How Wichita State won the recruiting battle for transfer guard Jordan Frison
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Paul Mills identified Frison, recruited him with precision, and closed the deal quickly.
- Frison chose Wichita State despite interest from programs including Indiana and Missouri.
- Coaches expect Frison to organize veteran roster, create spacing and improve teammates.
Paul Mills identified his target, made his plan and closed the deal before Jordan Frison ever boarded his flight home.
That clarity — and the confidence behind it — helped Wichita State secure Frison’s first official visit, a trip that ended with his commitment to the Shockers on Saturday morning.
For a coach who seems to have developed a habit of shopping the Southern Conference whenever he needs real backcourt help, Mills may have found his latest hit. After plucking Kenyon Giles from UNC Greensboro and Karon Boyd from East Tennessee State last offseason, Mills went back to the SoCon and came away with Frison, a dynamic senior-to-be point guard who now looks poised to run the show for Wichita State.
When Frison entered the portal, he heard from a long list of programs, including Indiana, Missouri, Xavier, Seton Hall, Dayton, Temple, South Florida, Tulsa and High Point. But Wichita State separated itself quickly because Mills did not recruit him in vague terms or with broad promises. He recruited him with precision.
“Coach (Mills) stood out because he started the process with a plan,” Frison told The Eagle. “He knew right away how he wanted to use me and coach knew what he wanted. He showed it throughout the process and did everything the right way. I felt like I could trust him and I could trust the system.”
That mattered to Frison and it mattered because Mills was not just looking for another guard. He was looking for a very specific kind of guard.
WSU is trying to replace the massive void left behind by Giles, who averaged 19.1 points last season and carried a 23% usage rate as the offensive centerpiece for a 24-win team. But Frison is not simply a Giles clone. In many ways, he gives the Shockers a different, and perhaps more balanced, look offensively. He averaged 16.7 points and 4.1 assists this past season at Chattanooga while carrying a 25.2% usage rate, showing he can shoulder a heavy load as both a scorer and creator and maintain elite efficiency. While Giles was more of a pure bucket-getter, Frison has shown the ability to generate offense for an entire team.
That difference could reshape the backcourt.
WSU played Mike Gray Jr. out of position as a full-time point guard for stretches last season, and while Gray handled the responsibility admirably, the move often pulled him away from his most natural role as an off-ball scorer. If Frison takes over lead-guard duties, Gray could slide back to shooting guard as a secondary playmaker, a shift that might help revive the 3-point stroke that dipped to 31.1% last season at Wichita State after he shot 40.9% from deep the year before at Nicholls.
It is easy to see why Mills saw Frison as the right fit for this roster. With Gray returning and Wichita State bringing back a frontcourt core of T.J. Williams, Dillon Battie and Will Berg, the Shockers needed a guard who could organize the offense, create advantages in the pick-and-roll and pressure the paint. Frison checks all of those boxes.
He also arrives with one of the more unlikely paths in the portal.
Frison was largely overlooked coming out of Overton High School in Memphis, even after averaging 28 points and six assists as a senior and leading his team past a collection of Memphis powers to a state championship in 2023. He did not have a single Division I offer during his senior season. That postseason surge finally generated one opportunity from UT Martin, but there was a catch: the school wanted him to come in and redshirt immediately.
“I still have that chip on my shoulder, even though I just committed to Wichita State and I’m going to be playing in the American,” Frison said. “That’s what keeps me going. I still feel a certain way and that makes me work extra hard. I feel like I have to work harder than everyone else. So that chip isn’t going anywhere. As long as I play basketball, I’m always going to have that urge to work harder than everybody else.”
Frison had no interest in waiting.
Instead, he chose Division II Pittsburg State, where coach Jeff Boschee had heard glowing reports from an assistant coach with Memphis ties. Boschee believed Frison could be good. He just did not realize how quickly Frison would show he was far too good to stay at that level for long.
“You could see his ability right away,” Boschee said. “He has the ability to score the ball, but what set him apart was his uncanny ability to pass the basketball. He makes really good reads all of the time.”
Boschee said Frison made an impression before he ever played an official game. During summer runs ahead of his freshman season, the newcomer immediately held his own against Pittsburg State’s graduated point guard, who was a standout, which told Boschee everything he needed to know. It became obvious early that the best formula was a simple one: put the ball in Frison’s hands, space the floor around him and let him dissect defenses in pick-and-rolls.
