It only took 7-footer Quincy Ballard two minutes to show potential for Wichita State
A two-minute span in the debut performance of Quincy Ballard showcased so many of the reasons why those inside the Wichita State men’s basketball program are ecstatic about the future for the 7-foot sophomore.
The Shockers scored a recruiting upset this past spring to land Ballard over Syracuse, where he grew up, and the coaching staff was cautiously optimistic about the way he played this offseason.
Cautious because Ballard is still somewhat of a mystery coming to WSU after averaging just 4.1 minutes per game in 36 career appearances for Florida State the last two seasons. But the Shockers were confident they could extract the potential that had so many high-major programs lining up to take a shot on Ballard coming out of high school.
That upside flashed during a stretch of 125 seconds when Ballard scored seven points, grabbed a rebound and forced a contested miss on the defensive end in the second half of Wichita State’s 79-55 win over Central Arkansas at Koch Arena on Monday. For the game, Ballard scored a career-high 10 points with five rebounds and two blocks in 12 minutes of action.
“It felt pretty good out there,” said Ballard. “It shows the fans what I can really do.”
A fair disclaimer: Central Arkansas will likely have one of the worst defenses in the country this season and guarded Ballard with a 6-foot-7 forward the majority of the time.
While better defenses with bigger and more skilled centers most certainly await, Ballard did things for his size that WSU believes will translate regardless of the opponent.
The show began just under the 10-minute mark in the second half, when Jaron Pierre Jr. grabbed a rebound to ignite a fast break and Ballard sprinted at an impressive pace for a 7-footer down the left side of the floor.
Ballard knew if he ran the floor he would be rewarded with a lob, which is why he started timing his steps before Pierre started to loft a pass toward the rim. What made the play so special is that Ballard ran full speed to the rim, caught the pass over the defense and adjusted in the air to finish off the glass.
How many 7-footers have the coordination to pull that off? Ballard might be the first of his kind in that regard to come through WSU.
“With his size and athleticism, you can honestly throw the ball anywhere you want,” WSU star guard Craig Porter said of Ballard.
Up next was a display of how devastating Ballard can be as a roller to the basket in a half-court setting. Ballard set a high ball screen and rolled down the lane three straight times. WSU found him all three times for points.
Perhaps even more impressive than Ballard’s destruction on these plays was the deft passing touch showed by fellow big man James Rojas, a senior transfer from Alabama who is clearly enjoying his full health (after tearing the ACL in both knees) and being unleashed on the offensive end.
When the defense rotated to the paint to tag Ballard and take away the initial pass to the big man, Rojas proved handy as the connecting piece in the play. He received the swing pass from the guard and capitalized on the better angle to feed Ballard. When the defense sees a pass not intended for Ballard, they scramble back to their original mark, but Rojas was superb in whipping passes inside to catch the defense in rotation and find Ballard for easy shots at the rim.
“Anytime you’ve got a big guy that can set a ball screen and roll to the rim, it forces the defense to tag and help because (Ballard) can go upstairs and catch those lobs,” WSU head coach Isaac Brown said. “When they do tag and help, we can kick the ball to the corner and allow other guys to get wide-open shots.”
On Monday, Ballard’s rolls resulted in easy chances for himself. In future games, WSU believes Ballard’s rolls will have a gravitational pull on the defense and create openings on the perimeter.
Porter, who only shared the court with Ballard for two minutes and 36 seconds, was already day-dreaming about the possibilities in the pick-and-roll game with his new partner.
“It takes a defense out of everything that they have,” Porter said. “It’s hard to match up with him and they’re going to have to help and the big man is going to have to choose to stop me or let (Ballard) go, so it’s one of those where you’ve got to take a punch either way. It’s going to hurt people all year long.”
Another encouraging highlight during the two-minute stretch was a possession where Ballard stonewalled Central Arkansas’ Eddy Kayouloud, a crafty 6-foot-7 forward who was one of the most efficient post-up scorers in the country last season.
Kayouloud thought his quickness would win out over Ballard, as he dragged the 7-footer away from the basket and executed a tight spin move that got him to his preferred left hand near the rim. The only problem was Ballard was step for step with Kayouloud. His long reach forced Kayouloud to release further away from the basket than he would have liked and forced a bad miss.
Ballard also closed out the first half with a pair of blocks in the final 10 seconds, a display of rim protection that WSU sorely missed last season.
“Even when I don’t block it, I still go to contest and alter shots,” Ballard said. “It helps our defense in many ways. A lot of those are going to turn into misses and we’ll get the rebound and run in transition and that will create opportunities for us.”
Ballard has the potential to drastically alter the game in WSU’s favor on both ends of the floor when he’s on the court.
Tougher challenges are ahead, but Monday’s debut from Ballard showed exactly the kind of upside the coaching staff believed was there all along.
“I told the guys on the bench that there are going to be games where you’re going to (play) five minutes, 10 minutes, but when you get that opportunity, do what you can to earn more minutes,” Brown said. “(Ballard) earned more minutes tonight. I’m just excited for the kid. He’s a great kid. He has a great attitude and he’s doing everything he’s supposed to do on and off the court.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
.jpg)