‘I knew I messed up’: How this Shocker turned benching into fuel for breakout scoring game
Jaron Pierre Jr. never felt sorry for himself after Wichita State men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown benched him for an entire game earlier this month because of his practice habits.
Even though he was coming off a season-high, 13-point performance against Missouri, Pierre didn’t see a second of action in a 55-50 loss at Kansas State on Dec. 3.
Instead of pouting, Pierre went to work to regain the trust of the coaching staff.
“I knew I messed up,” Pierre said. “So I came hard the whole week of practice and did what I had to do.”
Pierre bounced back in a big way in Wichita State’s 81-63 win over Longwood this past Saturday, as the 6-foot-5 guard re-upped his season-high scoring output with 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting.
With WSU trailing 19-10 halfway through the first half, Pierre scored 12 points and served as one of the driving forces in the Shockers’ 33-10 onslaught to close out the half and turn the game around.
“The big thing with him — and I continue to tell him this — is to take good shots,” Brown said. “We want him shooting stationary threes, allow the ball to move, play inside-out and if you get the ball late in the clock, we want him to create. He has a lot of confidence and he made some big shots for us (Saturday).”
Pierre told The Eagle that sitting out an entire game was a challenge, but one that the New Orleans native felt like he handled better than he would have earlier in his career.
“When I didn’t play, I knew I had to be more mature,” Pierre said. “I had to cheer my teammates on and try to help my team try to win the game anyway I could. And once I got back to practice, I just had to lock in with the mindset to keep working.”
Work ethic has never been Pierre’s problem. Brown said Pierre routinely comes in before and after practices to work on his shot. The challenge has been making sure he takes the right shots.
In his last two appearances, Pierre has scored 33 points and shot 6 of 17 on three-pointers (35.3%). Shot selection is still a work in progress, but Pierre feels like he is doing a better job of picking out the right catch-and-shoot looks to fire.
“I think I am taking better looks and I’m trying to let the game come to me,” Pierre said. “My teammates are trusting me and doing a good job of finding me. I have that confidence in myself and I’m trying to just play my game, let the game come to me instead of chasing it.”
The ongoing challenge continues on Tuesday when Wichita State (5-4) looks to build a winning streak in a 7 p.m. game against Mississippi Valley State (1-9) that will be streamed on ESPN+.
Pierre said he was encouraged the day before his new scoring high with the Shockers from a text message from his head coach.
“Your time is coming,” Brown typed out just days after benching Pierre. “Trust the process.”
Pierre quickly typed back a four-word response.
“I got you, coach,” he said in the hours before he would score 20 points.
This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 11:41 AM.
.jpg)