[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sullentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Thanks for your time. We appreciate you listening. Our guest today is Bijon Cortez. Bijan is a senior guard from Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He's in his second season with the Shockers after transferring from the University of Oklahoma last season. He started 18 games for Wichita State, made the American Athletic Conference all academic team. Bijon got the season off to a solid start in Wichita State's exhibition game Sunday against emporia State. Shockers won 99.53B. John played 15 minutes. He made both of his three pointers, handed out three assists without committing a turnover. Let's start with the basics. You wear number 55. Tell us the story behind wearing number 55.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: So 55, it was just one tournament. I, you know, I just. My jersey was lost. I ripped it and they were giving me options and I was, I always watched Jason Williams since I was young and he kind of brings the creativity and the enjoyness to the game to me when I always watched him. So I just went with 55 and just Jason Williams is somebody I look up to really. So that's really why.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: So Jason Williams played the University of Florida, right?
[00:01:26] Speaker B: Yes, sir.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: He and then played with the. Probably most famously with the Kings, I think also with the Grizzlies. He was on those kind of great Chris Webber Kings teams. And he definitely has a flair for basketball, great passer, all that kind of stuff. Okay, then that leads me perfectly into my next question. Favorite professional athlete.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: I want to say, you know, just from watching it from such a young age, I want to say Russell Westbrook. Just being from Oklahoma somewhere where I was kind of close to, I got to see him kind of like where he took off in his career and how he just handled those and how he was to the community was something that like enjoyed me and sparked me at a young age. And I think that's really why basketball is such a big thing in my life. And you know, just looking up to him since such a young age really just had my interest. So. Yeah.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: So you would have grown up as the Thunder grew up in Oklahoma. Has that changed the mood around the state of Oklahoma? I think we would all think of it as a football state, as being an NBA city. Has that changed things in Oklahoma?
[00:02:32] Speaker B: I believe so. I think that group that had Russ Kevin Durant kind of just brought the city together. And I want to say, like nowadays, like downtown, it's growing bigger, you know, just with all these things happening with the Thunder, them being such a great group, especially this year and the past, you know, success they've had. So I think it's something that's grown over the time, over time, but it's for sure something that's growing and pretty big in the city now.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: Yeah. If you're an Oklahoma fan or Oklahoma State fan, you can meet in the middle and be a Thunder fan together. I'll bet that's the case. You've mentioned a couple of your favorites. Is there a basketball player you like to dial up on Synergy or YouTube and watch and try to learn, try to pattern your game after?
[00:03:17] Speaker B: For me, mostly I like to watch a lot of point guards. Chris, Paul, you know, just those who kind of play the way I play and how they get others going and just seeing their pace, how they. How they approach different things, ball screens, just the little things. Those are little things that I watch.
Just the old point guard, Steve Nash, obviously, who's great off pick and rolls as well. Just those type of players that, you know, that can translate and help me as well is what I really watch a lot, too, so.
[00:03:47] Speaker A: So we all know point guard, there's a big coach on the floor, extension of the coach component of playing that position. How do you go about learning your coach, in this case Paul Mills, what he wants, and how do you then direct that to your teammates?
[00:04:01] Speaker B: Yeah, just being an older guard now, knowing what Coach Mills wants, I mean, for me as well, I'm a senior. I want to take part in everything that I can try to get everyone involved, even to the freshmen, to, you know, the managers. I have great relationships with them as well. And, you know, Coach Mills really just wants. He just wants everyone bought in. And he can't.
He can't always control that. But as players, those that are older, seniors as well, can carry that off. And I think that's what he really wants, you know, just taking part of what he preaches every day and, you know, just going as hard as you can, no matter if it's uncontrollable or not. So that's really the main thing that he really, I think, emphasizes a lot.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Are good point guards born or can they be developed?
[00:04:51] Speaker B: I really think they can be developed. But I mean, at the same time, I think it's a natural instinct as well that kind of comes into you as a selfless player. I guess you can say I've always been selfless my whole life. You know, I like to see others grow, and I love just having fun out there and seeing everyone play together. So I think that's one thing that I think is could be naturally in you as a point guard. So I believe both of them could be a good answer too.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Was basketball always your favorite sport?
