarships to offer in its 2021 recruiting class.
So what kind of players will Brown be in search of this spring?
“It really doesn’t matter to me if they’re high school, prep school, junior college, transfer, we’re just looking for the best available kids that can help us compete to be at the top of the league year-in and year-out,” Brown told The Eagle. “We want high-character kids that are doing good things on the basketball court and handling their business in the classroom. We’ve got some pieces to fill, but every day we’re talking to different kids and I think we’ll bring in some good ones.”
WSU expects to bring back three starters in reigning AAC co-player of the year Tyson Etienne, a sophomore guard, Dexter Dennis, a junior wing, and Morris Udeze, a junior center, as well as key reserves junior point guard Craig Porter, freshman wing Ricky Council IV and sophomore forward Clarence Jackson, all of whom could slide into the starting lineup next season. WSU also expects Chaunce Jenkins, a freshman guard who impressed coaches during practices last season, to return.
While the Shockers could have as many as six players leave from last season’s team, they would still return 63% of their minutes and 70% of their scoring with that core group. Players will return to campus next week to begin individual skill workouts at Koch Arena.
With Porter, Etienne and Jenkins capable of running point guard, Dennis and Council on the wing, Jackson at forward and Udeze at center, WSU really is in a position to take the best available players to fill in depth. Brown said shot creators will always be at the top of his list while playing in the American.
“We’re looking for kids that are skilled and can create shots,” Brown said. “We want to play fast on offense, so we want guys that can create off the bounce, get in the lane and are long and athletic. In our league, there’s a lot of length and athleticism and guys that can defend at a high level. So we’re going to need guys who can go up against that.”
One high-profile name WSU has been after is Duke graduate transfer Jordan Goldwire, a 6-foot-2 guard who was voted to the all-ACC defensive team after averaging 2.3 steals per game. He also led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.8, while averaging 5.8 points and four assists per game. Another is Florida sophomore Ques Glover, a 5-11 point guard who averaged 4.4 points in 12.4 minutes this past season for the Gators.
Big men will also be near the top of WSU’s wish list this spring with the departure of Wade and Poor Bear-Chandler. Brown said he likes to have a three-center rotation, so expect the Shockers to be in the hunt for backups to Udeze. Sources close to the program say WSU is closing in on landing a junior-college big man.
“We’ve got a guy or two that’s ready to (commit),” Brown said Monday on his radio show. “Hopefully early next week we’ll get that done. We have weaknesses at certain positions that we need to get longer and more athletic at. So we’re trying to get more length and athleticism.”
In his interview with The Eagle, Brown said he’s not necessarily looking just for big men with height. It’s always a bonus, but not a necessity.
“Look at Houston in the Final Four and their center is 6-7,” Brown said. “It’s more about finding guys who can play. Obviously we would love to get a 6-11 guy, but if there’s a 6-8 guy that’s even better then we’re going to take that.”
Brown said that his new long-term contract and WSU winning the conference championship has helped him already in the recruiting battles shaping up for April.
“One of the first things kids say to me is, ‘Ya’ll won the league with Houston and Memphis in it?’” Brown said. “That’s good any time you can tell kids you’re hanging banners and getting to the NCAA Tournament. And we’re producing pros. Right there are the top three recruiting selling points you can go with, plus we have a big-time fan base. When you can talk conference championships, NCAA Tournaments and going to the pros, kids are willing to listen to you.”
Brown also has the benefit of having strong relationships with WSU’s most famous alumni. Current NBA players Fred VanVleet and Landry Shamet have publicly supported Brown’s hire, as have several notable former Shockers like Ron Baker and Rashard Kelly.
“I’m just honored to have been here during the days those guys played,” Brown said. “All of those guys are high-character guys who were winners on and off the court. It was a great group of guys and that’s the kind of group we’re trying to get here. I’m so excited the guys are buying in and still following the program. Hopefully they can all come back this summer and be around the guys.”
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