As a freshman, Frison averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists and was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, he took over completely, averaging 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 on his way to MIAA Player of the Year honors.
His mid-range game, Boschee said, was devastating.
“When he got to that midrange, it really was like a 60-70% shot for him,” Boschee said. “He has that ability to get that shot anytime he wanted.”
That ability carried with Frison when he jumped to Division I at Chattanooga last season. If anything, his efficiency became even more impressive.
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 foul line. He made 46 3-pointers, earned third-team all-conference honors in the SoCon and posted a sharp 2.31 assist-to-turnover ratio. His advanced metrics were even louder: a 122.5 offensive rating on high usage, plus top-100 national marks in effective field-goal percentage, true shooting percentage and assist rate.
The pick-and-roll data helps explain why Mills was so eager.
According to Synergy, Frison ranked in the 97th percentile nationally as a pick-and-roll ball handler, producing 1.18 points per possession when he finished those plays. He shot 63% when coming off screens and scored 1.36 points per shot in those situations, typically by getting all the way to the basket or pulling up in the mid-range. That profile reads like a natural fit in Mills’ offense, especially paired with a frontcourt built around spacing, screening and offensive rebounding.
And there is one part of Frison’s game that should be especially tantalizing for Wichita State fans: his finishing.
WSU’s guards have struggled to convert at the rim during Mills’ first three seasons, a flaw often masked by the Shockers’ elite offensive rebounding. Frison brings a different dimension. Per Synergy, he shot 69.1% at the rim last season, making 67 of his 97 attempts despite standing only 6 feet tall and recording no dunks. He gets by defenders with burst, then finishes with balance, touch and craft with either hand.
There are, of course, fair questions about how some of that translates.
Chattanooga finished 13-19 and ranked No. 301 on KenPom, while the SoCon rated 23rd out of 31 conferences. Before that, Frison had dominated Division II in the MIAA, which is one of the strongest conferences at that level but still a step down from the nightly physicality and athleticism he will see in the American. Some of those driving lanes will get tighter. Some of those layups will come against bigger, more explosive rim protectors.
But that is also what makes Frison such an intriguing bet. He has excelled everywhere he has gone and not just with inflated counting stats. The efficiency has followed him, too.
The jumper is another area to monitor, though in a much more encouraging way.
Frison shot just 31.6% from 3-point range over two seasons at Pittsburg State, where teams often loaded up on his drives and trapped him out of ball screens. He knew that part of his game had to change if he wanted to thrive at the Division I level.
“The one thing I went into last summer wanting to do was to make the defense respect my 3,” Frison said. “I knew I needed that shot at the Division I level, so I worked extra hard at it and you can see in the numbers that it paid off for me. Having that 3-point shot has opened everything up for me even more.”
That evolution is a major reason Wichita State was willing to attack so aggressively. Even if Frison does not repeat 45.1% from deep on a larger role in the American, a high-30s percentage would still make him dangerous because of everything else he does. Defenders who crowd him risk getting beaten off the bounce. Defenders who go under screens now have to live with the jumper.
Then there is the Mills factor.
Frison studied the way Mills has used smaller guards and liked what he saw.
“Small guards have killed under coach (Mills),” Frison said. “He gives them so much freedom and space to be able to play. I loved seeing that.”
That freedom, and the spacing Frison will now play with, is one reason this pairing feels so fascinating. Few players on WSU’s roster stand to benefit more from Frison’s arrival than Berg, the 7-foot-2 center whose screens created all kinds of room for Giles last season. Frison has already imagined what that partnership could look like.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played with someone 7-2, so that’s pretty exciting,” Frison said. “I watched the film from last season and saw how much he was getting guys open with those screens. So I’m excited. I’m ready to get going.”
Boschee believes Wichita State is getting more than just a skilled point guard.
“Jordan has the ability to make everyone around him better,” Boschee said. “He has an infectious personality. He’s a very, very competitive guy. And he’s going to make some unbelievable plays that makes you look good as a coach.”
Mills did not just need another talented player from the portal. He needed the right one to take the ball, organize a veteran roster and push a 24-win team toward its next step. He found that player early, recruited him with purpose and closed him before anyone else could pull him away.
And once again, when Mills needed a difference-maker, the road led him right back to the Southern Conference.
This story was originally published April 11, 2026 at 12:20 PM.
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