Episode Transcript
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello, welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sullentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications.
Thank you for your time. We appreciate you listening. Our guest today is Wichita State men's basketball assistant coach Ian Lehman. He is here to talk about the Shockers who are on a three game win streak. Ian came to Wichita State with coach Paul Mills three years ago, both of them coming from Oral Roberts. Ian is from Cambridge City, Indiana. He worked at the University of Indiana as a student under coach Tom Crean from 2013-17. The Shockers, they are 13, 853 in the American Conference. Next game is at Tulsa at 1:00pm Sunday. That's on ESPNU. Ian, take us through. The three game win streak includes a win at USF, which looks better and better, especially especially after they beat Florida Atlantic over the weekend, then came home, handled ECU and then beat the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, which is always a big deal around here. What's going on with the Shockers during this stretch?
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we are just playing really confident. The FAU loss, you know, every loss can kind of take you a couple different ways. And we got to Tampa before USF and met as a staff, met as a team and had some pretty frank discussions of what, what we were doing wrong, what we needed to do, guys that needed to step up, how we needed to step up. You know, if you just tell someone you need to play better, it's tough. But when you tell someone this is exactly what you need to do to help the team.
And everyone's bought in. No one really cares about, I'm not getting enough shots. You know, KG took five shots against fau and we told him, kg, you're our leader offensively. You know, you are a shot creator. You may create shots for other people, but you got to create shots for yourself as well.
And he's taken that, you know, on his shoulders. And guys have taken on his shoulders to find ways for us to get looks for him. But I think they understand when KG gets better looks, they eventually get better looks because all the defense zeroes in on kg. He's been a willing passer, even in transition. Teams focus so much on kg. We're able to get other guys look in transitions.
It helps our big skid opportunities because they're focused on our perimeter.
So guys just buying into a system, whether it's, you know, you got to rebound more, you got to, you're undersized, so you got to fight harder in the post.
We need you to run more in transition. We need you to set up the Offense. We kind of ask guys different ways to challenge them and so far they've bought into it wholeheartedly.
And yeah, KG's been part of it, but it's top to bottom of just buying into how we need to play. And that's even happened from our red shirts. Guys have bought into helping in practice and instead of, you know, taking a scout team segment not as seriously now they're trying to imitate the, you know, defense or offense of our upcoming opponent as much as possible. So I think the buy in is. It's not been a selfish buy in, it's been a commutative buy in to get, to get everybody just towards the same cause. And I think you kind of can see the success we had. South Florida, I think it's a better win than people even realize at the time. But they're, they're a really good, really, really good team. We saw them play three games in the Bahamas earlier this year, so we knew how good of a team they were.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: That's a road win I think a lot of American Conference teams will not have at the end of the season to remind people. So you mentioned the Florida Atlanta game. The Owls beat the shockers 85, 67 and you've won three in a row since. So let's go back to Kenyon Giles, who I think fans really enjoy watching because of his shot making ability. Also because he's just so small and he's fun to watch. It's fun to watch a guy like that.
So he was being a little too unselfish, is that what you're saying?
[00:03:46] Speaker B: Yeah, he took five shots against Florida Atlantic and maybe just wasn't feeling it or, you know, wanted to get other people involved. But we kind of told him like, hey, if you want to be that guy, and we think you can be that guy for us, you can't go a game taking five shots. Now if teams are putting so much attention on you, you create for other people. But we thought he was just being a little too passive, so he accepted it and we found ways, you know, what, what do you want to do to get more shots? What makes you feel more comfortable? And then our guys have found ways to help him get shots and, and by him getting shots, like I said, it, it does allow other people to get shots. It's almost a backwards thinking. But the more, the more we can get KG involved. Eventually. Teams focus so much on him because he's such a, you know, lethal scorer that now, you know, against ecu, we got a couple dunks and One of them being like Karan in transition, he got a wide open dunk that KG was just able to hand it off to him because all the attention was on kg. So yeah, one of them that we told was kg. You need to be more aggressive. Like we just expect a lot out of you and your team does too. These guys trust you, they believe in you, they know the work you put in. They see you do it every day and so you don't have to worry about. I'm worried I'm taking too much. If you're taking good shots, then everyone is okay with it. I think he was just a little bit worried about, you know, some of the shots, I mean you've seen some of the shots he takes are circus shots. But he's such a good scorer. They're layups for him at times where it's just such a. He's just such a efficient scorer that we wanted to let him know, like the whole team believes in you and like you, you're gonna have to take some tough shots. And we're not saying force the issue, but take, take some tough shots and get the offense going. And if it's not going, you can, you can lean on other people, but it can't be from the get go that you're passive.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: I think one of the things that has stood out about him is his composure, his maturity level, I guess because he does get a lot of defensive attention and it hasn't seemed to rattle him. What is it about his personality where he can handle all that's been thrown at him so far?
