Episode Transcript
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Hello.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Welcome to the Roundhouse podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University strategic communications. Thanks for listening. Today's guest is Ronnie de Grey III. Ronnie, as a senior forward on the Wichita state basketball team, he averaged 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 24 games last season, highlighted by 15 points, eight rebounds in a conference tournament win over Rice. And then he followed that up with eight points, six rebounds and two assists against Memphis, also in the AAC tournament. Ronnie is from Parker, Colorado, and he is entering his second season with the Shockers. So, Ronnie, you have what I would think would be one of the most appealing numbers on the team. You are wearing number three. Tell us the backstory with why you were wearing number three.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: You know, when I got here, a lot of numbers were taken or they were going to be retired soon. So, you know, I didn't want to take 23 for Fred, and I don't know who 13 is going to be retired, too, but that was taken. And I've heard three in the past has been really big numbers to Wichita State fans. And, you know, I want to continue being someone who's remembered in that number.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah, that's got to be with a three point shot. I would think that's a great number to have if teammates offered to trade, buy it from you, take it from you.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: I definitely this year got asked to switch number three, but I kind of just stuck with it this year.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: You stuck with it. You wore number 13 and number 21 in the past. Was there any stories with those numbers 13?
[00:01:52] Speaker A: You know, they've always said that's an unlucky number, but I've always thought it was a lucky number for me.
And 21, that was just my first year at Missouri, and most of the numbers were already taken that I wanted.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Favorite NBA player. Who do you like to watch?
[00:02:12] Speaker A: I am a big LeBron James guy.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Okay, tell us more about that. What do you like about LeBron's game?
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Just a guy that plays the game with basketball at a really high level, but he plays the game right. I think sometimes you get criticized for, you know, maybe not taking the shot to win the game, but he makes the wide open play all the time.
Just a really good all around player that, you know, maybe he. You can say he's maybe not the most skilled basketball player, but he knows how to score and how to use his body. So I think, you know, and just how he leads himself on and off the court is really admirable to me.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: There seems to be a shift, as I've done these interviews over the last year, basketball players are preferring LeBron over Michael Jordan. Am I interpreting that correctly? Where do you fall in that eternal argument? But who's the goat?
[00:03:11] Speaker A: See, if I say people are going to put the rings conversation, then you would put Bill Russell. But we don't go off a ring, so, you know, you don't say Bill Russell's the goat. So I feel like the rings conversations are real. A little irrelevant. Not just not Naki. Michael's six rings. Like, that's, you know, a lot of people have done that, so I think that's really great. But I think the game of basketball is lot different. And yes, Michael played with really good competition, but I feel like there's certain type of players and things that in Michael Jordan's era would be wizards.
Like, LeBron's era would be wizards and Michael Jordan's era, like a Stephen Curry or a Kevin Durant who's seven foot, who can put the ball on the ground, shoot it. I just feel like Michael Jordan never seen players like that, and LeBron, like, he's played against them in the finals. And it's just. I feel like it's just hard to compare. Honestly, I could say that if you wanted to go, we could say LeBron is the GOAT in his era and Michael Jordan is a goat in his era. But I feel like we're getting away from the greatness of who both those men are.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Okay. You've put a lot of thought into this. That seems to be a theme. I think some of your teammates said the same thing. They think competition level is greater now, which leans them toward LeBron.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: Yeah. The game is different with physicality and spacing, so it's harder to compare, almost.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Sure, sure. Bill Russell. All right. Good name from the past. Yes. He won a lot. All right, we should stop and go back to make sure fans are clear on the numbers. 13 is indeed retired here for Cleo Littleton, the program's all time scoring leader, career scoring leader, and 23, of course, I think we can probably fairly anticipate it will be retired at some point from Fred Van Fleet. So, yeah, you chose two really good numbers in shocker history, but then you landed on three, which is also a really good number. Favorite sport besides basketball. Did you play something else? Was there a point in your life where there was a fork in the road and another sport was in the picture?
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Football was my main sport.
I had offers from University of Colorado and Wyoming to go play football, and I just. I didn't love the game of football. I love playing football games, but I couldn't stand practice, and especially in Colorado when it got cold, I just didn't want to get hit no more because it just hurt a lot. But football was my real love for a long time. But sophomore year, after playing varsity football, me and my dad had conversations like, do you want to play college football or do you want to play college basketball?
