Why Melvion Flanagan isn’t the typical walk-on recruit for Wichita State basketball
It’s not every season the Wichita State men’s basketball team has the opportunity to add a player with the scoring credentials of Melvion Flanagan as a walk-on.
Flanagan is far from the typical walk-on: he’s averaged 20.4 points the last two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and that was after averaging 21.8 points while leading Peabody High School to the Louisiana Class 4A state championship. Flanagan scored 31 points in the state championship game and was named the Most Outstanding Player.
But because of his diminutive stature (5-foot-10, 170 pounds), Flanagan said he has struggled to attract Division I interest. So instead of chasing a scholarship late into the summer, he decided to accept a walk-on position with Wichita State last week to try to prove himself.
“I’ve had a lot of people think just because I’m small, I can’t do this and I can’t do that,” Flanagan told The Eagle. “But I mean, I’ve fought some battles and been in some tough situations in my day and come out on top. I feel like I proved myself.”
It was just last month when Flanagan thought he had found a Division I home when he committed to Prairie View A&M on April 5.
But when the assistant coach who recruited him, Noah Croak, left for a job at Tarleton State, Flanagan said the head coach at Prairie View A&M never returned his messages. He took that as a sign the program was no longer interested.
That left Flanagan staring down the choices of playing another season of junior college basketball, hoping a scholarship opportunity at a Division I would pop up in the summer or taking a chance as a walk-on at a higher program.
That’s where Wichita State entered the picture: head coach Isaac Brown is a former standout player himself at Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he was the team MVP of the 1989-90 season when he averaged 16.4 points, 7.2 assists and 2 steals. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2019. He also knows Flanagan’s father, Melvin, from their playing days.
But that’s not the only Wichita State tie to Flanagan.
He was actually originally committed out of high school to play for Butch Pierre, now an assistant coach at WSU, when he was the head coach at Northwest Florida State. He ended up playing two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast and has three years of eligibility remaining.
“Coach Brown was the reason why I wanted to come,” Flanagan said. “We’ve talked for a good little minute now, probably about two years. Relationships are really what it’s about. He was great at communicating with me and letting me know the real. I feel like we can work together and it’s a perfect fit.”
Flanagan agreed that he doesn’t consider himself to be the typical walk-on.
After failing to advance far in the postseason at Mississippi Gulf Coast in two seasons, he said he was motivated to join a team with elevated expectations.
“I’m a real aggressive guard and I feel like my defense is real underrated,” Flanagan said. “I’m a crazy defensive player. I can score the ball at all three levels and I’m a great passer and most importantly, a great teammate. I’m coming to Wichita State not just to improve my game, but to help my teammates get better and help the team get to the NCAA tournament.”
After only carrying a total of 13 players last season, which included one walk-on, Brown appears to be committed to carrying a full roster for the 2022-23 season. Flanagan is the third walk-on committed to WSU, joining Kapaun Mt. Carmel graduate Henry Thengvall and Basehor-Linwood graduate Trevor McBride.
Wichita State has one remaining scholarship in its 2022 recruiting class.
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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