Canadian trip provides Daishon Smith, Darral Willis a crash course in Shocker basketball

Cleanthony Early did not spring from junior college fully formed into a future NCAA All-Tournament team talent. Joe Ragland did not arrive on campus capable of producing one of Wichita State’s best scoring seasons.

“The first fall workout — every time (Early) touched it, he shot it,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “It was like a turnover every time he touched the ball. And, he wasn’t coachable. That came around pretty quickly.”

Early and Ragland endured some rough moments, as most newcomers do, on their way to superb careers. Their stumbles played out largely in private during their early months as Shockers. Junior guard Daishon Smith and junior forward Darral Willis, both transfers from junior college, put their development on public display this week in Canada.

They, too, endured some rough moments. They ended the week in better position to show their skills and still less than two weeks into their experience with full practice sessions at WSU.

The trip ended with both playing some of their best basketball during a comeback win over McGill University on Tuesday and Wednesday’s win over IndiSport All-Stars. Smith used his speed to help WSU’s presses and looked confident shooting the basketball. His ability to draw fouls is also a plus. Willis showed more willingness to post up strong and grab rebounds with two hands.

After six days in Canada, four games and one scrimmage, both feel more a part of the team and enjoy a better understanding of what’s expected. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they saw how success can come from effort and attention. After Tuesday’s emotional win over McGill — featuring Marshall’s ejection and outburst — junior Zach Brown and other teammates congratulated Smith in the hallway outside the locker room with the message of “See what happens when you play hard.”

“Look at you, you’re smiling,’” Brown said. “That’s what we’re talking about. Every day.”

Smith was indeed smiling big.

“It’s the Shocker system,” Smith said. “To see everyone buy in to what the coaches are saying, it means a lot. Junior college, I was able to do a lot of things on my own, just play freely. Here, I’m more in the system. Coaches are drilling me every day. Listen to them and everything will pay off.”

Marshall loaded WSU’s playbooks with different defense and offensive sets so he could get his team experience changing from “Shortstop 101” to “Frenzy” in Canada. Putting all those plans in during 10 summer practice sessions is stressful for the newcomers.

“The bottom line is, any new players, and we’ve got a ton of them, are going to struggle,” Marshall said. “We’ve had 10 days to try to do all that we’ve done. We’ve put in a lot of stuff. They’re confused right now. A confused athlete cannot be an aggressive athlete.”

Both Smith and Willis looked less confused as the week went on.

“Both of them have done some wonderful things,” assistant coach Greg Heiar said after Wednesday’s game. “And both of them have done some things where you said ‘That’s not going to work around here.’”

Willis, a lefty with a soft touch, scored 13 points against McGill and helped start a rally from a 12-point deficit with a strong post move and dunk. He struggled throughout the trip to get to the right spots on defense. When he did execute, his wingspan proved helpful.

“From 17 feet on in he can really score,’ Heiar said. “He really puts pressure on the defense.”

Later against McGIll, he jumped over two defenders to grab an offensive rebound and scored. He used two hands to secure the rebound, a frequent teaching point from coaches weary of seeing the ball knocked free when he grabbed for it with one hand.

“At halftime, Coach was like, ‘The other team is beating you in the post, out-rebounding you, outscoring you,’ ” Willis said. “I took that to heart and I was like ‘Man, that’s got to stop.’ ”

Smith started the tour with eight points and six assists in a 107-58 rout of the University of Quebec at Montreal. He scored 10 points in a 100-75 loss at Carleton. He had some of his best moments in Monday’s scrimmage against an AAU team, scoring 14 points. He went 14 for 16 at the line in four games.

Smith’s challenge is bringing his speed into more situations. He is WSU’s fastest player, perhaps the fastest during the Marshall era. However, his legs aren’t as busy as Marshall wants, especially on defense.

“I haven’t seen him at top speed yet,” Marshall said. “I’m not sure he’s been at top speed. If you have an attribute, and you’re not using it, what good is it to you?”

Smith hears all about it in film sessions. He knows what Marshall wants. When Smith sparked the Shockers in Canada, he often did it with his defense with steals and deflections.

“Just playing hard and staying aggressive,” Smith said. “Bringing energy. That’s all it is.”

Both Smith and Willis are also adjusting to new coaching styles. Willis sat out a few practices before the trip for an attitude adjustment and Marshall said the punishment took Willis out of the game mentally for a period.

“I’m back in action now,” Willis said. “After that film session and him chewing me out, I snapped out of whatever I was in.”

Smith and Marshall had an animated discussion during the Carleton game after Marshall told Smith to check in. Smith responded “About time,” which bothered Marshall. He addressed Smith’s reply in front of the scorer’s table. Smith meant the response to reflect enthusiasm, banter that worked in junior college.

“I was just eager to get in,” Smith said. “I didn’t mean it to come off that way. I apologized to Coach later and told him I was just eager to get in and help us make a comeback.”

Smith and Willis departed Canada with a full range of Shocker experiences. That was the point of the trip. Next time Shocker fans see them play, their games should be more suitable for public viewing.

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Canadian trip provides Daishon Smith, Darral Willis a crash course in Shocker basketball."