‘Basketball and family’: Why being a Shocker means more to transfer James Rojas
There was no need for James Rojas to take an official visit to Wichita State’s campus before committing to play his fifth and final year of college basketball for the Shockers.
When Rojas entered the NCAA transfer portal in April following a three-year stint with Alabama, he knew he wanted to move closer to Salina, the hometown of his longtime girlfriend, Jaycee Burns, and mother of their 2-year-old son, Zayden.
He was ecstatic when Wichita State men’s basketball head coach Isaac Brown expressed interest. The fit just made sense: Rojas knew the area from his two-year career at Hutchinson Community College and Wichita is less than a 90-minute car ride from Salina.
Less than a week from entering the portal, Rojas committed to Wichita State. The 6-foot-8, 220-pound big man officially arrived in Wichita this past weekend to join the team for the first time.
“It was perfect on both ends: basketball and family,” Rojas told The Eagle. “I clicked immediately with Coach Brown and I knew it was a good place. He’s just a down-to-Earth guy and I could immediately tell he cares about us regardless of basketball. I love it here already and I’m excited to play.”
Burns and Zayden were regulars at his home games at Alabama, so playing in front of his son will be nothing new. The difference will be Burns’ side of the family being able to attend his games this season.
“It’s going to be really special because her side of the family is really supportive and they’re going to be coming down here in buses,” Rojas said. “I think playing with that support and all of that family around is going to be really awesome.”
On the court, Rojas figures to be one of the more important newcomers for Wichita State. As a fifth-year senior who has experience playing regularly at a high level in the SEC and two years in the NCAA Tournament, he should have a presence in the locker room on a team that will be stocked with mostly underclassmen.
He also is one of the most intriguing newcomers given his history as a former junior college All-American while at Hutchinson, where he averaged 19 points and 6.5 rebounds on top of making 38.4% of his three-pointers in the 2018-19 season.
But his time at Alabama was hindered by a pair of major knee injuries. He tore the ACL in his right knee before the 2019-20 season and then tore the ACL in his left knee last summer. Rojas returned to earn a role as a back-up center, averaging 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 13.5 minutes this past season for an Alabama team that finished as the No. 28-ranked team by Ken Pomeroy’s metrics and earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
He has had to evolve his game when it comes to scoring since the injuries robbed him of his explosion, but his past coaches have raved about Rojas’ toughness and savviness when it comes to the dirty work of the game, like defense and rebounding.
“He’s one of the toughest players I’ve ever seen,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said this past season about Rojas. “He’s the ultimate competitor and cares about the team winning first and foremost.”
“Wichita State is getting a hard-nosed player,” Steve Eck, his former coach at Hutchinson, told The Eagle when Rojas signed with the Shockers. “He doesn’t mind getting down and dirty. He doesn’t take any prisoners when he’s out there.”
For a Wichita State team that began the season as a nationally-elite defense only to slide back to pedestrian during American Athletic Conference play, Rojas’ intensity and desire on the defensive end could help set the tone for the rest of the team.
At least that’s how Rojas wants it to be this summer when the team starts practicing together at Koch Arena later this week.
“This being my last year, I just want to win,” Rojas said. “I feel like I can come in and give my expertise to these guys and get them motivated to play defense. I want us to be a top defensive team. I think with my physicality and experience, I can get these guys going. We’ve got a good group of guys and I feel like we definitely have the potential to be a great defensive team.”
Rojas was a bruiser on the offensive end for Alabama, typically drifting along the baseline or camping out on the weak-side block waiting to either finish a dump-off pass or chase an offensive rebound. He finished 61.8% of his two-point shots and was an above-average offensive rebounder for the minutes he played last season.
But his biggest plus on offense was his foul rate of 68.3% (41 free throws to 60 shot attempts) that would have ranked 12th in the country if he played enough minutes. And Rojas is the ideal kind of foul magnet because he can also make free throws, as he is a career 76% free throw shooter on 463 career attempts spread between Hutchinson and Alabama.
Rojas said he is dedicating this summer to improving his outside shooting, which could allow Wichita State to play him at power forward alongside other centers in Kenny Pohto, the 6-foot-11 sophomore who specializes in pick-and-pop, and Quincy Ballard, the 7-foot sophomore transfer from Florida State who is the prototypical rim-runner.
If Rojas proves to be a better three-point shooter than he was at Alabama, where he made just 23.1% of his triples on 52 career attempts, he could play minutes at power forward and spot up in the corner to space the floor, while the center sets the screens in WSU’s spread pick-and-roll offense.
Regardless of where he plays on offense, Rojas figures to be a fixture for the Shockers this upcoming season because of his defense.
“I’ve watched a lot of Wichita State basketball and they’re always tough and get after it on defense,” Rojas said. “I like that and I think we can definitely do that with this team. I feel like we definitely have the personnel here to do that.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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