[00:05:47] Speaker B: I think he's just got like a belief in himself and that's a big key is he just believes in himself and he knows that once you see one team put all their attention on you, you start to figure out just different ways it can crack. And you have will an E man who helped relieve pressure with ball screens or when they put two on him, they become better passers in the middle of the court. So he kind of knows if you put two on me, we got a four on three advantage once the ball is out of his hands. And so different guys have stepped up. And when KG's gets two on him, you've done your job. Coach Mills always says if you get two people, if the other team puts two people on you, you're a really good player. And so when teams put two on kg, he's done a good job of finding other people and kind of letting the dominoes fall from there. So other guys have done a good job. Of finding open spaces. When KG does get a double team to then create opportunities for everybody else.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Building significant first half leads, 15, 18 and 21 points in the last three games. That seems like an important part of this streak.
How do you pull that out of a team? How do you coach up a team to come out ready to. I guess the phrase that's been used is throw the first punch.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it helps that this team, you know, they do get excited for every game day there. I mean, other than TJ and Dylan, I think we got a bunch of upperclassmen. So those two are underclassmen who get a majority of the minutes. Brian would be another underclassmen. But other than that, these guys know how important it is to get an early lead. Just to kind of set the tone. It's against fau, we got, we got down pretty early and it's just, it kind of took your just breath away and it was. It's hard once you're on your heels to sometimes get back. Now we've done it multiple times this year, but it's hard, it's hard to, you know, use all that energy to come back into a game. So understanding our guys understand how important the first part of the game is.
You know, whether it's the scouting report one of the coaches put together, Coach Mills put together, we understand different ways we can attack a team and then our guys just understand executing the scouting report and then the importance of getting out early and playing with a lot of energy because you can carry that energy the whole game. But if you start flat sometimes it's hard to then bring up the energy after the, you know, first or second media timeout.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Memphis and ecu, they would rank as two of the stronger defensive games for the Shockers this season. Memphis committed 17 turnovers. Neither of those teams shot well from three point range. What do you like about the Shocker defense?
[00:08:20] Speaker B: Recently I think we've accepted that defense is a, you know, it's five people guarding now. It's not the guy on the ball specifically. And so if, you know, if I know I'm on the ball and if I give up a step that my teammates are going to be there in their gaps or someone's going to have the rim or if I were for a ball screen coverage, that as long as I do my job and they pass out of it, there will be somebody there to do the next job. So I think buying into the whole concept of it's a team concept, defensively it's not, I have to win My matchup because no one is there to help me if I give up a step or someone gets by me. We've kind of bought into the whole guarding as a group, guarding as a team, and then where we're really good is rebounding. You got to end the possession with a missed shot, but you're not done there until you get the rebound. So then ending with rebounding, we've done a good job. Memphis, we did a good job of limiting second chance opportunities.
So that that's been big is guarding as a team, but then getting our rebounders in there and getting guards in there to help if there's a long rebound to be in there to clean it up too.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: Two observations. You tell me if I'm right on these. One, it seems like in the last few games, Kenyon Giles has been more going for steals, more aggressive, trying to create some chaos. Has he been. Is that an intentional thing?
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Yeah, he leads our team in deflections, so that's one thing we told him.
We've talked to him. I mean, obviously fau I mentioned the offense, but it's keep being our deflections leader. Now, deflections don't necessarily always lead to steals. Like I think he leads us in steals, but it's not always we're looking for steals. We're looking for him to just be aggressive on the ball and be a little bit of a pest because we're undersized. We're not the biggest team in the world, especially at our guards position. So our little guards do have to be more of a pest defensively. And KG leads us in steals on a consistent basis. Almost every game he's or almost every game he's leading us in deflections. And that's a big key because if you just get deflections, you may not get the steal, but you're going to cause teams to get out of their offense, get out of their flow. If you can just kind of get your hands on the basketball and force them to either catch the ball further away from the rim or kind of break down the offense where now their timing is all thrown off. So him being a leader of our deflections defensively has been a big key. And it's something that we challenged him with.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: And then this is one of those things. I feel like maybe I'm noticing it. And then Taylor Eldredge of the Eagle mentioned it in one of his video breakdowns. Michael Gray Jr. He took two charges against Memphis and it seems like he's been in the right place. The Right time more often on defense. Am I seeing that correctly?