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Uh, I believe soccer. Soccer was pretty fun to me at a young age.
But then like the outside, the stickers, getting stuck in the stickers wasn't. Wasn't my thing a lot. So I want to say soccer for sure.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: Indoral climate controlled. Yeah, I get that. I understand that. Okay. Sunday shockers beat Emporia State 99, 53. Thought they played well, did a lot of good things. What did you learn about the team from Sunday's game?
[00:05:53] Speaker B: That we just have a lot of people that can contribute to the squad this year.
Like you said, we just have a group that's just a lot dialed in from, you know, from the top five to everyone on the bench that, you know, everyone's going to work. So I think we looked great, took care of the ball well. We just got to keep working and, you know, just take little steps at a time. Not thinking big plays or, you know, just not thinking ahead of time, as you can say.
[00:06:22] Speaker A: I think two things really stood out to me. I'll ask you about both of them. First, defense really aggressive. The Shockers were all over harassing in the passing lanes. Tell me about the change in defensive philosophy and how that's going to help this team.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: So we've emphasized it a lot this year, especially just having our hands out deflections and stuff like that. So going into practices, especially as an old group, just knowing what we can all put in together, especially with so much knowledge and maturity that we've had in college basketball and, you know, just listening to what coach says and trying to all be dialed in, hands out, making sure when we're on the court, everyone else as well just keeps doing their jobs because as coach always says, your job's not always done on the first play as long as you got to go help and stuff like that. So you always got to think about the second step. So I think that was our main thing for sure that we've been working on.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: It's been. My observation is I will stop by, watch a few minutes of practice. Throughout the summer and into the fall, defense has really been a constant focus. It seems like most of the practices, most of the drills, you're getting offensive time, but you're really doing a lot on defense. Why has that been identified as being so important for this team?
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Coach talked about it all the time. Defense always translates to offense at the end of the day, especially offensively, if you get, you know, good possession, you can go back, set up on defense so you can have another great offensive possession, momentum, stuff like that. So just taking it all in and knowing what it can produce for you is great.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: So Shockers really struggled with turnovers last year and there was a great sign in the Emporia State game, had five, I think there was one in the first half and then didn't have another one until well into the second half. How did this team work on cutting down those kind of mistakes?
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Just making the simple plays. Coach always says just trusting everyone around you, that's a big thing as well. And I think we've been great as a group together, just making the simple plays instead of making home run plays and just knowing that the offense will always come around to what we need it to be and just getting the best shots.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Paul Mills talks a lot about playing off two feet and I think you addressed that after the game on Sunday when you came in and talked explain that term. For people who may not be familiar, what does playing off two feet mean?
[00:08:41] Speaker B: So playing off two feet, especially if you get by your defender, you can, you know, stop at a pace. You can check out the whole floor. Especially coming off two, you have your pivot.
So you know, just playing off two makes it so much smarter. Instead of jumping out, trying to make one foot passes which can lead to turnovers, or I guess you can say things that, you know, just might not be as accurate as playing off two and making the simple play. I guess you can say as so I believe just playing off two helps you just stay out of trouble, helps you stay out of turnover trouble and maybe foul trouble as well, because charges you can jump off one foot and make a pass and could take a charge. So playing off two, it just means more control, helps you just visualize things better and it just slows down the game for you.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: So Paul Mills and the players all summer talked about the level of competition in practices, the depth on this team. You have a lot of experienced guys, as you mentioned, a lot of older players who have been around and done a lot of college basketball things.
Describe the backcourt depth. I think that's someplace where it's really going to show up. You've got some talented guys in the backcourt.
[00:09:54] Speaker B: Oh yeah, the backcourt is just like you said, very mature. We're old. So at the end of the day, as an old group, we want our best at the end of the year. So we've been through this trying to see what, you know, what we can do at the end of the year because that's the main thing. We just want to win. So having a maturity group is very good because we all just want to come together and win. So I think that just makes up an even better team, you know, because we all know there's one job to get done.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: So, yeah, we saw that last year. I think several of the Shockers played better in March as this team kind of grew together, chemistry grew. You had some of your better games in March last season, scoring wise, ball handling. You had 11 points, five assists, one turnover against Memphis. That's one that stand out. Take us through that improvement late last season. What was going on for you?
