‘Night and day’: How one Shocker transformed in Santa Clara basketball scrimmage
There was no box score or public result from Wichita State’s scrimmage against Santa Clara in Denver this past Saturday.
But one thing WSU head coach Paul Mills did want to make public afterward: Point guard Dre Kindell’s performance was “night and day better” than last week’s scrimmage against Drake.
“We told him, given his size, we need you to do a great job of applying pressure, and I thought he did,” Mills told The Eagle. “It was a night-and-day better job than what it was a week ago.”
At 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, Kindell will have to battle all season against bigger players looking to bully him in the post on switches. The Shockers occasionally had to adjust their defense against Drake to help cover him, but against Santa Clara, Mills said Kindell was scrappy enough to hold his own. He also showed improved poise running WSU’s offense and applied pressure effectively on that end of the court.
That improvement helped Wichita State settle in against a Santa Clara team that ranked among the nation’s elite in 3-point shooting a year ago. While both sides agreed not to disclose scores from the four 12-minute segments, Mills said the Shockers showed meaningful progress from the previous scrimmage — particularly in how they moved the ball and handled defensive pressure.
Santa Clara’s pressure was relentless: full-court pressure, traps on pick-and-rolls and blitzing ball-handlers. Mills said it was an ideal tune-up for WSU’s Nov. 4 season-opener against UNC Asheville, another team that likes to pick up 94 feet.
Despite the challenges, the Shockers avoided major turnover issues and continued to assert themselves on the glass — a positive sign after dominating the rebounding battle against Drake. The offensive flow, Mills said, was sharper and more confident, led by Kindell at the point.
“Some of it was our ability to move the ball better and to drive a close out,” Mills said. “A lot of it had to do with our aggressiveness and their aggressiveness. We were being aggressive on the glass and then they weren’t going to let us get clean looks.”
The biggest challenge came on the defensive end. Santa Clara’s size and shooting combination stretched WSU thin. Mills pointed to 6-foot-7 forward Elijah Mahi, who shot 43.4% from deep last season, and 6-foot-8 newcomer Thierry Darlan, both of whom caused problems on the perimeter.
Defending the 3-point line was also a struggle against Drake, an early trend the Shockers will spend the next two weeks of the preseason working to improve.
“We’ve got to be way more disciplined on closing out on shooters,” Mills said. “There were just too many times hands were down instead of up. And too many times we didn’t close out on the shooter’s pocket side. You walked out there knowing we’re going to have to be way more disciplined and play with a greater sense of urgency when you are going up against those caliber of shot-makers.”
According to Mills, WSU attempted 43 free throws in the 36 minutes of top-line action. The teams played in the bonus after just four fouls each period, a quirk of the scrimmage format, but the volume of WSU’s free throws still reflected its ability to attack the rim. Conversion, however, remains a work in progress.
WSU shot a combined 6 of 13 from the foul line in the two scrimmages against Drake at Koch Arena.
“We didn’t convert at a rate that we need to be able to convert at to win and close out games,” Mills said. “But I was really pleased with our ability to get to the line and handle their pressure.”
Without revealing the scores, Mills said he came away encouraged by how WSU’s core held up against a talented Santa Clara team expected to compete in the West Coast Conference again this season.
“They were a really, really good shooting team that we needed to be better disciplined against,” Mills said. “You walk away going, ‘Man, that’s a good basketball team.’ But given our lineup and the combinations we were playing, I walked away on a positive note for us.”
The scrimmage reinforced what Mills already suspected: that his starting group is rounding into shape and that the Shockers’ identity will hinge on toughness, ball movement and defensive discipline.
Mills did not reveal who his starters were against Santa Clara, but the group of Kindell, Kenyon Giles, Karon Boyd, Jaret Valencia and Will Berg started against Drake with Mike Gray Jr., Brian Amuneke and Emanuel Okorafor playing key roles as well.
“I walked out of this one very optimistic,” Mills said. “We have some discipline issues, but I know we can get better at those. The fact that we played that team the way we did, I walked out of there really optimistic about the season and this group of guys.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2025 at 6:08 AM.
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