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah, he's. He's always been a charge taker. He took some early in the year for us too.
And I think now the way the rules have changed off ball charges are so much harder. Just, you know, they established more of an NBA rules for it. So it's not like the old days where you could get there a quarter of a second before and take a charge. So he's really good on ball. As soon as someone throws their arm out, he knows that they're out of control and he's just really kind of savvy defensively and he's really good about off ball. If someone gets beat, he'll do different types of switches and he can communicate through it. So yeah, Mike's a really good defender, especially off the ball.
But he just kind of has an understanding of when players are a little bit out of control or throw their body into him. Of when it's an opportunity for a charge and. And yeah, he's been really good for us, especially off the ball.
[00:11:35] Speaker A: Center Will Berg had a season high four assists versus Memphis. And I know that was something that Paul Mills talked about way back in the summer that you would be able to use some of Will's ball handling passing abilities.
Is that something he's getting more and more comfortable with, being a guy who can distribute and set up teammates?
[00:11:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's something he's always been comfortable with. I think now with KG playing so well that teams are putting so much attention on KG that Will just becomes a natural release valve. And so now Will is being able to show off his skill set more and maybe a little bit more comfort. But we've known Will's a good passer and Will's shown in practice. And I think now just the way teams have tried to take away kg, it leaves Will an opportunity to then create for others. So I think it's a little bit of both. I think he's getting comfortable with it, but I think it's just an opportunity for us to show off what he's been able to do in practice. Just the way teams are trying to take out kg just they put two guys on him. So therefore Will is the release valve and it allows him to create opportunities for everyone else.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Dylan Batiz played very well the last five games.
Take us through his progress. What's going on with Dillon?
[00:12:41] Speaker B: Yeah, Dillon's just, you know, with. Ever since Jarrett has been out, Dylan has had to step up and he could have before that kind of Just put his head down and try to get through the season. But every day he came to practice and wanted to get better and just try to find little ways to help. And now you see what happens when you do that. And I think he's been amazing working with him every day.
He's always trying to learn, he takes criticism, he tries to get better. He watches film of whoever he's going to defend just to kind of get an understanding of what they could do.
And he's a good athlete too. There's some stuff that he's got to learn and part of it is just being under control when he drives or gets to the rim. And he's done a really good job of taking that, taking that on and being under control at the rim. And I think you kind of see his finishings gone up and his ability to just be under control. And if it's not there, he's kicked out a couple times. And then I think when you just kind of do the right thing, eventually good things happen and it's happening with playing time and even you could say that three, I'll say that three is a result of him just doing all the right things. Sometimes you just have a prayer going and so yeah, no, Dylan's been awesome, just kind of done all the right things and you know, the start of the season is not what he wanted. But it definitely his perseverance and just doing the right things is, has helped out, helped out for him.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: And the three pointer that Ian is referring to was a kind of late in the shot clock three pointer that Dillon made. And I think Memphis had it down to maybe 11 at that point. So it ended up being that was a significant basket that Dillon was able to make. Another guy who I thought was really crucial in the first half of that Memphis game was Brian Amounique. He made three three pointers and really helped the Shockers build a significant lead. What's the key for Brian to keep contributing?
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Shoot. He is a elite three point shooter. So that's what we've been telling him is, you know, one of our multiple meetings with him is like, we believe in you as a shooter, like you are an elite shooter. And I think sometimes he'd be worried like, oh, it's not a wide open three so maybe I shouldn't take it and just kind of giving him like same thing we told Gaji is like all these guys on this team believe in your shooting ability, so shoot it.
So I think that's kind of what it's been for Brian and I think Memphis was the most aggressive he's been from a shooting perspective. Most guys, when you say aggressive, it's them getting downhill. For Brian, it's him getting shots up when he has the opportunity to. So we just want him to be aggressive, trying to find his shot. And he's just such a good shooter. He shot over 40% all of last year when he was at Fresno State. So we know he has the capability to shoot, and we just want him to shoot almost without thinking. Don't think whether it's wide open or not. If you have an opportunity to get a decent look, you're a good enough shooter, it's probably going to go in.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: So my memory, the. The first one he made was open. The second one he went up right over a defender. That's the kind of shot you want to feel him empower.
