- 2 days ago
Jacob and Tejay of Sports Daily discuss Wichita State basketball and play audio from a recent coach Paul Mills interview.
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00:00Coming up next hour, we'll ask him about some of this hype now building for the KU roster as the
00:07Torvik system, an analytic system I know a lot of folks use, sees KU as the number six team in
00:14the country.
00:15Now, they have seen they've been favorable on KU for a while, but six is quite a bit higher than
00:22I think most people would anticipate. Certainly the prognosticators on the early predictions and things like that. But we'll see.
00:30We'll ask a lot about that as we get into the next hour.
00:34Right now, though, we're going to talk a little Shocker basketball because Portal Paul yesterday, TJ, sat down and he's
00:41got a little swag, a little swag in the step there for Portal Paul.
00:44He's feeling good. And why not? Why wouldn't he? The Shockers, I don't know if there's like a, you know,
00:50we could ask Taylor Eldridge, I'm sure at some point somebody will put together returning minutes stats.
00:55The Shockers have got to be up there with anybody. You got 60% probably of your rotational players back
01:03in full force next year for Wichita State.
01:08And some targets you'll hear in just a minute that the Shockers really wanted to bring in to try to
01:13replace Giles and Boyd.
01:15So why wouldn't you be excited? The Shockers have gone into this offseason and accomplished exactly what they wanted to.
01:22And at a time at Wichita State where you just saw golf programs cut and, you know, there there are
01:31changing wins.
01:32We've got Mike Kennedy retiring and we've got Brent Chemnitz retiring.
01:36And like it's it's it's a strange time.
01:39Boy, if Shocker basketball comes back in full force, has the momentum late in the year, TJ, that they had
01:45with the fans and actually parlays it into a successful season.
01:51We've been waiting for that moment to sort of catapult things.
01:55That's that's what college athletics is all about right now.
01:59You get that one year to take you into the next offseason.
02:04And and and ideally, you don't ever have to look back if you get if you get the butts in
02:09the seats.
02:09I'll say we're I'm very much seeing, you know, throughout last year and now even just yesterday, like on social
02:16media, you know, I'll I put some things out, you know, some other reporters that were there put some things
02:20out of what he said.
02:21And like you're talking about, it's all exciting.
02:24Like if you're a Wichita State person, everything's exciting about what they're doing right now.
02:27There will probably one of five teams in the country that bring as much back as they do.
02:31And probably one of even fewer that brings back as much production as they do.
02:36So I, you know, as you know, social media is full of people that are, you know, whining and moaning
02:42about everything.
02:43So during the losing streaks of Wichita State under Paul, like people were, you know, hanging him out to dry,
02:49like like all these things about like people did not like Paul Mills.
02:53And Paul Mills had a lot to prove last year.
02:56Yeah.
02:57And he did.
02:57And he did.
02:58So I, my, my point that I'm making here is that all the people like, you know, whenever Taylor Eldridge
03:05would put out a story or whatever, I'd put something out on social media or something like that.
03:08Usually you'd get a response of the, the haters talking about how, how bad and all this stuff.
03:14The people that you get now, like you see this stuff and it's like, man, this guy's our coach.
03:20Like this is awesome.
03:21Like that's the, that, that to me is the perfect, it's the, and I get it.
03:25Like, like it's a, such a vacuum, but it's, it's the perfect barometer to gauge where your fan base is.
03:31And like, there's not a lot of anything negative that's being said about Wichita State basketball right now.
03:36It's why you turn off all that noise.
03:37I mean, you hear those kinds of cliches all the time.
03:39Like you just, you don't pay attention to that stuff.
03:42You pay attention to what, what you see and, and understand.
03:46And, and, and, you know, all of the things happening at Wichita State have happened.
03:52If you get the basketball program going good, everything is good.
03:57Like everything's good.
03:59Basketball's good.
04:00We're, we're good.
04:00Doesn't really matter.
04:01You know, you, you, you lose sight a little bit of some of the other things that are happening.
04:05And it has that impact, not just on the university, but you know, the whole community at large.
04:11And we'll see, like you could finally see it and sense it.
04:16Not that they haven't been good in any of the years between now and the golden years of 10 years
04:24ago.
04:25Yeah.
04:26I mean, we're 10, 11 years ago.
04:29It's not that they haven't had good, because by the, you know, by the end of it, they kind of
04:32have in the past.
