Inside the 5-star pitch: How Wichita State made its case to recruit Reese Alston
It was only fitting that Wichita State’s highest-profile recruiting visitor in modern history had to chance to see the Roundhouse at its best this season.
On a senior day afternoon when Koch Arena buzzed with postseason stakes, the Shockers delivered exactly the kind of show they needed to for five-star guard Reese Alston and his family. Wichita State rolled to an 88-70 win over Florida Atlantic in front of more than 8,000 fans, stretching its winning streak to six games and giving the Alston family a firsthand look at the power of the Roundhouse.
Saturday went about as well as it could possibly go for WSU. Now comes the harder part: convincing one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits that an underdog has a real shot.
But if you ask Alston, he’s adamant that WSU has its place right next to the top-tier programs like Kansas, Kentucky, Houston and Purdue who are after him.
“Wichita State is most definitely a school that I have on my radar,” Alston said.
“It was a great experience and I definitely had a great time coming here. It was just a great vibe the team has. You can tell a lot about a team in just the way they walk around. And they definitely have a great vibe right now.
Alston, a 6-foot-2 guard from Houston in the 2027 class, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 8 prospect in the country and considered a five-star recruit. Known as “Lil Skip,” Alston made the trip to Wichita with his father, former NBA guard and New York City streetball legend Rafer “Skip to My Lou” Alston, along with his mother and sister.
Their seats behind WSU’s bench gave them a close-up view as the Shockers delivered one of their more electric home performances of the season.
After the game, the Alston family and the family of WSU assistant coach P.J. Couisnard spent another half-hour together on the floor, talking, laughing and soaking in the moment. Reese drifted onto the court and got up shots, casually knocking down step-back 3s and taking playful 1-on-1 challenges as the arena emptied around him.
When the day finally wrapped up, the Alstons and Couisnard walked out together.
From the outside, it would be easy to dismiss Saturday’s visit as nothing more than a favor to Couisnard.
The roots of this recruitment do run through him. When Rafter Alston was looking to merge with another AAU program in the Houston area before the 2024 summer, he had options. The program he chose was Cooz Elite, largely because of how much he respected Couisnard.
At the time, Cooz Elite was still scrapping for its place. Since Alston joined, the program has won back-to-back Pro16 national championships on the Puma circuit and risen into one of the premier programs not only in Houston, but nationally. The Alston family did not forget how Couisnard treated them when they joined.
That relationship helped open the door for the visit.
Couisnard has never formally coached Reese, but over the last two years he has built trust with the family by supporting the program, helping where needed and developing a bond with the young guard as Alston prepares for his third summer with Cooz Elite.
“He’s a stand-up guy and he’s going to shoot straight from the hip,” Rafer said. “That’s the type of person you want to be around.”
It doesn’t hurt that WSU head coach Paul Mills is also a Houston native with decades of recruiting experience in Texas, and that background has resonated with the Alstons, too. The family also has some experience in Wichita, where Reese and his team have played the last two summers on the Puma circuit. Reese took an unofficial visit to WSU this past fall.
So while the visit may have started because of familiarity, the Alstons insisted it has grown into something more serious than just a courtesy stop.
“When you tell him about the history of Wichita State, then he understands,” Rafer said. “I remember watching X-man (Xavier McDaniel) and those guys in the 80s, then you have (Fred) VanVleet and that Final Four team. So my son understands the rich history about this program. And now he’s getting to learn a little bit more about the school.”
Long before his 11-year NBA career, Rafer made his name on the blacktops of Queens as “Skip to My Lou,” one of the city’s most famous streetball stars. So maybe his favorite part of Saturday’s visit didn’t have anything to do with the game or the atmosphere, but who he was sitting next to.
WSU intentionally placed the Alston family next to WSU legend Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson, the Harlem native whose own New York City playground legacy still resonates with generations of hoopers. While fans lined up to snap pictures with Rafer before and after the game, he found himself star struck by the company beside him.
“Cheese is an icon to guys like myself in New York City who came up right under him,” Rafer said. “It was an honor for me to see him and have my son to meet him.”
Johnson said the connection was instant.
“We got to talk basketball and we called up a couple friends from New York,” Johnson said. “We were saying, ‘Look at us, we’re out here in Wichita, Kansas.’”
For much of halftime, Rafer was Facetiming friends back home to show them that two New York City streetball figures were sitting side by side in the middle of Kansas. But beyond the novelty of the moment, there was something more strategic at work. WSU was showing the Alstons that it could offer more than just a place to play basketball.
It could offer relationships.
“In this day and age, I don’t think it matters where four- and five-star kids go,” Rafer said. “They’re going to be seen and noticed wherever they go.”
That is where WSU believes it has at least a puncher’s chance in a recruitment that, on paper, should be beyond its reach. The Shockers cannot sell the platform of a high-major conference. They likely will not be able to match the financial might of the blue-blood programs circling Alston.
But WSU has something else to sell: relationships, trust and familiarity. A place where the family already knows who would be guiding Reese.
“It sure can help the process,” Rafer said. “If he was to come here, then you know he would have people that we can call family here in Wichita.”
Johnson, who has become a valuable ambassador to the program, said “no question” that the Alston family left impressed by the Shockers and their fan base.
He also left Reese with his two cents before departing Koch Arena.
“I told him whatever decision he makes, he needs to take his time to make sure he goes to the right fit,” Johnson said. “And I told him I really do believe Wichita State would be the right school because some of these other schools recruiting him, Kentucky, Arkansas, Duke, if he goes there, they’ll probably recruit over him. If he comes to Wichita, he’s going to have a great opportunity to play here.”
Whether that will be enough in the end remains to be seen. Being a 2027 recruit, Alston could wait several months, if not a year or longer, before making his final decision.
But on Saturday, WSU put its best foot forward. The Roundhouse rocked. The team won big. The family connections deepened. And for at least one afternoon, one of the nation’s most coveted recruits walked out the door with the Shockers very much on his mind.
This story was originally published March 8, 2026 at 7:02 AM.
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