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Taylor Eldridge checks in with all the latest from Shocker Nation.
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00:001240. Time to get busy. This is Sports Daily on KFH.
00:07And now, digging deeper with the teams you follow, it's another Sports Daily Insider interview on KFH.
00:17And that insider is Taylor Eldridge hopping in with us. We appreciate Taylor's contributions
00:24always. You can, of course, find his work at the Wichita Eagle. You can find him on
00:28X at Taylor Eldridge. Always giving us great Shocker coverage. Taylor, here we go.
00:37We all knew this was possible. Some might even have said we all knew this was likely.
00:43But the timing of Kenyon Giles being added to the Shocker roster is interesting to me.
00:49What was your, you know, your hip shot reaction to that news yesterday?
00:55Yeah, you know, the timing was a little interesting because, you know, obviously the Colorado case,
01:01you know, made him eligible a couple weeks ago. And yeah, it's like, why? Why now? So that that's
01:08an interesting question. And, you know, Paul Mills, no, not talking right now. Doesn't sound like
01:14Wichita State's ready to put out anything official. So we'll have to wait and wait and hear about like
01:21how this actually came, came to be. But yeah, I mean, I had heard that he was back in Wichita.
01:28I had heard that this was a possibility. I didn't know it was gonna, you know, come together as
01:33quickly as it did. So it was a surprise. You know, I've been telling people that I thought it was
01:39unlikely, but, you know, never say never. There's always, you know, always a chance, you know, in
01:44today's college, college basketball era. So yeah, I was surprised. But yeah, we'll have to wait and
01:52see to hear about like, how this came together. You know, what Paul Mills was thinking, you know,
01:59because this is a big decision. You know, it's not like you're just adding a role player into the
02:03mix. You know, you're adding a guy that played 38 minutes a game in conference play, scored 21 points
02:10a game. You know, he was the engine to the offense. So this is a big decision. But yeah, I
02:16mean, I think
02:17everyone is fired up for Shocker fans and, you know, just creates a lot of excitement. Now we'll
02:24wait and see, you know, does it stick? Will he actually be eligible? So that leads into the next
02:31part of this, Taylor, is that as you were talking about, there's multiple parts moving for something
02:35like this to happen. One, it's will he be eligible? We still don't know that for sure set in stone
02:41that
02:41he will be eligible. So there's a risk in that there's the risk in adding a player to your roster
02:46that's already full with 15 players. There's the risk of adding a player that really needs the ball
02:51in his hands to thrive to a team that was already full. But I think as you look at it,
02:55as Paul Mills,
02:56as Wichita State, you just say, it's Kenny and Giles, we'll figure the rest of it out. Is that kind
03:01of just the vote of confidence in it? I think so. Yeah, you know, this team, you know, with with
03:06KG, you know, it has a chance to be really special. And it is interesting, though, because, you know,
03:14you look at the roster that Paul Mills had built, you know, he had really built it to be, you
03:20know,
03:20thrive in like the post KG era, you know, where you don't have to rely so much on one player,
03:27you know, he goes out and gets a Johari Long goes out and gets a Jordan Friesen. And, you know,
03:33you'd heard stories from the summer how Dylan Battee and TJ Williams, Will Berg, guys like that
03:40are having great summers. And they're ready to take, you know, that next step and, you know,
03:45you know, take a little bit more ownership of the offense. So, you know, this is definitely a huge
03:51game changer for Wichita State, because like I said, you know, it's a it's a high usage player,
03:57player. And, you know, it's a it's a guy that I mean, he was taken, I think, 18 shots a
04:02game. So,
04:03you know, it's, it's interesting. I just wrote a story this morning on Kansas.com, you know,
04:08kind of looking at, you know, if you look at just 40 minutes at shooting guard, you know,
04:13KG played 38 minutes a game last year in conference play, I don't think he's gonna have to do that
04:19again this year. But still, you know, if he plays 33, 34 minutes, you know, that's a lot,
04:25that's a big chunk coming away from somebody's minutes and somebody's shots. So it is, it's
04:32going to be a delicate mix. You know, that's why, you know, Paul Mills gets paid the big bucks. But
04:37as I wrote in that story, that's a good problem to have, you know, when you feel like you have
04:42this many good players, you know, it feels like WSU is positioned about as well as they have been
04:50since maybe even the Greg Marshall days. So I think everyone is excited. And like you said,
04:56you know, it's, it's Kenyon Giles. We'll figure it out. You know, you, you add him to the roster,
05:01we'll figure out the rest later.