04:33They've had really good players in that time, but last year's team was fun.
04:39They enjoyed being there.
04:40You can tell they enjoyed, you know, being shockers.
04:43You had an assistant coach and PJ Kuznar trying to like rally people back behind.
04:49And really you do.
04:50And we say this all the time.
04:51And I don't know, it's not even a joke.
04:53Like you take it back a little bit to that TBT of the summer.
04:56Like you could sense that people wanted to fall in love with this again.
05:01And they were given the opportunity last year by a really fun group.
05:05Now you've retained most of that group.
05:07So now you go into a season, it kind of feels like it would have felt 10 years ago.
05:12You know, the players, they're coming back.
05:15They're growing in the system that, you know, all of those things that you hardly get in college basketball anymore.
05:20Like you have it this year.
05:22You have all of it.
05:22And Wichita State, by the way, is one of the very few teams that gets to have it.
05:27Like this feels like, you know, a year of a lifetime ago where you get to retain all these players.
05:35And you can, you know, the growth potential of two of them in Petey and Williams is just screaming at
05:42us in the face that these guys could elevate to that next level this year.
05:46It feels good.
05:48As much as anything, it just feels good if you're a college basketball fan because it feels old school.
05:53I'm with you.
05:54I agree.
05:55I think that it's like the things that he says and the sound that will play you as well.
05:59Like one of the major points of it that I thought that was interesting is that, you know, they, the
06:07players like, you know, and it's obvious too when you think about it, of how much money was left on
06:13the table that could have been there.
06:15And, and, you know, and they didn't, they wanted to come to Wichita State.
06:19And I think that that, that shows you, if nothing else, that like you're at a place where you can
06:23win because nobody's going to do that.
06:25If you're going to go to a place where you feel like you can't win, but like Wilberg, you know,
06:29didn't, didn't even try the portal waters, but look at how much money every other big man is making.
06:33Like Wilberg could have made a lot of money.
06:35And he said, no, I want to go be at Wichita State because I know that things are going to
06:39go well there.
06:40Well, and I know that I'll be coached well because we saw that last year, right?
06:43His improvement was staggering.
06:46I know that I'm in a system that lets me thrive the way I play.
06:50And if you see him around town, I'm at a place where people love me.
06:54Like this is a fun place.
06:55Like Wilberg's, he was my kid's favorite player.
06:59He's a really tall redheaded guy.
07:00You don't get to see that all the time.
07:02Like, look at that guy.
07:03You know, they've got, they've got all their, this is, this is a silly aside, but like they've got all
07:08their redheaded cousins.
07:09And everything.
07:10And then like, just like, Whoa, that's so cool.
07:14But he did.
07:15Everybody fell in love with him.
07:16Remember the hard time he would get from shocker fans at the beginning of the year.
07:20And now like he, by the end of it, like when you saw him just get the hell beat out
07:25of him every game.
07:26You're like, yeah, that's, that's our guy.
07:29Like go to war with that guy.
07:30And that's what, that's what you used to have.
07:33Right.
07:33And it, I think you still have it.
07:36You just don't get to keep it.
07:38Like you have it by the end of the year in a lot of places.
07:41Okay.
07:41You had it with Melvin council.
07:43You know, you just don't get to keep it really.
07:45And so the shockers get to keep it.
07:47All right.
07:47Let's get that audio max.
07:49So Paul Mills yesterday kind of had his, I mean, is the roster full?
07:54There's one more spot, but I don't think he's going to use it.
07:56So I think this is your, this is your post portal.
07:58Yeah.
07:59So the roster's done and Paul Mills gave his kind of post-mortem on everything that's happened.
08:06TJ was there as part of a larger media briefing.
08:08So we're going to play you some of that.
08:10Now, Max has it for you.
08:11Here's Paul Mills yesterday.
08:13Speaking about the class coming in to Wichita state next year.
08:16I think anytime, you know, this is the only sport college basketball is a college athletics
08:24is where there is unlimited free agency and no payroll and there is no salary cap and there
08:32is players can leave anytime.
08:34So I think a lot of people have to start over.
08:38So I think anytime you can get, uh, down the road in essence, man, we're trying to get
08:45to home plate, but instead of starting it with an at bat, we already got a group that's
08:51on second base.