[00:15:31] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. The first one, I think Memphis kind of sagged off with him just because he hasn't made a ton of threes throughout the year.
So I think their game plan was focus on other players and let everyone else try to beat you from the perimeter.
So I think that allowed him see that first one going. Really helped. But yeah, that second one he took, I think he took five. I think all five were good looks that we expect him to shoot. So, yeah, that second one was kind of what we expected to hit what he hits every day in practice. And then it's just the belief in him that we think. We know he can make those shots and his belief in himself that he can take them and make them.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: Kromb Boyd is shooting 75% from the free throw line during American games. That's up from 64% for the season. So we've seen a mark improvement recently for him. How does the player, how does Karon go about getting better at the free throw line?
[00:16:24] Speaker B: They gotta want to get better and, you know, put in the work. And free throws are mental, so you have to have confidence when you're up there. So there's a mental approach and the approach of just like putting the time in. The other thing we do is there's a free throw club where guys come in and get. Get free throws, just making, you know, however many each day before practice or right after practice just to, you know, be in there and work on it. And KB comes in. He doesn't complain. He does it. Will Berg's another person that came in and works on his free throws a lot. So I think it's just like a mental approach of confidence when you're out in the line. You may be a bad free throw shooter, but if you're sitting there, I'm going to miss this free throw. You probably will miss. So just having a positive mental mindset when you're up there. But then the practice before and after practice, putting yourself in a situation where doing it after practice so you're a little bit more tired.
If you come in and you're completely fresh, free throws a little easier. But if you do after practice, it creates more of an end of game situation where you're, you may be a little bit more fatigued mentally and physically. And if you can make them there building that confidence on making them in a game.
Hi, this is Rick Muuma, 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.
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[00:18:11] Speaker A: Free Throw Shooting Wichita State has technology that can help an athlete determine how accurately the ball is going through the hoop. Tell us a little bit about that system.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Yeah, so we have what's called the Noah and guys will come in and whether they do it with a jump shot or free throw, it can do all sorts of shots. It measures the depth of your shot, how far left or right of center you are, and then the arc. So you know you're ideally left or right of center. You're at zero, you know, zero inches. So it's right in the middle. Your depth ideal is 11 inches. So the rim is 18 inches. You don't want to be 9 inches because you're actually closer to the front rim. You want to be a little bit deeper. So 11 inches is the ideal depth. And then your ARC ideally is 45 degrees. So those three combined would be the ideal perfect shot.
Most time we have guys focus on one or the other and it can announce out a score at you. So if we want a guy to work on his arc, we can set it where it reads out your arc or the depth of the shot. We can have it where it reads out the depth of the shot. So that's one thing we utilize to help guys with their shots. And it's just an instant feedback that you don't have to worry about too much. Sometimes the numbers can bog you down. That's what the coaches worry about, the players. We can just let them focus on one number. So, you know, if a player has a shot, a flat shot, we can tell them, you know, you're at 40 degrees, you need to be closer to 43 and slowly get there. So as they shoot, they know if it says 39, all right, I wasn't very good. But when it says 43, all right, just kind of get that subconscious feel of what 43 feels like. And we can eventually get it up to ideally be 45, but just give them one number with instant feedback. That way we don't have to go back and be like, today your average arc was 41 degrees. So it was still a little flat. It's instant feedback that they can use.
Some guys really, really like it. Other guys, it kind of gets in their head. So it's a base by base, you know, person by person basis of how it can be used. But the summertime, it's used a lot too.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Does your coaching staff have a number in mind for a player who needs to work on free throws? Do you tell him, all right, you need to, you know, you need to take 1000 before it's really going to be effective, or is it 500? Do you guys think in those kind of terms?
[00:20:21] Speaker B: I think with free throws, if it was, you know, three point shooting, there's more of a number. You got to make, you know, a minimum of 100 a day. The summer would be more, but with classes and basketball, you can't expect to make a thousand every day and go to classes and be fresh legs in the summer. We do more of that with free throws since there's so much more mental. We try not to say you have to make 200 free throws. We said, you know, come in for free throw club where you're going to make this money at this depth. And it kind of changes throughout if it's a certain person. But no, we just, we don't want guys. We want guys focusing on their free throws without thinking the world is falling on your free throws. It is a small part, it's an important part. But we tell guys, you know, you have to come in. Here's what a free throw club is. Come in and get your work in, do this.
