Why guard Craig Porter could have a breakout season for Wichita State basketball
Playing a college basketball season through the coronavirus pandemic made for a strange experience for all of Wichita State’s men’s basketball players, but perhaps none more so than Craig Porter.
No one racked up more missed time in COVID-19 protocol than Porter, who missed a total of 60 days in the lead-up to his first season at the Division I level.
That forced the Terre Haute, Indiana native to play catch-up during the season and just when he started feeling right, Porter suffered a myriad of leg injuries that stunted his debut season with the Shockers.
“A lot of people don’t realize he had such a weird year,” WSU head coach Isaac Brown said. “When he first got here, he was breaking guys down, getting in the lane and dunking the basketball. He was barely touching the net by the end of the season. He was just never healthy.”
Going by the numbers from last season, Porter doesn’t register as much of an impact player. While he did start twice, he only averaged 12.9 minutes per game, shot 38.9% from the field and finished with measly averages of 2.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Those numbers failed to capture the impact Porter could have for WSU when healthy. And the good news for WSU is that entering this week’s return to practices, Porter’s athleticism is back in full force.
“There’s going to be a lot of things people are going to be shocked about that they haven’t seen me do,” Porter said. “A lot of things.”
Porter was considered one of the nation’s top junior college prospects last spring after averaging 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.9 blocks at Vincennes. The year before, he was a starter on Vincennes’ NJCAA national championship team. Porter was receiving high-major interest before WSU assistant coach Lou Gudino, an Indiana native himself, convinced him to come to Wichita.
At the junior college level, Porter’s athleticism and deceptive leaping ability made him a dominant defender at times. Whether it was smothering a ball handler or swooping in from behind to swat a shot away, Porter could impose his will on defense like few 6-foot-2 guards can.
After battling with Alterique Gilbert and Tyson Etienne most days in practice with compromised mobility, Porter is ready to return to his disruptive ways this season now that he can move and jump like he’s used to. He briefly entered his name into the transfer portal, but quickly pulled it out to see what he could do with more time with the Shockers.
“Guarding those guys every day in practice just made me a better defender, a better player overall,” Porter said. “I had to be quicker on my feet. Playing those guys was very competitive, so I think that’s going to help me a lot.
“It feels good to finally be healthy after the year I had last year and not being able to do all of the things I know I can do. I’m just preparing myself this year to try to stay healthy and do all of the things I can do to make my team better and help us win.”
Considering Porter’s defensive reputation, nearly his entire focus this offseason has been on his offense.
With Gilbert moving on, almost all of WSU’s minutes at the point guard spot became available. It remains to be seen if Porter will receive promotion into the starting lineup, but he is likely to see an expanded role this season with the majority of his minutes at point guard, although Brown said he is comfortable playing Porter alongside another point guard or even in three-guard lineups.
“A lot of people don’t know that at the start of last season, Craig was playing really well in practice. He was a leader. He was running the team, he was defending, he was making three-point shots,” Brown said. “So we’re expecting a lot out of him this year. He knows the system. We’re working with him this summer on his quickness and to be able to keep his eyes in front. We want him getting by guys and we want him to become a guy every time it hits his hands and he’s wide open, he’s got to take those shots. He’s worked on it this summer.”
There are many ways for Porter to affect winning without scoring.
Being a reliable point-of-attack defender could greatly improve a defense lacking an elite rim protector. He also has a great feel for making the right pass, a valuable tool as a point guard. And finally, Porter can slip by unsuspecting guards on the perimeter and use his restored hops to grab extra possessions on the offensive glass.
But in the end, how valuable Porter can be for the Shockers likely depends on his shooting.
While Porter shot a more-than-respectable percentage (40%) last season, it came on just five three-point attempts in 246 minutes on the court — or an attempt from deep once every 49 minutes, which was by far the lowest frequency on the team last season outside of paint-bound center Morris Udeze.
Opposing teams will do their homework on Porter and, especially early in the season, likely devise defenses that force him to prove his mettle from the outside. Whether that’s going under every ball screen for Porter or his defender leaving him to camp out in the lane when he doesn’t have the ball, Porter will be challenged to make defenses pay in November and December.
Brown has given himself plenty of flexibility for his options in the backcourt, but a mainstay is sure to be AAC Co-Player of the Year Tyson Etienne. Qua Grant, a Division II All-American transfer from West Texas A&M, has made a positive impression on coaches so far this summer and can play both guard spots, while returning freshman Chaunce Jenkins is also vying for playing time at both guard spots.
That means if Porter is to reach his full potential with the Shockers, he’s going to have to start taking — and making — three-pointers. He doesn’t have to be a great outside shooter, just good enough to keep defenses honest. That’s the part of his game he’s worked on the most this summer to build consistency so when the time comes, Porter is ready for what he hopes to be his breakout season.
“He’s got to take those shots and he’s worked on it this summer,” Brown said. “We just need him to knock down wide open shots. I think he can do that and he’s been working on that this whole summer, just taking wide open threes.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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