05:04Kenyon Giles, Taylor Eldridge talking, you can read Taylor's article right now at the Wichita Eagle.
05:08He had all those minutes, but they do lose, you know, a lot to, you know,
05:13Karan Boyd was almost 34 minutes a game. Kendell was another 17 core four was another 17 Valencia.
05:21When he played average 13, there are still a lot of minutes. I think it's interesting because one
05:27of the things to my eye that the shockers began to do a nice job of was learn how to
05:32be good
05:32offensively, or at least efficient, even in the games where Giles didn't shoot the lights out,
05:37which happened. I mean, quite a bit over the course of the season. Now, when he's hot,
05:40he's hot, you let him go. But in those other games, maybe it just raises up the floor of the
05:46offense a little bit for the games where he's not going to, you know, shoot six of 15 from three
05:52or
05:52whatever, and they can be a better offensive team in those games. Yeah. You know, that's, uh,
05:58that's why Mills went into the portal and got a guy like long and fries in and, you know, guys
06:05that
06:05can really create and also shoot it, you know, that it can space the floor a little bit better.
06:11So, yeah, I mean, this is, uh, a different, uh, team, even though it's mostly the same,
06:16you know, with the players, you know, I think 11 guys would be coming back from last year's roster,
06:20but, uh, the guys on the ball, it would definitely look different than, uh, you know, the team that,
06:26uh, KG was, uh, you know, such a big part of last season. So, you know, an ideal world,
06:32I think you, you don't have to have Kenyon Giles play, you know, 35 plus minutes. You don't have
06:39to have him take 18 shots a game. You can maybe dial that down and, uh, you know, um, uh,
06:46look for
06:46him to be even more efficient in his shots where, you know, you don't have to shoot those 25 footers,
06:52uh, you know, contested, uh, because last year, you know, WSU, you know, KG was so efficient. It was
06:59still a good shot. And then even when he missed, uh, they were such a good offensive rebounding team
07:04that it worked out a lot. Like you said, you know, even when he didn't shoot, well,
07:08they were able to, to retrieve so many of those misses that the offense is still able to stay afloat.
07:14And I think with this year's team, uh, you know, you, you could ask him, you know, he's still,
07:20you know, you don't want to take away what's, what makes him great. He's still going to be aggressive,
07:24still going to hunt shots, but I think you can be a little more selective and that's going to be
07:30the balance that'll be interesting to see if this thing comes to fruition. You know, maybe KG only
07:35takes a 14 or 15 shots, but he still averages, you know, in the teens because his efficiency goes up
07:42and he's able to, to shoot better three pointers, uh, and, you know, work off the ball a little bit
07:47more. So that's going to be interesting to see, but man, that, that guard rotation, the one, two,
07:53three, you know, it is a pretty crowded rotation now. And, uh, you know, I thought it was already,
07:58uh, you know, they were already set up pretty well before this. And now you throw in, like I said,
08:03you know, if you place 33, 34, 35 minutes, you know, that's got to come from somewhere. So
08:08that will be interesting to see how that works out. I think they can roll out an all point guard
08:13lineup now and put TJ Williams at center and see what that looks like. Uh, Taylor, the next big step
08:18of
08:19this, uh, seeing as if it went through the NCAA appeal doesn't happen and he does play, uh, next
08:25year is what has to happen on the roster is the biggest question that I think that we're all
08:30wondering how they do this. I brought up earlier in the show that, uh, you know, we saw the headlines
08:35at the NCAA said about the, the ghost transfers that if you add one of those, but he's not, he
08:40obviously went back to Wichita state, but, uh, just for an example, there was also the thing about,
08:44you know, making room for players that had exhausted their eligibility coming back. Is
08:49there something that Wichita state's going to have to think about, uh, if there will be, uh,
08:53ramifications for adding a fifth year player from the NCAA they'll try to do, are they going to have
08:57to, you know, cut somebody for, for lack of better terms to add a player to the roster? What has
09:02to
09:03happen for that? Yeah. You know, I think, uh, everyone's kind of in the dark on that. And,
09:08you know, with WSU declining to comment on it yesterday, when the news broke, you know,
09:13we're kind of, uh, I don't even know if they know, I don't know if like, you know, teams actually
09:18know
09:19right now, you know, until the dust settles. So I think, uh, it's kind of a wait and see game,
09:25you know, they got about another month before official team practice starts. And, uh, I think
09:31they're just going to wait and see, uh, you know, what the Colorado case does. And then, you know,
09:36KG is in that South Carolina, the state case. Uh, so that's, uh, that has a court case coming up.
