Why Wichita State basketball still has hope Bijan Cortes plays after NCAA rejects waiver
The Wichita State men’s basketball team will be without point guard Bijan Cortes for at least the fall semester of the 2023-24 season.
Cortes was seeking an academic waiver to play immediately for the Shockers following his transfer from Oklahoma, but the NCAA has denied his waiver request for eligibility, WSU coach Paul Mills announced on Friday.
WSU plans to apply again following the fall semester, Mills said.
The coach also mentioned Missouri transfer Ronnie DeGray III, a second-time undergraduate transfer, had yet to receive a ruling on his eligibility for this season three days ahead of WSU’s season opener against Lipscomb at Koch Arena.
“We can revisit (Cortes’ eligibility) in December once the semester is over, so it’s not an entirely lost cause,” Mills said. “It’s good to get that news behind us, so we don’t have to think through that every day. We’ll be prepared against a really good Lipscomb team on Monday night.”
Cortes was projected to compete for the starting point guard role on the team in his first season with the Shockers.
However, his absence from non-conference play will hardly be an adjustment for the team. Due to the ongoing waiver process, Cortes was unable to participate for WSU in exhibitions and scrimmages against outside competition.
Mills has turned to junior Xavier Bell to handle point-guard duties, along with juniors Colby Rogers and Harlond Beverly. While none may be considered traditional point guards, Mills said he has confidence in all three’s ball-handling and play-making ability.
“We will miss Bijan’s depth, to have a guy of that caliber, not to be able to look to on the bench,” Mills said. “But we have a lot of guards on our team who can handle. I’d consider Xavier a combo guard and I would say the same thing about Colby Rogers and Harlond. So we have guys who are capable. Would we like the depth? Yes. But is it concerning? No.”
Since Cortes was sitting out competitions already, his teammates were prepared for the possibility of Friday’s news.
“Coming into this season, I did have that sense of awareness that (Cortes) might not be able to play,” Bell said. “But day in and day out, he still practices with us. It’s always good competition going up against him that way. I was hoping to have him out there on the court with us.”
While the details in Cortes’ case are different, the same end result of being forced to sit out games is an experience that Rogers can relate to after being forced to redshirt last season after the NCAA rejected his waiver to play as a two-time transfer.
“It’s kind of out of our hands and me being on the other end of that, it is frustrating,” Rogers said. “There’s nothing we can do. It’s up to the NCAA, so I think trying to focus on what you can do, which is go hard in practice, help the guys and be a great teammate. I think that’s the best way to move forward from it because you’re not going to sway the NCAA, as much as you want to.”
The fall semester wraps up with final examinations Dec. 14, but a WSU spokesperson confirmed to The Eagle that the next step in Cortes’ pursuit of eligibility cannot be taken until professors post their final grades, which has no set date.
That vague time-frame means Cortes will miss at least the first 10 games of the season, most notably the Myrtle Beach Invitational, the road game at Missouri and the Intrust Bank Arena game against South Dakota State.
Depending on when grades are posted and if another attempt at a waiver is successful, Cortes could be eligible in time for marquee non-conference games against Kansas State (Dec. 21) and Kansas (Dec. 30) and the start of American Athletic Conference play on Jan. 4.
This story was originally published November 3, 2023 at 12:55 PM.
.jpg)