WSU notes: Nurger’s shooting range catches Shockers’ attention

If a stress reaction in his foot delayed the progress of Wichita State center Rauno Nurger, he appears to make up ground quickly.

Nurger scored eight points in Thursday’s Shocker Madness scrimmage and made the biggest impression of the six newcomers who played. He made both his three-pointers and dunked off a pick-and-roll pass from guard Fred VanVleet. He also grabbed four rebounds. His defense didn’t equal his offense, in part because he took on the difficult task of guarding senior forward Darius Carter, who scored 12 points.

Nurger (6-foot-10) showed no signs of freshman jitters in his debut in front of around 4,000 fans. He gave them a little flash in addition to points by holstering his hands after both threes.

“I was pretty excited, because I love it when there’s a big crowd,” he said.

His teammates weren’t surprised at his skills. They played with him all summer, although Nurger did miss around three weeks with a foot injury before recently returning to practice.

“He’s our best shooting big,” VanVleet said. “He can knock those down consistently. He’s a real talent, offensively.”

Playing with experienced, unselfish guards such as VanVleet helps.

“Working with Fred is kind of amazing,” Nurger said. “If you’re open, he’s going to find you.”

He made both threes after screening for VanVleet and moving behind the arc for a return pass, a play that VanVleet and Cleanthony Early used last season. Nurger may be able to provide the same defense-stretching asset that Ben Smith and Early did during their careers as forwards with three-point range. Carter, who guarded Nurger, saw the dunk as a good sign because Nurger is trying to roll to the basket more instead of always popping out for jump shots after screening.

“He can really shoot it,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “He hasn’t done that very much in practice, but he hasn’t been out there in practice, because he missed three-and-a-half weeks.”

Nurger, from Estonia, played last season at Sunrise Christian Academy. He signed with Mississippi before a coaching change changed his plans. He committed to WSU early in the summer after Mississippi released him from his letter of intent.

With Carter back as WSU’s only experienced big man, there are plenty of minutes available for newcomers.

“He’s got that Euro game and, obviously, he was playing grown men over there at home,” VanVleet said. “He’s got a good feel for the game.”

Visitor from OKC — Former Winthrop guard Michael Jenkins watched WSU’s practice on Friday afternoon. Friday night, Jenkins played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in an exhibition game against Toronto at Intrust Bank Arena.

Marshall recruited Jenkins to Winthrop for the 2004-05 season and watched him develop into an all-conference player and the schooll’s No. 10 career scorer with 1,253 points. Marshall departed for WSU before Jenkins’ senior season.

By then, Marshall had turned Jenkins into his kind of player. It wasn’t always a pleasure.

“He’s one of those non-tolerance type guys,” Jenkins said. “My freshman year was probably one of my roughest years. Me and him butted heads a few times. He didn’t know if I would make it. I didn’t know if I would make it. I did.”

Jenkins went to three NCAA Tournaments with Marshall and isn’t surprised at Wichita State’s success. Marshall’s emphasis on a family atmosphere is one of the things that pushed Jenkins to continue his career at Winthrop.

“He was pretty much the same way he is now,” Jenkins said. “Pretty intense. Hard-nosed coach. Lot of swagger on the sideline.”

Jenkins, a longshot to make the Thunder roster, is giving the NBA his first shot after playing in Montenegro, Germany, Belgium and Italy since leaving college. His time with Marshall is the foundation.

“He brings that junkyard mentality and I had to get that defensive mind-set,” he said. “In the end, it got to me this point, keeping that mind-set and intensity.”

Enter the hall — WSU softball coach Kristi Bredbenner was inducted into the Truman State University Athletics Hall of Fame last weekend in Kirksville, Mo.

Bredbenner played at Truman State from 1998-2001 and earned All-MIAA honors four seasons. She was the conference player of the year in 2000 when she hit .469 with 16 home runs. Bredbenner ranks second in career batting average (.405), home runs (33) and RBI (166). As interim coach in 2002, she led the Bulldogs to a 31-19 record and an NCAA regional.

WSU cross country coach Kirk Hunter will be inducted into the Colby Community College this fall. Hunter coached at Colby from 1988-2000 and won 12 Region VI women’s coach of the year honors and two for the men.

Loyola star hurting —Loyola sophomore guard Milton Doyle tore the labrum in his right (shooting) shoulder and could miss the season.

Loyola coach Porter Moser told the Chicago Sun-Times that Doyle will rehab for five weeks and try to play with a brace. If that doesn't work, surgery would sideline him until at least May.

Doyle was named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year after averaging 14.9 points last season.

This story was originally published October 18, 2014 at 3:42 PM with the headline "WSU notes: Nurger’s shooting range catches Shockers’ attention."