But no, there's not. You have to make a thousand a day. We have a minimum of what you do have to make, but there's not.
We try to address it and then not make it the biggest deal in the world. Because the last thing we want is them going to the free throw line. And we're telling them, you have to make your free throws. You have to do this, because then now the adverse effect is that's all you're hearing when you're at the free throw line. So it's a complicated formula that I don't think anyone has the answer to, but you try to walk a fine line of addressing it, Making sure guys get in the gym, which we do, and then not making guys too mental about it, where that's all they think about it at the free throw line was, oh, gosh, I'm a bad free throw shooter. I've been told I'm a bad free throw shooter. I have to come in every day to do this. But you want them to work on it and have a mental confidence when they're up there.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: My story that explains how some coaches look at free throws is that when we would ask Mark Turgeon about a bad free throw game, he would just shrug and say, the wrong guys got fouled.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: And I think that, yeah, it is kind of an odd thing. Who's in the free throw club? Describe that for fans.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Free throw is. There's. I think it's 75%. So if you're under 75%, my numbers could be a little bit off. You have to come in. It's for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and you have to make so many free throws. So before practice, you'll see a group of our guys that come in early, and a lot of them are already here because they do individual workouts before practice and get their own workouts in. But this is just a set time where you have to shoot free throws. You have to focus on your free throws.
Usually there's minimal talking going on because we want guys to focus on their free throws and get a feel for their shot, and the Noah can give them a direct feedback. So if you're under, I believe it's 70 or 75%. You come in on certain days where we have the free throw club and you just get. You just get free throws up.
And then we, you know, we talk about, you know, it's a club that you don't want to be in, but it's still a club. So you can leave the club whenever you want. You just got to get above a certain percentage and you can leave the club. And usually if a guy leaves and then goes back in, he just stays in. Because we've had guys who are so competitive, you know, if they get above 75% and then drop to 73, they hate it that they had to go back, and they end up just staying there and finishing the season in the free throw club because they, you know, it is important for them to make their free throws, too.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: Have you ever been in a coach's meeting where A coach has said that player would really benefit from the Rick Barry underhand free throw method.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: We have not talked about that. I have talked about with a former coach that I worked with.
We've talked about if a bad free throw shooter should just try to bank it every time.
And, you know, then you worry about depth a little bit less because you're just throwing it at the backboard and letting the backboard then, you know, kind of soften it up as it hits the rim. So we haven't talked about underhand, but with other people, I have talked about, you know, should people just bank it? And I think in South Korea there's, that's something they do and they're, they're good free throw shooters. I think like seven of the top 10 players a couple years ago all banked their free throws.
But yeah, no underhand. But definitely have talked about potentially having players bank it. I think it's a little extreme, so I wouldn't suggest it. But I love just talking through different situations and scenarios with people.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: You never know what might work.
[00:24:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: So this team has been described easy to coach, low maintenance, they're good students.
In these days, you know, recruiting is just such a fast turnaround.
How do coaches evaluate recruits for those kind of intangibles? And why has Wichita State apparently been successful in that area?
[00:24:36] Speaker B: Yeah, it's speed dating now.
I mean, you find out about a player and they could commit within less than a week.
So you are, as soon as you, as soon as a player enters a portal that we think would be a good fit for us, whether it's playing style or playing style in a combination of geography, you know, their. They have family from Wichita or, you know, in the area. That's always a big key. But we really, we want to get to know the parents. Coach Mills wants to get one on one time with the player just to get a feel that they're going to fit here because you may be a good enough player. But if you're, if you're not a good person, it's going to be a little bit harder to get through beginning of summer workouts in June, all the way through the season in March or April.
And that. So that's important to us to just be around people you like. And Coach Mills always says good people make good players. And so that's always been a core of his coaching philosophy, is he wants to be around good people who, you know, not only want to play basketball, but want to play basketball for a future, for a career. Because if basketball is Important to them. Being a good person is important to them. Usually you're going to be a little bit more coachable and you're going to want to find ways to get better. You're not going to be like, well I already got here at Wichita State, so you can't tell me how to get better. Most of these guys are like, alright, I'm at Wichita State. How can I get even better? What's going to help me play professionally? What's going to be more attractive to, you know, when I try to go overseas or to the NBA or to the G League? What can I do to make me better? So having players that are hungry to get better and want to take criticism and coaching and then just want to be good people. Most of our, the parents that we deal with are easy to deal with. We bring them in on visits and you, it's weird because by the time you leave a visit, there's multiple parents who you feel like you already know. And so when we see them on the road trip, on a road trip where they come to it, it's funny, so many of the parents on this team I go say hi to in the stands or want to talk to, and that's really cool, is that your parents can be involved and be helpful and the their kids are just coachable and really good people. Whether, you know, if you enjoy being around your team every day in practice, it does make a difference because it's something you look forward to every day.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: Ian, tell us about your career pathway. How did you decide to get into coaching?
