‘It’s go time’: New Wichita State baseball coach Brian Green talks 2023 recruiting class

When Brian Green arrived as the new Wichita State baseball coach at the start of the month, almost nothing else in the program was solidified.

He had yet to pick his staff and, more importantly, nearly every single player from last year’s roster was in the transfer portal.

Three weeks later, clarity is beginning to emerge. Green has hand-picked his staff, started winning recruiting battles and has a better handle on who’s coming back and who’s leaving from last year’s roster.

“It’s been an absolute whirlwind and it’s actually sped up even more (since gaining clarity on roster),” Green told The Eagle. “There’s a couple of guys who are still in the portal that we’re actively recruiting and trying to keep here, but yeah, (returners are) pretty few and far between, so now it’s like go time. Let’s fill up this roster with some athleticism, some speed and a whole bunch of pitching.”

First, an overview of WSU’s current roster situation.

Green has 10 players committed to return after swaying starting catcher Mauricio Millan to come back, as well as outfielders Seth Stroh, Jaden Gustafson and Jordan Rogers, and reliever Matt Wilkinson. But the majority of key players from last year’s Shockers are gone to Big 12, ACC or Pac-12 programs with a handful still uncommitted in the portal like two-way superstar Payton Tolle, outfielder Kyte McDonald, shortstop David Herring and reliever Nate Snead.

While players in the program last year have mostly chosen to leave, Green has retained the majority of WSU’s highly-rated 2023 recruiting class, most notably star pitcher Ryan Geraghty. The Shockers also have highly touted high school recruits in pitcher Luke Agnew, pitcher Jeremiah Arnett, catcher Jerson Martin and infielder Holden Pantier.

On top of that, Green successfully flipped his highest-rated recruit, shortstop Darnell Parker Jr., from Washington State to follow him to WSU.

The hiring of recruiting coordinator Clay Overcash, who worked the past six seasons at Oklahoma and 18 before that as an MLB scout, and hitting coach Anthony Miller, who spent last season at Johnson County, have already paid dividends with Green’s new additions to the recruiting class.

Overcash previously recruited Johnson County outfielder Brayden Luikart and Mineral Area pitcher Gavin Oswald at OU, while Miller worked this past season with infielder Ryan Callahan and helped WSU edge out Big 10 schools in recruiting for him. The coaches’ experience recruiting juco players also helped pulling two from Crowder College in infielder Josh Livingston, a top hitter, and outfielder Dayvin Johnson, a former Nebraska commit.

“It was really important to me to find Midwest coaches and you couldn’t ask for a better staff,” Green said. “Clay Overcash has been plugged into the Midwest for the last 25 years, so to get him on our staff is huge for our program and he’s already made an immediate impact. And then to have Anthony Miller and his JUCO and Kansas knowledge. I’m really, really excited about our coaching staff.”

With so many current WSU players leaving and more than 15 high school seniors committed to play for the Shockers next season, the roster balance is skewed heavily toward youth.

Green’s mission the rest of the summer in recruiting is to make the Shockers older. As it currently stands, the roster features just three seniors and six juniors.

“We’ve got a really large high school class coming in and that speaks volumes of what recruits think about Wichita State,” Green said. “But with that, we want to get in the portal, get grad transfers, get JUCOs, get old guys who could give us a really nice balance moving forward. Hopefully we have an opportunity to get some great balance, so our freshmen aren’t going to be forced into the fire, but still have a great opportunity to play.”

Building relationships is still what Green believes wins in recruiting, but he admits it’s nice to have pitches like Wichita State’s tradition and the facilities at Eck Stadium to use to get in the door with recruits.

Green is unable to comment specifically on recruits until they sign the proper paperwork, but he spoke in generalities with new commitments stacking up on social media.

“We’ve been on the phone with a ton of portal guys from Power Five teams, the SEC, Big 12 and people are listening,” Green said. “I know people have seen some of the commitments and there’s going to be a lot more coming. I’m really excited about the incoming class and I’m looking forward to coaching the guys who want to be here on the current team. We’re still working, though. We’ve got to find more pitching and there’s a great opportunity for guys to come in here with essentially a clean slate.”

Green’s past teams at New Mexico State and Washington State have usually been able to hit. And in his first few weeks on the job, he’s already brought in some experienced bats who could help replenish the lineup. Miller also has a strong history of coaching teams who hit well.

While Green declined to pinpoint where WSU is directing its recruiting focus, experienced pitching is a safe bet to be on the top of the wish list. The Shockers are loaded with promising arm talent in their incoming freshmen class, but Wilkinson, with 18 innings of work, is the most experienced Division I pitcher left on the roster.

“We essentially have a clean slate, so we’re being very specific with our needs right now. And we don’t want to veer off from that,” Green said. “We want to find some athleticism and some depth and experience, but we love our talent right now. So for us, it’s all about being specific and following those targets.”