[00:10:45] Speaker B: Just being more confident with myself, just trusting the work and that's all it was. It was just being more mentally there, trying to be confident, just trying to make sure I knew what I was still doing.
It was kind of rough starting late during the season like I had. So coming back from, you know, maybe 10 games, 11 games where I had to catch up and, you know, just get back in that mode where it was different for me. So, I mean, I feel like I adjusted pretty well. Just had to grow my confidence back up and just trusting the work that I've put in. So.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Right. To remind people, Bijan got a late start last season as they worked through some eligibility issues and joined the team or began to play in kind of mid December, mid to late December, December last season. We got a good look at Corey Washington on Sunday. I think he was one of the players that people walked out of the arena saying, I'm intrigued. I like what I saw from him. He had 15 points. I think he made six or seven shots, three rebounds. Describe Corey. What should fans expect from him?
[00:11:52] Speaker B: Great player. I mean, versatile. I think that's the best way you can put him out. He can go out to three point line off board, you can pitch ahead, he can get to the basket. He'll go get a board for you. I mean, he just goes hard in every aspect. So that's one thing I love about Corey. He always go hard for you and always to go out on the court with somebody like that is pretty cool. Just knowing that he's got your back just because he's going to go 100% for you and everyone on the court. So I love Corey.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: So far, one of the most entertaining things about Shocker basketball has been your lobs to Quincy Ballard. Take us through that. How does that timing develop with a.
[00:12:31] Speaker B: Big man just Knowing, like I said, I'm an unselfish player. Knowing the game. Just seeing Quincy, he has crazy abilities as a seven footer who, you know, not a lot of people are blessed enough to go grab stuff from the top of the backboard, I guess you can say. So just pushing Q to his limits as well.
That's been pretty fun for me as well. Just seeing his growth. So just talking to him, seeing like just seeing the things that I know are available during the games that I know will have momentum and stuff like that. And just talking to Q that, you know, just running to the. Running to the rim causes a lot of things. So I think he's been doing very well that job.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Is there an aspect of eye contact or are you just do so many repetitions, you know when that might pop open. How do you kind of get. Get in the frame of mind where all right, this is going to be an opportunity to throw him a lob.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: Just reading the defense obviously off ball screens is where it's more effective, I guess you can say. So drawing two on me, reading the backside defense, seeing if they're going to hit the shake or if they're going to tag down on Q. So just reading the defense is more of it. So basically that's it.
[00:13:44] Speaker A: Is that pass more difficult than it looks to perfect?
[00:13:50] Speaker B: I want to say so. Cause I believe in college basketball, especially off of ball screen, coaches preach showing your hands on ball screen just so they are not having the ability to hit the shakes or just make a freely pass out the ball screen. So I would say it's kind of a hard pass, but if you're used to it, it kind of just comes like second natural. Just knowing where people's hands are going to be at some point.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: So yeah, so coming off a screen and hitting Quincy with a lob, it's a dunk. The crowd's going wild. Where does that rank among your. Your favorite plays to make as a point guard?
[00:14:23] Speaker B: I want to say the lob is probably my top, my top play. You know, it just gives me momentum. The three is probably my second one probably. And one next. But the lobs for sure. I mean it gets the crowd going. It gets, you know, it gets you going. So that's what I love.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: So that has been a lot of fun to watch. Shockers open the season at Western Kentucky Monday at 7pm takes through preparing for a road game. How to get ready to go into another team's gym.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: So you know, just wanted to go in there and just hear the silentness of walking out of there with a win is probably something that you want to, you know, just play through your mind a lot. Because having those feelings, it feels. Feels good, Especially on a road win and, you know, opening the season as well. I think it's something that, I mean, we're just going to attack this and approach it the right way just because, you know, it's first game, we want to go out there and give it our all. So that's what we're gonna plan on doing and work hard this week so we can have a great Monday game.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Are you a routine driven basketball player? Do you get places at the same time, dress in the same order? Sock shoes, same music? Do you do those kind of things?
