Why watching back-up center might matter in Wichita State basketball exhibition game

Racking up assists was hardly what the first Wichita State men’s basketball team coached by Paul Mills was known for.

He’s planning on changing that with his second team, however, a year after the Shockers finished No. 319 in the country in assisted field goal percentage.

The first chance for WSU to show its offseason improvement in sharing the basketball comes 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Koch Arena in the team’s lone exhibition game against Emporia State. No streaming or television is available with Mike Kennedy and Dave Dahl’s call on KEYN 103.7 FM the only way for WSU fans to listen to the game.

“I put a great deal of value in sharing the ball and I think this team does a really good job of it,” Mills said. “I’ve watched us get better and that’s one area where I’ve watched us really make strides. It’s been an issue in the past, but this is one of the teams I’ve been a part of where sharing the ball is part of our core and who we are. This team does a really good job of it and I’m excited for fans to see that.”

There does seem to be reason for optimism this season, as WSU returns its top three players in assists from last season in guards Harlond Beverly (3.1 assists per game), Bijan Cortes (3.0 per game) and Xavier Bell (2.4 per game) and adds a true difference-maker from the transfer portal in point guard Justin Hill, who ranked third in assist rate in SEC play last season at Georgia.

Not only did last season’s WSU squad struggle to generate assists, it also turned the ball over more than the national average. To Mills, it was imperative to find a floor general who understood the significance of maximizing possessions.

Hill, who has played in the NCAA tournament and in the SEC, is up for the challenge.

“Every possession matters and you know the game might come down to one possession, so you have to take what the defense gives you,” Hill said. “It’s important to sometimes just make the easy read and not try to do too much.”

While WSU’s search for better ball handling will be a season-long journey, a much more pressing one in the short term is its depth at center. On paper, the Shockers are loaded with talent at the position with returning starter Quincy Ballard, sixth-year senior Zane Meeks and Croatian big man Matej Bosnjak.

But Meeks suffered a knee injury that will sideline him weeks into the regular season and Bosnjak is still awaiting approval for his eligibility from the NCAA after arriving in Wichita in August. Bosnjak has a temporary waiver that allows him to play Sunday, but Mills said on Tuesday that the 6-foot-9 center is dealing with a minor shoulder injury that could keep him out.

Barring word from the NCAA, Mills said WSU is planning on Ballard being the only available center for the No. 4 season-opener at Western Kentucky with 6-foot-6 senior Ronnie DeGray III preparing to play the backup minutes.

“What’s great about having Ronnie at the five is that you can extend the floor,” Mills said. “From an offensive standpoint, if there’s a bigger guy guarding Ronnie, they’re not always used to being screened, so there’s mobility issues at times. You’ll see us maybe throw it to him at the elbow and then go crack that guy and either get a switch or that ability to drive it. So there’s different ways to use him there.

“Now defending is going to be the bigger issue without those guys, but to be honest, we don’t really go against 1-on-1 in the post very much. You’ll usually see us blitz the post more often than not, so it’s not really that big of a deal.”

Playing a Division II team picked to finish in the bottom half of the MIAA standings under first-year coach Tom Billeter likely won’t put too much stress on DeGray, as Emporia State’s biggest player is 6-foot-8, 200-pound sophomore Dallas Bear.

But how WSU fares rebounding without Ballard on the court could be worth watching in Sunday’s game.

“It’s going to have to be gang rebounding,” Mills said. “Defensively, it’s going to require all five guys. You have to have all five guys engaged.”

Freshman wing T.J. Williams has also missed extended practice time with a knee injury, which could leave WSU with 11 of its 14-man rotation available for Sunday’s game. Cortes also nursed an ankle injury earlier this month, but was considered minor at the time.

Meshing newcomers like Hill, A.J. McGinnis, Corey Washington and Zion Pipkin with the returning core players in Beverly, Ballard, Bell, Cortes and DeGray is another aspect Mills will monitor closely in the exhibition.

“The big thing is what are the combinations that work well?” Mills said. “Do guys understand with this particular group, this is what the flow should look like offensively and defensively. There are some lineups where we can turn up the pressure and there are some lineups where we can play inside-out and then certain groups where we’ll need to change the side of the court and change hands. We play those combinations enough, so they should be familiar with it, but there will probably be some combinations in there that haven’t necessarily got a lot of reps together, so do guys understand what to do?”

Emporia State at Wichita State basketball preview

When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Koch Arena (10,506)

How to watch: None

Radio: KEYN, 103.7-FM (Mike Kennedy with Dave Dahl)

Projected starting lineups

Wichita State Shockers

Note: All statistics are from the 2023-24 season.

Emporia Hornets

Note: All statistics are from the 2023-24 season.