Wichita State tops Syracuse in recruiting for transfer Jaret Valencia
It hasn’t happened often in the recent history of the Wichita State men’s basketball team when the Shockers have won a recruiting battle after a prospect leaves an official visit without committing.
It’s even more of a rarity when that player takes his next recruiting visit to a power-conference school.
But WSU head coach Paul Mills was able to break that cycle and land a notable recruiting win for Wichita State on Friday when Monmouth transfer Jaret Valencia, fresh off his visit to Syracuse, announced his commitment to the Shockers. Valencia took an official visit to WSU two weeks ago.
“I just really liked coach Mills and all of the coaching staff,” Valencia told The Eagle. “They were the first people who really started to recruit me hard and with no hesitation going at me. I just felt like it was the right place and they’ve got the right coaching staff to help development me into a better player.”
It marks the most contested recruiting battle won by Mills, at least by what was released, during this portal season. Valencia had schools like Syracuse, Vanderbilt, SMU, Rutgers, Georgia Tech and Miami reach out to him in recruiting after he entered the transfer portal.
The springy, 6-foot-9 forward averaged 6.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks this past season at Monmouth, but those modest statistics don’t capture the upside of the former top-100 high school recruit. Few players with a 6-9 frame can move and jump like Valencia, who has shown flashes in his two seasons at Monmouth of being a complete lockdown defender — equally capable of swallowing up perimeter players with his length and providing elite rim protection.
He was named to the Colonial Athletic Association all-defensive team as a redshirt freshman when he averaged 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks for Monmouth.
He’s also displayed some offensive pop from the perimeter, knocking down 33 of 87 career 3-pointers for an intriguing 37.9% rate. With so many minutes at WSU up for grabs next season, particularly in the frontcourt, Valencia could have plenty of opportunity to showcase his potential for the Shockers.
Valencia should pair with Temple transfer Dillon Battie at the power forward position for the Shockers, as that duo joins UNC Greensboro guard Kenyon Giles, East Tennessee State wing Karon Boyd and Purdue center Will Berg as the 2025 transfer portal class for WSU.
Valencia was once rated as a top-100 recruit with offers from Houston, Connecticut, Creighton, Mississippi State and Kansas State, among others, but eligibility issues — he came to America from Quibdo, Colombia — ultimately affected his recruiting. After redshirting the 2022-23 season, Valencia has played two seasons at Monmouth and should have two years of eligibility remaining.
The obvious connection to WSU is that he played three years of high school basketball for former Shocker P.J. Couisnard, who is expected to be hired as an assistant coach by Mills once the new hire process is completed. After arriving in Wichita for his visit, Valencia tagged Couisnard and another former Shocker and fellow Colombian, Jaime Echenique, in a social media post on Instagram.
Wichita State basketball 2025-26 roster
Dillon Battie, so., 6-8, F (Temple)
Will Berg, jr,. 7-2, C (Purdue)
Karon Boyd, sr., 6-5, F (East Tennessee State)
Pierre Couisnard Jr., fr., 6-3, G
Kenyon Giles, sr., 5-9, G (UNC Greensboro)
Noah Hill, fr., 6-8, F-C
Joy Ighovodja, jr., 6-4, G-F
Keandre Kindell, jr., 6-0, G (Barton Community College)
Tyrus Rathan-Mayes, fr., 6-6, G-F
Henry Thengvall, jr., 6-6, G
Jaret Valencia, jr., 6-9, F (Monmouth)
T.J. Williams, fr., 6-5, G-F
This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 12:11 PM.
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