One trait new coach Paul Mills wants to bring to Wichita State basketball

Less than one week on the job, it’s far too early to forecast what the Wichita State men’s basketball roster will look like under first-year coach Paul Mills.

But given the playing style of his recent teams at Oral Roberts, it’s safe to say taking care of the basketball will be a major priority for how the Shockers play in his first season on the sidelines.

“We’ve been No. 1 in the country (at ORU) the last four years at not giving the ball to the other team,” Mills told GoShockers.com. “I’ve coached teams that have been top 12 in the country in offensive rebounding. I’ve coached teams that have been consistently (high) in making threes. A lot of it comes down to what is the personnel you have in the locker room, but taking care of the basketball will rank pretty high on the list of things we need to get done.”

In Mills’ last four years at Oral Roberts, the team ranked No. 1, No. 5, No. 16 and No. 2 nationally in turnover percentage. The Golden Eagles averaged fewer than 11 turnovers per game in three of the last four seasons.

Some of that is a credit to the ball being in the hands of All-American guard Max Abmas, but limiting turnovers was a quality that almost all of Oral Roberts’ players shared — a sign that taking care of the basketball is a chief priority in Mills’ system.

“We’ve done a good job of not turning it over and that factors into defense and offense,” Mills told Sports Daily. “Because you’re probably going to end up in transition on the account of giving the ball to the other team and then offensively you’re coming up with empty possessions. You don’t want to play disadvantage basketball defensively because now you’ve got one defender going against two offensive players.

“We want to help our team more than we help the other team. How do we get to that point? That’s a process. Not everybody is gifted at handling and passing. So trying to make the decision a little bit easier for guys sometimes can slow their game down and allow you to create better value in the possessions that you have on both ends of the court.”

Turnovers haven’t necessarily topped the list of WSU’s biggest ailments the last two seasons, although the team did rank seventh in turnover rate in the 11-team American Athletic Conference during league play this past season.

As Mills mentioned, avoiding live-ball turnovers is also a good way to improve a team’s transition defense and maximize its chances at scoring. It wasn’t a coincidence that Oral Roberts ranked No. 1 nationally in turnover rate and in the 90th percentile in transition defense, per Synergy Sports.

Mills is still in the process of meeting with current WSU players and finalizing his staff in his first week in Wichita. The Shockers saw their leading scorer from this past season, Jaykwon Walton, announce on Tuesday he is transferring to Alabama, while their starting center, Kenny Pohto, also remains in the transfer portal.

WSU currently has seven scholarship players on its roster: juniors Colby Rogers, Jaron Pierre, Xavier Bell and Quincy Ballard, sophomores Jalen Ricks and Isaac Abidde and incoming freshman Makhi Myles.

With no point guards currently on the roster, ball handling is sure to be targeted by Mills in his first recruiting class for the Shockers. In his Sports Daily interview, Mills said he invests heavily in his program with player development. Ball handling should be a pillar of that work this offseason.

“Priority number one for me is you have to have a work ethic,” Mills said. “This needs to be really important to you. You better have a high-care factor. If you care about other things, that’s fine, but this may not be the best situation for you.

“The Miami Heat once said, ‘If you don’t like basketball, you will not like being a part of the Miami Heat.’ That’s terrific. If guys want to get the most out of their God-given abilities and go through their craft and get better at it, Wichita State will be the place for you. If college is about something else, I don’t know if this will be something that will fit you.”