I told him I want to play college basketball. Really shifted my focus more into basketball and just stopped playing football. After my sophomore year, you know, especially, you know, guys my size, I got to add another, you know, 40 pounds to my weight as being, you know, 6766. So, you know, I wasn't really too dedicated to getting that much weight and, you know, really just eating weights all day. So I just, you know, decided basketball was the route for me.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Were the football coaches disappointed?
[00:06:37] Speaker A: Yeah, they always, I've always got calls about, you know, coming back to play, especially in high school with my high school coaches. They were really, you know, upset with me not playing, but, you know, I just didn't love it.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: Like, what position did you play?
[00:06:50] Speaker A: Tight end and defensive end.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: That was gonna be my guess. With your size. Yeah, that's what I would have expected. Okay, let's talk about last season with the shockers. What was your favorite memory from the shockers? Finished up pretty strong on a good note. What stands out from last season?
[00:07:06] Speaker A: That's a good question.
I would say the end of the season, we really started to click as a team.
It took us a while with me and Bijon getting implemented into the middle of the season, and guys were accustomed to what they've been doing for the first 13 or games or so, but I think, you know, down the road, we really started to cook with each other and, you know, it took longer than expected, but I think, you know, we started really just enjoying being around each other and playing for each other. And it wasn't just hero ball, but, you know, I think, you know, the tournament, of course, we started just, you know, seeing like, man, we can really play with these guys like we have what it needs. We just, you know, you know, gotta keep the game simple and just do what we do what we can and do what we can control ourselves.
So I think that was a big, you know, high for us.
Maybe for me would probably be just getting back into the flow. Our first game, Southern Illinois, you know, me coming off of almost maybe eleven months not playing basketball. So just becoming healthy again and being able to contribute, you know, it was really good for me to just be.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: Back to remind fans Ronnie and Bijon Cortez, who you mentioned were kind of winding their way through the NCAA eligibility morass. And both of you started playing what kind of mid December, if I'm remembering right, mid to late December were able to get on the court. I thought maybe you would have picked the two plays against SMU that you were on the receiving end of passes from. Was that Kenny Poto at the top of the key, kind of ran the same play, popped both times, and kind of put that game away. That was a good memory from last season.
You mentioned your dad, Ronnie de Grey II. He was honorable mention all big twelve pick 1998 at the University of Colorado. He played professionally in Europe. Tell us about your dad and how he influenced your basketball.
[00:09:20] Speaker A: So, you know, my dad played Colorado. I was born in 2000, so he was playing overseas in Finland, Finland. So I was born in Colorado, and then soon right after, was on a flight to Finland to go see my dad.
So I really just grew up around the sport of basketball. You know, going to his games at a young age and just seeing, like, how the fan atmosphere and, you know, overseas basketball is and, you know, just him, you know, showing me basketball young age. I kind of just always enjoyed playing it. So I was pretty much, I would say I was born into basketball.
So with him, you know, showing me the blueprints to everything, you know, with, you know, being a forward, you know, he's played at a high level and got to it. So he's taught me, you know, shooting, shooting, dribbling, you know, just playing the game the right way. And even with my dad, my sisters played, you know, basketball at University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and my oldest sister was Congress player of the year, and Sunbelt, I believe they were. And I don't know if it's still the same, but, you know, he just really showed us how to play the game the right way, and it's just, you know, it's stuck with me. And, you know, even after, you know, games nowadays, you know, he talks to me what I could have done better or, you know, watch you next time. It's constructive criticism, you know, being a dad, but I'm used to it, so. So it's nothing bad.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Can you beat dad in a game of horse?
[00:11:07] Speaker A: Yes, but he won't play me in basketball anymore.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Okay. He's aged out of that. What's Ronnie de Grey II, his best piece of basketball advice? What really sticks in your brain that he's told you about the game?
[00:11:30] Speaker A: I would say maybe it's not advice. I think it's what he tells me all the time. He's, he's always like, you have the intangibles to play at a high level after your college career, but you just got to keep on being confident in yourself. So I think that's the one that sticks up to, to me because, you know, basketball seasons is an emotional roller coaster. There's ups and downs. So, you know, just remembering that, you know, you can do it is, I think, really big for me.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: So you really started to play well. You had a good string of games starting in late January, finished strong in March. As we talked about what made you really kind of click in those last few weeks of the season.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Just talking with coach Mills, he just really enlisted.
Like I said, I'm a big confidence guy. I want coaches to believe in what I can do.
