A new look, new language and early lessons for Wichita State basketball team
With 12 newcomers on the Wichita State men’s basketball roster, even the simplest moments can turn into teaching opportunities for head coach Paul Mills.
The Shockers’ third-year head coach isn’t just installing a playbook for his new players this fall, he’s teaching a new language.
That became clear during WSU’s closed scrimmage against Santa Clara on Oct. 18, when point guard Dre Kindell found himself puzzled by a defensive wrinkle he’d never encountered.
“They’re weaking you!” Mills barked from the sideline.
In theory, the message should have informed Kindell how to counter. Instead, the junior-college transfer kept trying to drive right, straight into the defense’s trap.
For the uninitiated, “weaking” is when defenders steer a ball handler toward his weaker hand — usually left — during a pick-and-roll. Because WSU doesn’t defend that way in practice, Kindell had no frame of reference for how to attack it.
When Mills pulled him from the scrimmage, he asked if Kindell knew what “weaking” meant. The guard hesitated. The coach smiled, then launched into an impromptu film-room tutorial. It was another small moment in the broader education of a team still learning each other’s tendencies, vocabulary and habits.
Scrimmages against Drake and Santa Clara have given Mills valuable teaching tape and his players live reps in a low-stakes setting ahead of the Nov. 4 season opener against UNC Asheville at Koch Arena.
“You find yourself explaining a lot more than you normally would with a team that has a lot of returners,” WSU assistant coach Kenton Paulino said in a recent podcast interview with The Roundhouse.
“When these guys are coming from 12 different programs, some terminology translates, but I would say about 75% is different.”
Shocker coaches continue to rave about team’s physicality
Paulino said the staff’s biggest takeaway from the two preseason scrimmages against Drake and Santa Clara was that the Shockers’ physicality already translates.
WSU’s rebounding edge was consistent and it begins with the team’s three-man center rotation of Purdue transfer Will Berg, Seton Hall transfer Emmanuel Okorafor and freshman Noah Hill. The trio has given the coaches confidence that the frontcourt can hold up against any team in the American Conference.
“It’s just so physical every day with those guys banging and banging,” Paulino said. “There’s new scars, maybe a busted lip every day. That kind of toughness is going to help us, because in this league, you need that.”
That was expected from Berg and Okorafor, two veterans coming down from high-major programs. But the fact that Hill, a 6-foot-7 freshman from Frisco, Texas, continues to be included in the group is somewhat of a surprise.
It seemed likely an undersized freshman would be redshirted his first year on campus, but Hill’s tenacity has impressed the coaching staff since he arrived on campus in June.
“Even though Noah is a freshman, he’s built like a senior,” Paulino said. “He’s ultra-athletic, super physical and plays so hard. Once he figures out how we play offensively and defensively, he’s going to help us.”
New players emerging for Shocker basketball
After Mills told The Eagle that Kindell’s performance was “night and day” better in the second scrimmage compared to the first, Paulino expanded on that thought.
“Dre is so fast and plays at 100 mph, but the biggest difference is that the game slowed down for him (against Santa Clara),” Paulino said. “He’s learning when to use his speed and when to get rid of the ball. He’s delivering passes on target and on time. That’s a huge step for him.”
Paulino also echoed another Mills line that Brian Amuneke, a transfer from Fresno State, has been WSU’s most consistent scorer in practices. The challenge has been improving his defense, which the 6-foot-5 sophomore from Los Angeles has embraced.
“What he’s figuring out is how hard you have to play defensively,” Paulino said. “We need you to do more than just score. You’re going to get judged on how well you play defensively. I think he’s taken huge strides there.”
Another bright spot from the Santa Clara scrimmage was the improved play of redshirt freshman T.J. Williams, a 6-foot-5 Wichita native who is proving he can contribute as a wing or a small-ball power forward with his ability to play bigger than his size when it comes to defending and rebounding.
Paulino also singled out Dillon Battie, a 6-foot-8 Temple transfer, as a “raw talent” adjusting to a more perimeter-oriented role as a sophomore at WSU.
“In terms of talent, he has it all,” Paulino said. “Now he’s just learning how to play on the perimeter versus how to play on the block.”
Paulino noted that WSU likely has its “glue guy” replacement for Ronnie DeGray III on this season’s team in Jaret Valencia, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Monmouth. Like DeGray, Valencia excels in the tiny details of winning in an even taller frame.
The Shockers did suffer one setback when junior wing Joy Ighovodja recently sustained a significant ankle injury that will sideline him “for some time,” according to Paulino. Ighovodja has appeared in 27 games in his two-year career with WSU, averaging 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds.
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 6:13 AM.
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