08:52Like it just makes, you know, we're, we're an extra innings to where we can get guys who
08:57are able to, to turn the corner a little bit quicker in order to get to home.
09:02And so I just feel again, from a frontline, I, there's a lot of learning that takes
09:08place with a frontline in order to be able to do that.
09:12So to have those guys, uh, Dylan Batee, TJ Williams, Wilberg, and I would tell you that
09:16all three of those guys, and I would add no way, even though Noah didn't get much in the
09:22way of playing time, they're all trending upwards.
09:25Like they still have a lot that's untapped out of them.
09:30So I think an experience on guys that are still trending upwards, they were all playing
09:35their best basketball at the end of the year.
09:38And I think that anytime that you can have that level of experience, the reason is, is
09:44they can teach others.
09:45And so they, they can teach the guards because now they have a concept about what, what the
09:50coaches are actually demanding from them.
09:53Talking about 1A, 1B, there are guys that you wanted to go get and able to go out and get
09:58them.
09:59You know, do you feel like resource lies that you, you felt like you could go after whoever you
10:03wanted to go after in this portal, you know, with what you had coming back?
10:06Did you feel like you could go be aggressive knowing everybody that you had coming back
10:09as well?
10:11That's contextual, you know?
10:13And, and so, I mean, we're by no means at a rev share number, you know, they allow you
10:18to spend 20 million, uh, from legally, uh, allow you to spend 20 million until you begin
10:24the laundering route.
10:26But, uh, I mean, we're, we're not there.
10:30Uh, we're, we're, we're competitive inside of our league.
10:32We're by no means the most, uh, but fortunately we're not the least either.
10:37And, you know, this is, you know, I would hear the phrase often from people that, you
10:45know, uh, uh, teams win games, but administrations win championships.
10:51And I always thought it was such a cop out, like you're trying to deflect the attention and
10:57your burden of responsibility in order to, to impact winning.
11:01But the truth is in this day and age, that is the case.
11:05And it does not happen where we are not able to get players of that caliber.
11:11If, uh, president Mooma is not on board, if Kevin Saul isn't doing a lot of this heavy
11:17lifting, but to be honest with you, it makes sense to me how involved administrations have
11:25to be in this era of college basketball.
11:29These are community events.
11:30If a community wants their team to be good, they can contribute to the finances, Wichita.
11:37Uh, there's a special relationship between the, the shockers and the city of Wichita.
11:42And, and there's just, there's no denying that.
11:45And I felt it and our players have experienced it, but are, are we positioned inside of this
11:51league?
11:52Yes.
11:53And it's because of our administration and their willingness to help.
11:57And, uh, can we go get anybody?
12:00Uh, no, uh, we just can't go get anybody.
12:03And that that's assuming that players are making decisions solely based on finances.
12:07They don't trust me.
12:09We, I mean, we have tremendous value.
12:12Like if I was to make you aware of the dollar numbers that other players turn down, whether
12:20it be to stay here or to be here, in my mind, it's pretty significant.
12:25And so it's, it's, we're well positioned, but we're well positioned because of our community
12:32and the special relationship that the city of Wichita has with the shockers.
12:37And we're well positioned because of our administration.
12:39And the same breath as that going and getting the guys that you got, you know, on the list
12:44that you see of other offers or other interests and stuff that comes out, you know, there's
12:48a lot of power forwards that these guys could have gone to, you know, what does that say
12:52about the state of the program to win recruiting battles?
12:54Like, I mean, you could go to whatever school you think is best.
12:57I go to school X, Y, Z, cause I think they're greatest, but if you're not being utilized, right,
13:02or you're not playing, you're not happy.
13:04So I think players have bigger visions in mind.
13:08And the goal is to one day, how do I capitalize on my God-given ability to be a pro?
13:14You know, people go to college to prepare for their future.
13:17Our players want to be professional basketball players.
13:20And so you have to be in a position of that.
13:22I could go to whatever school you think is greatest, but it doesn't equate to much.
13:28I mean, Fred Van Fleet is a testament to that.
13:31And again, there is no magic school in the same way there are no magic plays and special
13:37defensive schemes that players have to be comfortable, but more importantly, they have
13:42to be comfortable and their families have to be comfortable with their trajectory.
13:46And I think if you look, and I don't care who you name on our roster, their trajectory is
13:52north and it hadn't plateaued and it's not south.
13:56And I think as long as there's a development piece, there's always a bigger vision.