Him and coach AC, just being confident about when you're open, shoot it, don't hesitate about it.
Play smartly, you know, just play how you do. And I just, that confidence of just going out there and, like, be a controlled, aggressive, I think it really just started to click in my head and just, like I said, being confident in myself, I think that really, you know, started to push me over the edge from, you know, January to end of March.
[00:13:11] Speaker B: So I hear a lot about the coaches at Wichita State, and they're good at relationships, picking up players. When you have a conversation about confidence, did they initiate it? Did you go to them? How does that kind of play out?
[00:13:27] Speaker A: I would say at my last year, Mizzou, just through my injury and just the whole situation, I would say my confidence was a little down, scared to mess up and, you know, like this basketball, you can't always be perfect, so you got to move on to the next play and just, they, they, you know, I talked to them about, but they, you know, they just really embrace, like, you know, you know, how different players are, different ways, you know, they coach differently and just, you know, they just, you know, they're going to be hard on me, of course, but they're going to still, you know, tell me that they believe in me and what I can do. So I think the coaches really just came from, you know, who they are just about enlisting that into me, but they enlist it to other players also.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: People really seem to enjoy being coached by Quincy AC, the assistant coach that you mentioned.
Tell us about working with him. What's his advice? How is he an effective coach?
[00:14:33] Speaker A: Love coach Ace. You know, we've really bonded over these past couple months and got a lot closer, but just you know, he's played at the NBA at the highest level, so, you know, he has knowledge of how to make it and everything, especially him being an undersized big man, you know, super athletic, what got him over top of his motor and how hard he plays, but just how much the work takes. And he's seen from playing with a bunch of pros to seeing what it takes and what the commitment level is and just all the knowledge from playing what we see and what he sees. So it's just constant communication between both of us. But, you know, he's a guy that, you know, keeps it really honest with you, and you're not gonna sugarcoat things. He's gonna tell you how he sees it. But I think that's what makes him great is because we can almost see him like, he's a player to us. You know, maybe he's not playing with us, but he's, you know, been there and he sees what we see. So I think that's what makes a connection between me and, you know, a lot of us more relevant to us.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: And he's not too far removed from a playing career, and he's out there. He's pretty active in drills. So you are going up against Quincy AC and practice pretty regularly. I would imagine that's a nice benefit. So, as we've gotten to know Paul Mills over the last year, we've learned about his love of numbers. He hits you guys with a lot of statistics, those kind of things. Is there one that's been helpful to you that's kind of helped explain? Here's how I can help this team. Here's my role. Is there something that stood out, um, with his numbers? Yeah, the numbers, the statistics that he. I know you got, you'll meet before, before practices, those kind of things.
[00:16:44] Speaker A: I don't know. I mean, he talks about numbers, like, shooting wise and, you know, like, what you would shoot, like, per possession, stuff like that, but, and, like, obviously, like, how you guard the ball and stuff like that, but, um, I mean, he might tell you, like, I don't know, what you shoot or something like that, and tell you, like, maybe, like, think about it like, what's a good shot? I think that's what I'd say. Like, you know, shots off the dribble might not be as good as a catch and shoot and just kind of telling us, like, not telling us because, you know, sometimes the game requires something else, but tell us sometimes what a great shot is to compare to what a good shot is. You know what I'm saying like, you know, there's just the benefit of factors and stuff like that. So I think maybe just a little thought of that. You know, this is an okay shot, but I think maybe down in the shot clock we can get a better shot. So I think that's probably the best advice, you know, with the numbers, how he is.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: Sure. So you had summer full of individual workouts, team practices, hit us with a teammate or two who really caught your eye over the summer. Who should fans be looking out for when they show up for shock or madness in games?
[00:18:06] Speaker A: Um, definitely Corey Washington, I've mentioned it before, just guy plays super hard, really athletic, but, you know, just motor keeps on running, so me and him battle every day.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: And Cory is about a six foot six forward, he's a transfer from St. Peter's, right? Remember that, right? Yes.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: Okay.
And I would also say Zion Pimkin, freshman point guard, really scrappy, you know, picks you up 94ft, pushes the ball in transition, can score really well, can pass, you know, does a lot of everything, but, you know, just a really guy that gets down and gritty and just really likes to play hard.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: Zion is a freshman from Houston and we've heard a lot about him this, this summer. No doubt. Okay, so there are eight returners, including yourself. How does that kind of cohesiveness, having some familiarity, how did that help over the summer in practices and how do you think that will help as the season gets rolling?