09:43Uh, I think the end of the month, I think August 31st, that's the date to kind of keep in
09:48mind,
09:49uh, should hear some news about that. And from what I was told yesterday, uh, you know, those guys,
09:56uh, that are eligible right now through the Colorado case, that's the one making all the
10:00headlines. Uh, they have like a pretty decent chance of that still holding up, but guys that
10:07are in like these other state cases, like, uh, uh, Kenyon Giles, Cron Boyd are both in the South
10:13Carolina case. That's just, uh, boosting their, their chances up even more in case that Colorado
10:20case gets overturned. They could still have eligibility through that South Carolina case.
10:25So, uh, from the, the person I talked to, he's, uh, you know, uh, uh, an expert in all this
10:32stuff
10:32that, you know, it's hard for me to understand or wrap my mind around it, but he seemed like he
10:37was
10:37pretty, um, certain that, you know, players like Kenyon Giles would have eligibility. He thinks it's
10:44a better chance than not. So I thought that was a little surprising. I still thought this, so I was
10:49still a little skeptical, uh, you know, when the news broke, but it does sound like these guys have
10:55a legitimate chance to play. Like you said, though, and still not a hundred percent. And, uh,
11:01also, like you said, you know, we don't know what's going to happen with that roster limit
11:05because, uh, you know, I don't, WSU is not talking and it's unclear, you know, if they're going to have
11:12to make room for this, you know, I was, I did a little digging. There is like some exemptions
11:16into that, but from what I could tell, I don't think WSU has anyone on the roster that would be,
11:23uh, you know, one of those exemptions to counting toward the 15 players. So, uh, yeah, I mean,
11:29there's just a lot of still up in the air and that's the case about everywhere around the country
11:34right now with the way college sports is going. And I think WSU is just going to let the dust
11:39settle
11:39and, uh, you know, they're just going to keep going forward, uh, with what they have right now,
11:43the 16 guys. And when they have to make a decision, they'll make a decision. But for right now,
11:49I don't think anyone knows exactly 100% for sure. So Taylor Eldridge, Wichita Eagle joining us,
11:57nobody knows for sure. But again, the shockers made the decision to do it now. I, I, at minimum,
12:03what, what I infer from that is they don't fear any sort of punishment if something else happened in
12:11the courts. Is that, do you think that's a fair statement? I don't know why else they do it now,
12:17unless they feel confident that if something changed, they could just say, okay, fine. Now
12:22Kenyon Giles isn't on the team. And then they don't face any consequences for that, which the NCAA
12:27is sort of had veiled threats out there with all these cases of like, you better be careful here.
12:33That's, that's the part that surprises me. I think the most about the timing.
12:38Yeah, you're right. Like it's like, it's such a, a weird situation. And, uh, yeah, I mean,
12:44I don't know how much of the news was Wichita State's decision because, you know, it kind of
12:50gets, uh, you know, it looked like, uh, KG's agent kind of put it out there in the ether. So
12:56I think
12:56Wichita State had to, had to, had to kind of, you know, act fast and, uh, you know, couldn't,
13:02I think they wanted to wait a little bit longer before this was, uh, it got out there, but yeah,
13:08I mean, it's, uh, it is interesting that it came out now. Um, you know, the week that school starts
13:13on Monday. So I had heard that, like I said, I had heard he'd been back in Wichita. He was
13:18practicing at Coke arena. Uh, so it was not something that came together like all of a sudden,
13:24but it was still interesting. I had heard they were working toward this, but like you said,
13:29I thought they were going to kind of wait and see and, uh, you know, maybe take their time, uh,
13:34to, to announce this officially, but you know, the news got out there yesterday and, uh, and they,
13:40they confirmed it. So it is interesting. And, uh, yeah, I mean, it's, it's going to be an
13:47interesting month to see how this plays out. Uh, because I, I'm curious, you know, what do they
13:54have to do? Uh, you know, if, if they have to get to 15, cause now you're asking someone that
13:59spent
13:59all summer with you, uh, that's been with you, uh, you know, since the start, uh, to, you know,
14:05take another position would be my guess, but we'll have to wait and see, uh, if that's actually
14:10what happens, maybe they can get creative. Maybe something else happens where they don't have to
14:15ask that. And, uh, it kind of works itself, uh, out. So, yeah, I mean, I think, uh, right now
14:21we
14:22don't have a lot of answers, but, uh, you know, maybe in the next, uh, couple of weeks, uh, you
14:27know,
14:27with that court case on August 31st, uh, you know, uh, that could provide some, uh, uh, answers.
