‘A mad dash’: What the new Wichita State basketball coaches are looking for in recruiting

The first official week on the job has been “fast and furious” for the three new assistants on the Wichita State men’s basketball team.

Associate head coach Kenton Paulino and fellow assistants Quincy Acy and Chris Hollender were officially introduced to local media at Koch Arena on Friday morning.

All three have had few moments to spare in their first week working under new Wichita State head coach Paul Mills, as the transfer portal continues to churn and the Shockers still have almost half of their roster to fill for the upcoming season.

“It’s just been a mad dash trying to figure out the ins and outs of Wichita State,” said Paulino, who followed Mills from Oral Roberts. “And then you try to focus on the guys coming back and now the focus is trying to build a roster. We know we have to replace a lot of guys who are talented that have left the program, so the focus has been building a team and trying to do it as quickly as possible.”

With Jaron Pierre Jr. entering the transfer portal earlier this week, all five starters (and nine of the top 10 scorers) from last year’s WSU team have either exhausted their eligibility or entered the transfer portal.

The Shockers have so far signed two from the transfer portal: Texas-San Antonio center Jacob Germany, a 6-foot-11 senior, and Miami wing Harlond Beverly, a 6-foot-6 junior. With Colby Rogers, Xavier Bell, Quincy Ballard, Isaac Abidde and Jalen Ricks slated to return, that leaves WSU with up to six scholarships left for its 2023-24 roster.

When asked how he plans on filling out his team, Mills said he was reminded of something former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich once told him.

“The job isn’t to accumulate talent, it’s to assemble a team,” Mills said. “That always resonated with me. This isn’t going to be, ‘Let’s go get the most talented guys.’ It’s, ‘How do we get guys that fit into what we’re trying to do?’”

Just because Mills’ teams at ORU played at a fast pace and shot a lot of three-pointers doesn’t mean his teams at WSU will. Mills said he is not a “system” coach, meaning he is willing to adapt to his players rather than trying to have his players adapt to his system.

“Let’s go get the guys who care about doing the right things and are about winning and then we’ll figure it out over the course of time what’s the best way to play,” Mills said. “When I was a high school coach, I taught calculus, so I’m not the dumbest person in the room. I think we can figure out what is a style that works in order to help our guys and propel them forward.”

Having six open spots left on the roster may sound daunting, especially with so much production out the door, but it’s still relatively early in the transfer portal season and many talented junior college and incoming freshmen are still available.

The coaching staff is confident that Mills’ passion for the game will resonate with recruits. Acy, a former standout at Baylor who enjoyed a seven-year career in the NBA, said that passion is what led him to follow Mills and become a first-time assistant coach at the Division I level.

“(Mills) is a very charismatic guy and a very genuine dude,” Acy said. “Sometimes when he’s talking, you almost think he’s about to cry because he’s that passionate. When he’s working you out, he’ll stop and find a way to turn it into a teaching moment. You can tell that difference as a player. Speaking from experience, players don’t care about what you know until they know how much you care.”