[00:15:36] Speaker B: I do somewhat of it. A routine. I try to get up to the gym early, get shots up in the morning if we have game at nighttime. And then usually I gotta have this certain music. NBA young boy. I gotta play it, you know, just get my mind right and stuff for the game. And that's really it.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Okay. Good routines, those can be important.
Who is the best dresser on this team?
[00:16:00] Speaker B: Best dresser.
Hmm.
I really want to say myself, but I don't want to say myself. So we'd probably have to go with like.
I'd have to go with Corey.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: Corey Washington.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Yeah, Cory's up there.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: What does he, what does he do? How does he dress that you. That you're impressed with?
[00:16:19] Speaker B: I mean, he just wants to dress like me, but on the other side he wears. I mean, he just. He just has the drip, he has the swag that people have nowadays. So he got. He got all of it. So I mean, that's the guy for sure.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: And we've seen more and more of this with start. I guess it starts with the NBA where they are in the tunnel waiting for players to come through. They show us what they're wearing. Has that filtered down to college? Do you think our college athletes more cognizant of what they're wearing because of the NBA?
[00:16:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I believe that's why it's starting to play out differently how it is now. But I do think it sparks college players minds up, I guess you can say, because, you know, those are pros that are doing it. So at the same time, you know, a lot of us look up to them. So that's probably something that's going on for sure around college basketball.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: Who's the best dancer on this team?
[00:17:11] Speaker B: The answer I want to go with.
I want to go with AJ AJ McGinnis. AJ McGinnis.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: A new shocker this year, one of the guards. Okay, all right. Who wins a game of horse on this team?
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Horse?
I want to say maybe Henry. Man. Henry got some. He got some crazy shots, you know, just off the bench.
He got a lot of different shots, for sure. Okay.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: Henry Thangval from Cape Mount Carmel. He had a nice game against Emporia State. Fans love it. The bench loves it when guys like Henry get to shine a little bit. What is your advice to a high school athlete? Maybe they're a sophomore, junior. They're starting to figure out I want to play athletics in college. What's your advice for them choosing a school and getting prepared for all this? Academically, athletically?
[00:18:06] Speaker B: Just being you. Honestly, being you is the main thing that I had to really like, I guess, you know, just know they want you for who you are, keep being you and just not having no regrets. You want to just always go out there and no matter what it is, every aspect, if you put your name on it, you should. You need to do good on it. So, I mean, just taking that approach, if you want to be like a pro, you got to do what pros do at the end of the day. So that's something I always, like, have had at the back of my mind. So that's one thing I would give to them.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Do you have a movie or a TV show you would recommend for people to check out?
[00:18:49] Speaker B: I like.
I like Money Heist. It was a pretty good movie, but.
Or not a movie. It was. It's a show on Netflix, but the show is pretty interesting. It's just these people who go on Money Heist that, you know, they get caught up at the end of the show, but, I mean, that's a good one. Or Prison Break, which is kind of crazy to me, but it was pretty nice and interesting to watch.
[00:19:12] Speaker A: Okay, do you have a go to snack? Is there something you've gotta have while you're watching Prison Break?
[00:19:20] Speaker B: I gotta have some hot Cheetos. I know Ashton doesn't want to hear that. Our trainer, but you know, the Hot Cheetos, that's my thing.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: Flamin Hot Cheetos. I just did a story. Who was it? Was it Jayla Murray who said she had to cut out flaming hot Cheetos? That was one of the things she did did to get in better shape, was to limit the snacks. And Flamin Hot Cheetos was her favorite. All right, those are good stuff. The Shockers, they open their season at Western Kentucky Monday at 7pm that game is on K E Y N radio, of course. It's also on CBS Sports Network. The Home opener is Nov. 9, 6pm against Montana State. Bijon Cortez, thank you for your time.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: Yes, sir. Thank you.
Hi, this is Rick Miuma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Shocker Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:20:46] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected] it's over. It is over, ladies and gentlemen. Say it slowly and savor it. Wichita State is going to the Final Four for the first time in 48 years.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: Unbelievable. What a scene, folks. The Shocker fans are just going crazy in the stands.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: Just maybe the greatest win in the history of Wichita State basketball.
