Wichita State basketball players reflect on first season under coach Paul Mills

After three months of mostly frustration and disappointment, the Wichita State men’s basketball team ended its season with pride in its play this past week at the American Athletic Conference tournament.

The Shockers saw their season come to a close in a 72-60 loss to UAB in the quarterfinals on Friday, but not before winning two games in Fort Worth, highlighted by a victory over Memphis, which snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series and was arguably the team’s best win of the season.

It was a strong finish under first-year head coach Paul Mills, but in the end, WSU’s 15-19 record marked the program’s first losing season in 16 years.

“This season didn’t reflect how we wanted it to,” WSU guard Xavier Bell said. “But day-in and day-out, everybody came in and put in the work and made the environment something that you wanted to be around.”

Judging Mills’ first season in Wichita is complicated. The team’s final record is undoubtedly disappointing, with 12 losses coming down the stretch of close games, but the last two outside hires, Gregg Marshall (11-20) and Mark Turgeon (9-19), suffered through losing first years and went on to lead the Shockers to great success.

It’s worth noting the program’s prestige was in much better shape when Mills took over than his predecessors, although the landscape of college basketball has drastically changed with the transfer portal and NIL collectives.

When asked if he felt like WSU reached its potential this season, Mills said it was “hard to assess” and added his first season in Wichita was “very enjoyable.”

“I enjoyed being around the guys every single day,” Mills said. “We’ve had 101 practices and there wasn’t a day I wasn’t excited to show up and see them and challenge them and find a way to get better. I’m grateful for all of the guys in our locker room.

“I know that moving forward we’ll continue to have a locker room full of guys who represent Wichita State well.”

Some WSU fans look around the conference and see a first-year coach like South Florida’s Amir Abdur-Rahim, the AAC Coach of the Year after leading the Bulls to a conference title, enjoy immediate success and wonder why the Shockers were near the other end of the conference standings with their first-year coach.

WSU leading scorer Colby Rogers said he wanted to stress to fans every process to building a program is different.

“A team like South Florida, who capitalized on their success, our process is just different,” Rogers said. “That doesn’t mean we shy away from expectations. We didn’t plan on losing that many times, obviously we believe we’re going to win every game we suit up for.

“I look at it like, ‘Are we better than we were yesterday?’ If that answer is yes, then that’s a good thing. As long as we keep getting one day better, then the days are eventually going to stack up. That’s what you want to do with a young team like this. You can’t put so much pressure on the wins and losses this early. You have to focus on the process and building a foundation for the years to come.”

By all accounts, Mills appeared to succeed in his goal of establishing a culture within the program.

“We were just so close this year and coach (Mills) helped a lot with that,” WSU point guard Bijan Cortes said. “We learned a lot this year. We grew a lot. Everything we went through made us closer and we got better as the year went on and we showed that in this tournament. We showed that fight and the team that we really are.”

Players like Rogers, Quincy Ballard, Harlond Beverly and Xavier Bell experienced the best statistical seasons of their career.

“The trust he put in me to carry the offensive load and allow me to play through mistakes and just be who I am, it was a blessing,” Rogers said. “It was a pleasure to play for Paul Mills and I’m happy he put so much trust in me this season.”

Trust was a common phrase used after the season-ending loss, particularly from WSU’s guards.

Turnovers had been an issue all season, but throughout the struggles, the coaching staff never lost faith in the ball handlers.

“The experience was the best one I’ve had in college,” said Beverly, who reached the Final Four last year at Miami. “I want to thank coach Mills for taking a chance on me. I averaged (3.5) points last year, so for him to have that faith in me and really trust me … it was very up-and-down for me. I had games with six turnovers. Next game, he still believed in me, so I really appreciate that.”

How this season will be remembered in Mills’ legacy will likely be shaped by the decisions that occur over the next month.

With only graduate transfer Dalen Ridgnal not eligible to return from WSU’s nine-man rotation this season, the Shockers have a chance to essentially run it back next season with the hopes that the continuity under Mills could lead to a breakthrough. WSU is also slated to add two freshmen, Zion Pipkin and TJ Williams, who are thought of highly.

But in the age of the transfer portal and NIL money, keeping a group together has become increasingly difficult.

Bell and Beverly, who were both on the podium with Mills following the UAB loss, seemed optimistic about their future together at WSU.

“Looking forward, knowing the coaching staff we have and the group of guys that we have now and knowing that it will continue to get better, that’s what’s exciting,” Bell said.

“There’s still a lot of opportunity to grow. We have a young club, a good young class coming in. I think coach and them will do a great job building a great roster, like they did this year and bringing in the right guys to create the right atmosphere.”