Wichita State freshmen learn from the best in the weight room

Rashard Kelly came to Wichita State lacking experience in the weight room, at least serious experience.

“We lifted, but it was never on this level,” he said. “In high school, you might lift three times a week and hardly ever during the season.”

Kelly played follow-the-leader in June in the Koch Arena weight room. Fortunately, he picked the right basketball teammates to imitate — Tekele Cotton, Fred VanVleet, Darius Carter and Ron Baker.

“My idea was just to do what they did,” he said.

Kelly (6-foot-7, 235 pounds) arrived at WSU more physically mature than most freshmen, after a year at prep school in Virginia. Strength and conditioning coach Kerry Rosenboom describes Kelly as about as close to a finished product as is possible for a freshman.

“He comes in at 234 pounds and wants to play at 235,” Rosenboom said. “It’s probably one of the easiest things I’ll ever do in my life. I just tell him ‘Don’t go to the bathroom for two hours’ and he’s there.”

That doesn’t mean Kelly’s work is finished. Rosenboom wants him stronger and more defined and his work ethic in the basement of Koch Arena is a huge help. Kelly watched the veterans and learned the tempo Rosenboom requires.

“No matter how tough the workout gets, you never see them just quit and say ‘I can’t put up no more,’” Kelly said. “They fight through it.”

Freshman center Rauno Nurger (6-10, 240) came to Wichita State with experience in the weight room. He played a year at Sunrise Christian, where the strength coach is Bret Michael, a former Shocker walk-on who knows the importance of weights in coach Gregg Marshall’s program.

“It was a daily thing,” Nurger said. “It’s the same kind of style (as WSU). “When I first got to Sunrise I was 215 and coming out of Sunrise I was 230, 235.”

The Shockers lifted all summer. They will lift this fall and they will lift during the season, a practice now common in college basketball. Kelly and Nurger, since they learned the work ethic, are seeing the rewards of their exertion. They can jump for rebounds when other players are a step slow. They can establish and hold position. Bumps and bruises don’t feel so bad and they aren’t as likely to wear down in February.

“It makes you feel a lot more confident,” Nurger said. “When I was 215, I was getting pushed around everywhere. It also goes on to the shooting. I feel more stable when I shoot. There’s a long way to go, though.”

Kelly arrived at WSU for summer school, thinking his body stood ready for the demands of college basketball. Now he knows he is on the right track.

“I feel a lot healthier than when I came in,” he said.

Rosenboom can lean on players such as VanVleet and Evan Wessel to provide strong examples in the weight room. Several of his returners put in extra time for lifting, stretching and yoga. He is glad to see Kelly and Nurger following a similar path.

“You never see them standing, doing nothing,” Rosenboom said. “They’re a partner that pushes their partner. They’re going to see changes to their body and their agility, just by how they push themselves.”

Rosenboom even took the bold step of comparing them to Graham Hatch, a former Shocker who is the poster boy for reshaping his body and improving from a fringe talent to a starter through work in the weight room.

“I look at Ron and Fred and Tekele and Evan as my great leaders in here,” Rosenboom said. “I look at Rauno and Rashard and see the next leaders. They’ve got such strong goals already that they don’t wait for their turn, they want to take it right now.”

▪  VanVleet was named a second-team All-American by Athlon’s magazine, which ranked the Shockers No. 7 and (surprise) picked them as Missouri Valley Conference favorites.

Tewes on the mend — WSU’s baseball teams lost the pitchers who started 43 of their 59 games last season. Two pitchers who started the other 16 are back, but injured.

Sophomore Sam Tewes started 15 of those games on his way to Freshman All-American honors (from Collegiate Baseball) with an 8-3 record and a 3.27 ERA. He strained his ulnar collateral ligament while pitching in the Cape Cod League and is easing his way into throwing bullpens as WSU begins fall practice. Sophomore Cody Tyler underwent elbow surgery last spring and isn’t expected to pitch in 2015 for WSU.

Tewes is optimistic about his readiness for the spring. He isn’t likely to throw in scrimmages this fall.

“The arm is feeling really good,” he said. “I’ve been on a throwing program, at 30-foot intervals. I had one day where I was a little sore, but no soreness since then.”

Tewes also said the dislocated right knee that ended his freshman season in the MVC Tournament is healed. He was back on the mound in the Cape a few weeks later.

▪  WSU’s fall scrimmage series will feature a Halloween game on Oct. 30, with players and coaches in costume. Coach Todd Butler said he plans to wear an inflatable sumo suit as his costume. There will, of course, be plenty of candy-related activities for fans of all ages in costume.

Frogs in the building — WSU’s men’s basketball team will practice against TCU on Nov. 1 at Koch Arena. The session is closed to the public and the media.

Schools typically split the day into two segments. In one, they might run drills and design specific situations, such as presses, zone defenses and down-three-with-the-ball-and-50-seconds-remaining. After a break, teams usually scrimmage.

TCU, coached by Trent Johnson, went 9-22 and 0-18 in the Big 12 last season. The Horned Frogs return four starters, including leading scorer Kyan Anderson, who averaged 17 points and made 40.7 percent of his threes. TCU adds transfers Chris Washburn (UTEP) and Trey Zeigler (Pittsburgh). Zeigler played for the Panthers in their 2013 NCAA Tournament loss to WSU.

Remember the first time — WSU’s 1965 Final Four team will gather for a 50th reunion on Feb. 6 at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview.

The event will include a discussion led by radio broadcasters Mike Kennedy and Bob Hull and a speech by Marshall. Organizers anticipate selling all tables (most are already spoken for) and will not offer tickets to the public.

Run together — The Shocker Track Club is adding an Elite Team to help athletes, many of them former Shockers, in the area train, travel and find sponsors for post-college competition. WSU assistant director of track and field John Wise is coaching the team.

Former Shockers Austin Bahner (multi-events), Chandra Andrews (hammer) and Tomas Cotter (steeplechase) are on the roster, as are sprinter Oliver Bradwell, from East and Barton County, and javelin thrower Matt Byers, from East and Iowa.

This story was originally published September 20, 2014 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Wichita State freshmen learn from the best in the weight room."