[00:19:14] Speaker A: It's been good, you know, just guys who've, you know, been through coach's program, you know, and what his culture is and, you know, continue to push it to other guys has been good, but, you know, just being leaders for the new guys and, you know, telling them, you know, how things are going to be and how we can be better from, you know, learning new defenses, offenses, and just, you know, coaching them up and, you know, telling them that, you know, the days are going to be hard, but, you know, when, you know, game time, it's, it's easier than it comes easier and just, you know, especially like, you know, talking to freshmen like Zion and TJ, you know, just, you know, show them that, you know, this is, you know, college, but, you know, if you manage it right, you know, it's okay. Like it's, it's not too bad, but, you know, just, you know, I'd say for me would also be stepping up in a more of a leader role of, you know, talking to the new guys just about, you know, how everything is and how we can improve and, you know, what I may see compared to what they see, you know, because sometimes, you know, the game can be a little bit faster. So just, you know, really just being there for the guys.
[00:20:43] Speaker B: TJ Williams, a freshman from Heights, the Wichita Heights that you mentioned, what's been, what was the first piece of advice or the most important piece of advice that you've tried to pass on?
[00:20:53] Speaker A: I've told TJ to slow down. Sometimes he's trying to go 100 mph, which isn't a bad thing, but sometimes the game isn't 100 moment. So you kind of just got to slow down and look what you see first before you just go, go and just, you know, coach Mills is a big, he hates passes off of 1ft. So he thinks those are always turnovers. So just telling TJ, try to play off two, you know, it's hard. Cause, you know, high school, you can get away with it a little bit more than college, but just tell him, you know, coach, especially if you turn the ball over on 1ft, he's gonna make you run. So just telling TJ to, you know, look out for himself and try to not run as much as, you know, we might have. So just, you know, being there for him and I teach them just, you know, things I see playing off 2ft.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: We heard that a lot last year from Paul Mills. Definitely, definitely. Your advice to a, let's say it's a high school sophomore and they're pretty good at basketball. They're starting to get recruiting, recruited. They're starting to evaluate, what do I want to do? Where do I want to go? What's your advice getting started in this whole process?
[00:22:09] Speaker A: I would say, you know, talking to coaches, you know, it's, it can become repetitive and stuff like that. But I would say to like, you know, talk to the coaches who, who see you more than just a basketball player. Of course, you know, they're recruiting for basketball, but see you, who, they see you as more than just, you know, what you can do for them. But how, how can they help you? You know, I'm saying, but also enjoy the process. You know, it's a fun thing, but, you know, even when you get there, don't stop working. You know, it's, you know, just the start of your beginning and there's going to be ups and downs to your career, but, you know, as long as you keep on pushing through, basketball always rewards you.
[00:23:03] Speaker B: You're a sport management major. I'm told you have the best GPA on the team. What are your plans once you're done with basketball?
[00:23:10] Speaker A: I want to get into, like, the front office of NBA franchise.
I don't know if that could be coaching, but I don't know if I really want to coach.
I was always thinking about making assistant GMDH, you know, work my way up that way.
My, you know, my coach and even the coaches in the.
For Wichita State always tell me that I'd be a phenomenal coach one day. But I don't know. I just. Right now, I don't see myself being the coach. I see myself as an assistant gm. But, you know, things always change, so. But that's where my path is after basketball.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: Good goals. Favorite movie. What should people get out there and watch or rent or stream?
[00:23:56] Speaker A: Ooh, I'm a big the Dark knight. That was 2008 with Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. I love that movie. So I'm a big Batman guy.
That's my favorite movie.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Favorite movie. Do you have a favorite basketball movie? I'd say Lovin basketball, loving basketball. Okay. The Dark Knight and loving basketball. All right. Ronnie de Grey III, senior forward on the Wichita state basketball team. Ronnie, thank you very much for your time.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:24:41] Speaker C: Hi. This is Rick Newma, 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.
[00:25:12] Speaker D: 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 go shockers.com.
[00:25:27] Speaker E: Bradshaw into Wingate. Wingate's going to dribble it a couple of times and throws it in the hands of Kuznard. Threw it away. Kuznet to Ryan Martin for the dunk. The shockers are going to the sweet 16.
It's all over. The shockers up. Seven, 3 seconds, two jeopardy. Smith is no good. Wichita State to the sweet 16.