14:34So, yeah, I mean, right now it's a little frustrating cause you know, people are in the
14:37dark. They want all the answers right now, but I think we're just gonna have to wait and see, uh,
14:42and when, when the dust kind of settles on this stuff. It's so insane that you can add players to
14:47your roster four days after classes starts in a collegiate athletic sport. Uh, but that's the world
14:51that we live in. Uh, Taylor, there's been talk about now that he's back, uh, they were already
14:56going to be the conference favorites. And then you add a conference first team or back onto the
15:00roster. Uh, you've covered a lot of shocker basketball and watched the show, a lot of
15:03shocker basketball. Where do you rank up this team preseason? Is this team preseason better than
15:08the 2021 AAC championship team? Yeah. You know, I was looking back on that team and I thought they
15:15were actually, uh, you know, I was looking on Ken Palm. I think they finished in the sixties,
15:20which was a little surprising. I thought they were a little better than that, but, um, yeah, I mean,
15:24I think this team could certainly be better than that. I think, uh, the last Greg Marshall team,
15:30that Echenique team that had, uh, its season cut off by COVID that team was in the high thirties.
15:37I think, you know, they were probably going to be on the right side of the cut line, uh, and
15:41get back
15:42to the NCAA tournament. They won 25 games, uh, before conference tournament. So that sounds, uh,
15:49kind of in line with what the expectations would be with a Kenyon Giles back. Uh, I think 25 wins,
15:56uh, you know, pushing top 50 and Ken Palm. Uh, I mean, they have a legitimate shot, a chance to,
16:02uh, build an at large, uh, schedule because, you know, you look at the job of what Paul Mills and
16:08Kevin Saul have done with this non-conference schedule. You know, they got some, some serious
16:13cracks at it now, uh, to make some noise. And, uh, so it's up to them to kind of take
16:18advantage of
16:19that schedule that they put together and, uh, then just hope that the American is better than
16:24what we think. I think it will be actually, I think, uh, you know, some of the new coaches
16:29and, uh, the new talent in the league is going to make it better. And hopefully you can get some,
16:34you know, quad ones, uh, some quad twos, uh, you know, more chances than what it seems like right now
16:40that are on the schedule. So yeah, I mean, I think it's, uh, it's really exciting time for
16:45shocker fans. And, uh, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of talent on that COVID team, you know,
16:51that, that, that had some, uh, some real, uh, good players on it, you know, looking back in hindsight,
16:57but yeah, I mean, it feels like this is the most excitement from the shocker fan base since the
17:03Greg Marshall era. And, uh, now it's up to this team to, to go out there and, and give them
17:08a reason
17:08to be excited about it because, uh, yeah, I mean, there's a, this team is, there's a lot of really
17:13good pieces on this team. And, uh, man, you know, you throw in a guy like Kenyon Giles, uh, like
17:19we
17:19talked about, it's not going to be easy. You know, Paul Mills is going to have to earn his money
17:23to make
17:24this work, but man, if they can make it work, uh, this team could be special for sure.
17:30It could be special and who knows, maybe they'll still add Karan Boyd. I guess we'll have to wait and
17:34find out, uh, Taylor Eldridge, you can find all his reporting on this story, looks at the roster
17:40guesses, follow him on X at Taylor Eldridge, find his work at the Wichita Eagle. Taylor will all just
17:47kind of buckle up and watch it at minimum shocker fans. You had the resources to go bring Giles back.
17:53I think that's a positive sign, Taylor. We appreciate it. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you.
17:58There goes Taylor Eldridge as we come back here.
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