[00:26:58] Speaker B: My dad was my high school coach.
Coached me in every sport growing up. And he always just talked about, you know, what if I tried to make it more than just high school basketball. And I always thought that was like a cool thing. When I was a freshman in high school, everyone talked about what they're going to do and I was like, I'm going to go to Indiana and I'm going to be a manager. People are like going to be a manager. And like that's kind of what I look forward to because it was an opportunity for me to get into coaching. And there's, there's so many college or NBA coaches or front office executives who were managers at Indiana that I thought that was just an easy opportunity for me to get in there.
So I knew when I was young I wanted to be a coach. I wasn't a good enough player. My dad reminded me of that even as my coach. That probably no career in playing. So I was told that pretty young and Went to Indiana with the goal of helping the basketball team and seeing where it goes, and then enjoyed it enough and went on to be a GA with Coach Mills at Oral Roberts and had enough success there that I was able to hop on as a full time position with them and, yeah, just work up with Coach Mills. So I've worked with two coaches and I think it's been 13 years now, and Coach Crean and Coach Mills and two guys who I really look up to, really respect. And just being around good people who care more than just about the basketball, care about you as a person has been really, really key to me and just like helped me keep the balance of coming in and doing basketball every day. But understanding that even my boss views me as more than just basketball or an employee, you know, a basketball coach or employee, that he actually cares about me and, you know, can ask me questions about my life and that's really important. So, yeah, started out at Indiana as a manager and then just worked my way up to eventually being with Coach Mills and now here at Wichita State with him.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: What was your connection with Paul Mills that got you to Oral Roberts?
[00:28:53] Speaker B: There was no connection whatsoever. I originally reached out to every Power 5 school. You know, I just. That's where I was going to start. I figured if there's gas, it's probably programs in the Power 5 with a little bit more money.
So I reached out to Coach Mills and he called me on my graduation ceremony at Indiana.
And so I ignored it and he texted me and just kind of said who he was. So I called him and he was like, I just took the job at Oral Roberts.
I already called Coach Crean about you.
He said, no brainer, I need to hire you. I was going to, like, do interviews, but I trust Coach Crean so much. I'm offering you the job.
I was like, okay, let me talk to my family and let you know we're all in town, we're about to get dinner. And I told my dad, like, this is awesome. The coach at Oral Roberts don't even know where Oral Roberts is.
And my dad's like, so you're going to Oral Roberts? And I was like, well, I haven't told him yes yet. Like, I wanted to talk to you guys. And he made me leave the restaurant again to call him back to take the job. So there was no connections. Coach Mills and Coach Kareem knew each other, but I didn't know about them knowing each other or anything like that. It just kind of, you know, fate kind of played its role. In me getting to Coach Mills and Coach Crean saying good words about me.
[00:30:04] Speaker A: Dad was happy to have his son have a job.
[00:30:06] Speaker B: Yes, yes he was. He was just as may have been happier than I was to kind of live his dream. He wanted to be a coach. So he calls me after games or before games and it's funny because he can tell. He knows me well enough to know by my mannerisms during the game. He's like, it was your scout today, wasn't it? You were doing this on the sideline.
And I'll be like, yeah, it was my scout. Or even he'll be like, that was coach P.J. stouter. That was KP Scout. And I'm like, yep. He's like, alright. He was doing this a little bit different. So he even watches the bench just to kind of get a feel because he loves the coaching side of it so much.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: Shockers play at Tulsa at 1pm Sunday on ESPNU. Next home game for Wichita State. They play Charlotte on February 4th. Ian, thank you very much for your time.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: Thank you, 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 content at goshockers. Com. Hawkins going to go to work on Washington and it was shoved out of there by Dijon Cortez. Lob to Beverly seven point lead at the under eight timeout here at Charleston Marina.
