Why Jordan Frison could be Wichita State’s next ideal transfer portal fit
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wichita State hosted Chattanooga transfer Jordan Frison for an official visit Friday.
- Frison is a 6-foot senior-to-be from Memphis who entered the transfer portal.
- Coaches view Frison as productive, efficient and capable of running an offense.
Wichita State’s first known official visit of the transfer portal cycle feels like a meaningful one.
Chattanooga transfer Jordan Frison is in town for an official visit to Wichita State’s campus, giving the Shockers an early swing at one of the more intriguing mid-major guards available after the portal opened this week.
And for a Wichita State program trying to replace the massive offensive void left behind by Kenyon Giles, it is easy to see why head coach Paul Mills and his staff would be so interested.
Frison, a 6-foot, senior-to-be from Memphis, visited Friday. He checks a lot of boxes for what Wichita State needs right now. He is productive, efficient and experienced, and — maybe most importantly — he looks capable of running an offense in a way WSU couldn’t always pull off last season.
That alone makes this pursuit significant.
Giles was the engine of WSU’s offense during the 2025-26 season, averaging 19.1 points on a team-high 23% usage rate. He was a dynamic scorer, but he was wired more as a bucket-getter than a table-setter. Frison would offer a different style.
At Chattanooga, he averaged 16.7 points and 4.1 assists on a 25.2% usage rate, creating more total offense for his team while still scoring at a high level. For a WSU team that had to ask Mike Gray Jr. to function as a full-time point guard, Frison represents a possible solution that could make the entire roster fit more naturally.
If the Shockers were able to land him, Gray could slide back into a more comfortable off-ball role as a shooting guard and secondary creator. That matters. Gray’s shooting dipped to 31.1% from 3-point range last season at WSU after he shot 40.9% from deep the previous year at Nicholls.
Some of that was likely the burden of role. Putting a true lead guard next to him could unlock a better version of Gray while giving WSU more balance in the backcourt.
That is part of what makes Frison such a logical target for this particular roster.
Wichita State already has a strong returning foundation with Gray plus frontcourt pieces T.J. Williams, Dillon Battie and Will Berg coming back from a 24-win team. What the Shockers need now is a guard who can organize offense, create advantages in ball screens, get two feet in the paint and still punish defenses when they go under. On paper, Frison looks like exactly that player.
His path has been productive at every stop.
Frison began his career at Pittsburg State, where he immediately established himself as one of the best players in Division II. He averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists as a freshman and was named MIAA Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, he leveled up to 18.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists while shooting 49.8% from the field and 86.1% from the free-throw line, earning MIAA Player of the Year honors.
He then made the jump to Division I at Chattanooga and looked more than comfortable. In 26 starts, Frison averaged 16.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 30.7 minutes per game while shooting 55.8% from the field, 45.1% from 3-point range and 82.6% from the line. He made 46 3s, posted a stellar 2.31 assist-to-turnover ratio and earned third-team all-conference honors in the SoCon.
The advanced numbers are even more persuasive.
Frison posted a 122.5 offensive rating on high usage and finished among the national top 100 in effective field-goal percentage, true shooting percentage and assist rate. Those are not empty numbers on a low-volume complementary player. Those are high-end efficiency metrics from someone who had the ball in his hands a lot and still made excellent decisions.
And when you watch the way he plays, the fit becomes even clearer.
According to Synergy, Frison graded in the 97th percentile nationally as a pick-and-roll ball handler, scoring 1.18 points per possession when he finished those plays. That jumps off the page for a Mills offense that has historically leaned heavily on guard decision-making and ball-screen reads.
Frison is comfortable using a screen, turning the corner and forcing help defenders into tough choices. He shot 63% coming off screens and scored 1.36 points per shot in those situations, usually either getting all the way to the basket or rising for a pull-up in the mid-range.
That is a useful skill set that would be especially useful for a WSU offense looking for a new identity after revolving so much around Giles’ shotmaking last season.
Frison also brings something WSU’s guards have largely lacked during Mills’ first three seasons: high-level finishing at the rim.
Per Synergy, Frison shot 69.1% at the rim this past season, making 67 of his 97 attempts despite measuring at just 6 feet tall and 170 pounds. That number is truly elite for a guard his size. For reference, WSU’s trio of Giles, Gray and Dre Kindell combined to shoot 48.3% at the rim.
The Shockers survived because they were such a dominant offensive rebounding team, but a lead guard who can actually complete plays at the basket changes the geometry of an offense. It puts more pressure on the point-of-attack defender, forces rim help to collapse and can create easier looks for shooters and dump-off options for bigs.
Frison appears especially polished in that area. He is right-handed, but he shows touch and comfort finishing with either hand. He gets downhill with speed, slips by defenders and has a knack for extending or adjusting around contests. He does not need explosion to score; he uses angles, timing and craft.
That said, this is where the evaluation gets more complicated.
The obvious question is how well that finishing translates to the American. The SoCon is not the same as facing the size, athleticism and rim protection Wichita State sees night after night in conference play. Many of the layups Frison converted at Chattanooga did not come against the kind of long, mobile back-line defenders he would see in this league.
Likewise, the first line of defense will be better in the American, meaning he may not be able to get by his man quite as easily or as often.
That does not mean it will not translate. His burst looks real and quickness usually travels. But it is a fair question to ask.
The other major question is the 3-point shot.
Frison shot 45.1% from 3-point range this past season, which is elite by any standard. But that number also came after he shot 31.6% from deep across two seasons at Pittsburg State, where opponents often loaded up on his drives and let him shoot from deep. He still produced because he could score inside the arc and pile up assists, but he was not yet a proven perimeter threat.
So what is real?
Probably somewhere in the middle.
The leap as a shooter is encouraging because it suggests growth and a player with Frison’s driving ability becomes much more dangerous when defenders have to respect the 3-point line. But expecting him to repeat 45.1% on higher-volume, higher-difficulty attempts in the American would be aggressive. If he settles in as a high-30s shooter, though, that is still a very valuable player — especially when combined with his rim pressure, pick-and-roll efficiency and passing.
There is also the size concern. At 6-foot and 170 pounds, Frison is not going to overwhelm anybody physically. Bigger guards could pose matchup issues and there will be nights when he has to prove he can hold up defensively against stronger backcourts.
But WSU has reason to believe in this archetype under Mills.
The Shockers just watched Giles arrive from the SoCon after averaging 15.3 points at UNC Greensboro, then explode into a career year in Wichita with 19.1 points per game and a school-record 125 made 3s. Frison is not that kind of shooter, but he would not need to be. He could impact the offense in completely different ways. Mills also built elite offenses around smaller lead guards before, most notably Max Abmas at Oral Roberts. So there is already a blueprint for how a 6-foot guard can thrive in this system if the skill set is right.
And Frison’s skill set looks right.
That is why the competition is real.
Since entering the portal, Frison told League Ready he has heard from Indiana, Missouri, Xavier, Seton Hall, High Point, Tulsa, Dayton, South Florida and Temple. Wichita State is not going to be alone in seeing the appeal. A veteran point guard with proven production, efficient shooting, strong ball-screen numbers and a history of success at every stop is naturally going to draw attention.
So Friday’s visit matters, not just because it is the first known official visit WSU has hosted since the portal opened, but because it offers an early look at how aggressive the Shockers plan to be in reshaping their roster around their returning core.
And for a team looking to replace scoring, inject playmaking and put its returning pieces in more natural roles, Frison looks like one of the more sensible and exciting options on the board.
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 4:49 PM.
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