14:04There it is.
14:05Paul Mills yesterday.
14:08Yeah, I think DJ, I'm with you.
14:10I think the most headline grabby thing out of there is that the players turn down more
14:19lucrative offers to come play at Wichita State.
14:23I think what's really important for the Shockers as this all develops and move forward, it can
14:31only be lucrative.
14:32Like it can only be the money because the what what I think most fans would tell you and
14:39see and history tells you it shouldn't be opportunity.
14:42Wichita State should be the best opportunity most of the time.
14:47It should if it's money, it's money.
14:49I mean, there are limited things you can do about that.
14:52So, you know, can Wichita State get it to the place where financially they're competitive
14:58in that world?
14:59I think they probably can, but I don't I don't sit here naively and think St.
15:08Mary's TJ has been out there competing financially for its players or I don't know who are, you
15:16know, Creighton was competing financially with Nebraska, probably, but they were getting it
15:24done for a lot of years.
15:25And so last year was a bad example of that, but you know what I'm saying, like Wichita
15:29State should be able to be, yes, competitive.
15:33I don't think they're ever going to compete with Kansas financially for players.
15:38No, but it's not all about that.
15:40They're also not going to go recruit the top player in the country every year and go
15:45after.
15:45That's not what it's about for Wichita State.
15:47It's a and most importantly, can they be better than everybody else in the American?
15:51I think that's where the answer could be.
15:53Yes.
15:53And Memphis is a tall hill to climb, but the answer to that could be yes.
15:58Yeah, I think that, you know, it's it's such we've talked about this is that where does
16:03a school like Wichita State, Wichita State feed into a fit into the, you know, NIL puzzle
16:08that the rev share puzzle is that you're right.
16:11Like they're not going to, you know, Leroy Blyton, like, or what do you want to say here?
16:16Like Dennis Parker, the guy going to KU, like was Wichita State going to take a swing at
16:21Dennis Parker?
16:21Like probably not.
16:23I don't know who their best transfer would be like, you know, fill in the blank.
16:27Were they going to go get him?
16:28Probably not like they're not in that kind of, you know, range to go get a player like
16:32that and not even because of financials.
16:35It's also just like, you know, there's a little bit of brand and things like that as well.
16:39So like, but could they have gone and put on a battle to go get, you know, the eighth
16:45man, whatever the guy on the bench.
16:46Which I'm blanking here on KU's roster right now of who good examples would be.
16:50Yeah, you can if the opportunity's good.
16:53Exactly.
16:53And that's what, and so like the reason that, you know, more specific example is Jahari
17:00Long.
17:00Like they want a recruiting battle against USC.
17:03Like you look at the guys that were on the list for, you know, you could pull it up.
17:07Jordan Freison had power fours on his list of people reaching out to him.
17:10Instead, he comes to Wichita State.
17:12Like that's my point on this is that, you know, they can recruit against those.
17:16Guys, because they are an opportunity to show them, especially now, is that, hey, look
17:22at this.
17:23This is what we've got.
17:24Just like it on tape, right?
17:25Exactly.
17:26Look at the opportunity here.
17:27The biggest wins.
17:28I mean, we all know this.
17:29The biggest wins were keeping Batienberg.
17:31Yeah.
17:31Right.
17:32You know, TJ Williams.
17:33And so that's, that's the other part of it.
17:35TJ Williams is a local guy.
17:37Maybe not the best example.
17:38We hope he stays forever.
17:39He plays at Heights, all those things.
17:40But T and Berg, though.
17:43That's, that's the biggest.
17:44And it's the reason that he said it like that is that he didn't say,
17:46that they turned down these deals because there was never deals that were
17:50really offered for those.
17:51He didn't even give a chance.
17:53But if they did, like, that's where he's talking about.
17:55It's like, man, those guys, there's a lot of money that's left on the table.
17:59They knew they could go get more money.
18:01I mean, they've got agents.
18:02Didn't even, didn't even take the time.
18:05Like, nope, we're good.
18:06And I, and I don't blame either one of them because they're both going to
18:08develop again next year.
18:10Now, can you keep them again?
18:12We'll see.
18:13But next year they're going to be really good and they're going to develop and
18:15they're going to grow.
18:15All right, we'll come back.
18:16We got more sports day.
18:17Let's talk Royals.
18:18Now.
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