Late-night hoops, early buy-in: Gym rat mentality fuels Wichita State
During the summer, Paul Mills doesn’t get much time to work with his Wichita State men’s basketball team.
Counting the time on the court and in the weight room, he has just eight of their total 168 hours in a week.
“I worry about what players do with those other 160,” Mills said.
This offseason, the third-year head coach hasn’t had to worry much at all.
On the first Friday night after the newcomers arrived, Mills learned that instead of exploring Wichita’s nightlife, incoming point guard Dre Kindell had organized a late-night open run at Koch Arena.
The Shockers played pickup for four hours, with some not leaving until just before midnight. Purdue transfer Will Berg even came away with a sprained ankle from the session, but Mills didn’t mind.
“That’s my kind of squad,” Mills said. “I wasn’t born into basketball royalty. I had to work and be obsessed with it. So I was pretty happy to hear how they spent a Friday night being in a gym rather than let’s go navigate the city and see what we can get ourselves into. That’s encouraging.”
It’s become a theme: Kindell has emerged as the ringleader in the team’s group chat, organizing offseason runs. The newcomers are genuinely excited about basketball, not just to play it, but also to think about it and talk about it with teammates.
Players showing up to the gym in the mornings before team workouts to get extra shots up has become the expectation rather than the exception.
“Getting up to play basketball is such a blessing,” newcomer Mike Gray Jr. said. “Practicing, scrimmaging, playing games, those are the easy things in life. There are a lot harder things you could be doing. Everyone is real focused on getting in the gym and working hard.”
Newcomer Karon Boyd, already earning a reputation as an elite defender, has noticed the joy as much as the work ethic.
“Everybody just loves to hoop,” Boyd said. “It’s not something we dread. Our biggest worry is when the next shot is going in and can you make the right play?”
Mills calls it “player-driven,” the kind of environment where coaches don’t have to manufacture passion.
“It’s a great feeling when I walk in here and they’re consumed by basketball,” Mills said. “It’s totally initiated by the players. Open gyms on Friday nights are something that need to continue, and to be honest, it’s what I’m used to.”
Summer Shocker stock risers
Mills said he left the summer with three certainties: Kenyon Giles is a premier scorer, Boyd is an elite defender and the Shockers’ frontcourt is bigger and deeper than it’s ever been before under his watch.
Berg, a 7-foot-2 transfer from Purdue, and Seton Hall transfer Emmanuel Okorafor are expected to anchor the center spot, but true freshman Noah Hill from Sunrise Christian Academy has turned heads with his athleticism and motor. He’s still raw — he only started playing organized basketball in high school — but Hill’s upside is clear.
Redshirt freshman T.J. Williams, a Wichita native who is one of three returners, is also pushing for a role after his debut on the court was delayed by a torn meniscus. A versatile 6-5 wing, Williams’ understanding of Mills’ system gives him a head start.
“He better understands the timing of cuts and the terminology,” Mills said. “You don’t get to do things simply because you’re a better athlete. The one thing I can say about T.J. is that his motor is always running.”
Other standouts include Fresno State transfer Brian Amuneke, a 40.7% 3-point shooter who Mills compares to “a puppy” with big baws for his significant upside, and Monmouth transfer Jaret Valencia, a 6-9 forward whose defensive potential is high if he can stay healthy.
Speaking of health, the Shockers emerged from summer workouts unscathed without any long-term injuries.
Conditioning tests were another highlight, as some players broke the 5-minute mile barrier in the weekly challenges run by Mills and strength and conditioning coach Ashtin Meerpohl.
With players returning to campus earlier this month for the start of fall classes, the team is preparing for the start of full practices in mid-September.
This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
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