Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:11 Hello, this is Paul Soro of Wichita state university strategic communications. Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast. We have Jacob Wilson, Gus Okafor and Jayquan Walton in the third of our summer series. Introducing fans to shocker basketball newcomers. We invite you to listen to the first two available on go shockers.com and the roundhouse podcast feed let's get started with
Speaker 2 00:00:50 Jacob. Wilson is a six foot five freshman. He is a guard from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He's from Liberty magnet, high school, Jacob Cajun food. That's what I think about when I think about Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are you a fan? Can you give us a recommendation?
Speaker 3 00:01:06 Uh, I'm gonna say crawfish, I guess,
Speaker 2 00:01:09 Crawfish or not. Are you not a fan of CA it's?
Speaker 3 00:01:12 Oh yeah, I am. I am for sure.
Speaker 2 00:01:13 What's your
Speaker 3 00:01:14 Favorite crawfish lobsters? Uh, crabs,
Speaker 2 00:01:18 Fresh seafood and Baton rouges. Good, good stuff. All right, Jacob, you've played some pickup games. You've worked out with your new teammates, been here about three weeks who who's who's made a good impression on you. Give us a name that Chaker fans should, should pay attention to.
Speaker 3 00:01:32 Uh, I'm gonna say J Pierre. He brings the energy to every practice. Uh, he's a hard worker motivative, so
Speaker 2 00:01:41 Bringing energy to every practice. Is that just an underrated skill? You guys practice a lot. You're tired going through all this new stuff. Is that just really important to have teammates who are,
Speaker 3 00:01:50 Oh yeah, we all come in with energy, but like, he's just a guy that just, uh, just always talking. Uh, yeah, that's about it. Just bringing energy to press. Okay,
Speaker 2 00:02:01 Jacob, if you weren't playing basketball, is there another sport you would be playing?
Speaker 3 00:02:05 Uh, football, almost definitely
Speaker 2 00:02:06 Another football player. What position?
Speaker 3 00:02:08 Uh, I'm gonna say wide receiver, wide
Speaker 2 00:02:09 Receiver. Did you play in junior high, high school? Anything like
Speaker 3 00:02:12 That? Played in middle school. Middle school, like seventh grade.
Speaker 2 00:02:15 We got a lot of football players on this team. There's a new strength. Coach, Wichita state Ryan Horn. You've been working with him. Give us your impressions of, of Ryan.
Speaker 3 00:02:25 Uh, he's a great guy. He's cool. Uh, he's like one of us, but he just come in, push us. Uh, he just wants the best for us. Just push us to be, uh, the best player we can be. That's about it.
Speaker 2 00:02:40 I'm gonna make you an NBA coach. What NBA player are you picking first to start a start an NBA team.
Speaker 3 00:02:47 I'm gonna say James harden.
Speaker 2 00:02:49 James harden. All right. That's a new one on this, in this group. What do you like about James harden?
Speaker 3 00:02:54 Uh, he just make tough shots. He can get whatever he wants on any defender. So
Speaker 2 00:03:00 How about Zion? Kinda a local new Orleans pelicans player. You much of a Zion fan?
Speaker 3 00:03:06 Yeah, I was when he was coming outta high school, but he done went downhill. Haven't been hearing about him no more. So
Speaker 2 00:03:14 How about herb Jones? He had a good, he had a very good season for as a rookie for the pelicans. Did he register with you at all?
Speaker 3 00:03:22 Nah, but I seen him play a few times. He's straight.
Speaker 2 00:03:24 Okay. James harden. Good choice. Uh, your incoming freshman, you've been through it now for about a month. What advice would you give somebody else? Who's who's doing something similar to you.
Speaker 3 00:03:35 Uh, just come in, act like you've been there before. Uh, there's nothing new. Just push yourself and that's about it.
Speaker 2 00:03:44 Who is the best basketball player you've been on the court with?
Speaker 3 00:03:47 Uh, I'll say Kete George. He's a big guard. Six five about like two 15. Uh, he can score the ball really well. Um, and he can defend too. So that's what make him so hard or a player he's hard. He kind of difficult to guard though. Cuz he can shoot get by you or dunk the ball. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:04:11 And say his name
Speaker 3 00:04:12 Again? Kete George. And
Speaker 2 00:04:13 Where does he play?
Speaker 3 00:04:14 He plays at Baylor.
Speaker 2 00:04:15 Yeah. At Baylor.
Speaker 3 00:04:16 Yep.
Speaker 2 00:04:16 All right, Jacob, thank you for your time.
Speaker 3 00:04:19 Thank you.
Speaker 4 00:04:32 Hi, this is Rick Neuma 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 podcast,
Speaker 5 00:05:01 GU OCA four is a six foot six senior forward. He is from Baltimore, Maryland. He transferred to Wichita state from Southeastern Louisiana. So guess you've been here about three weeks. You've played some pickup games. You've worked out with your new teammates. Uh, who's made a good impression on you.
Speaker 6 00:05:18 Um, I would say Craig, JP,
Speaker 5 00:05:23 Those two Jerron ER and Craig Porter. Craig Porter. Yeah. Craig has come up a lot in this conversations. He's obviously experienced plays point guard. How's he helping this, this big group of newcomers get integrated?
Speaker 6 00:05:35 Um, he kind of just keeps every, everybody calm, tells him what to expect before practice or like how hard we should be going. Just kind of like leading by example for
Speaker 5 00:05:47 And J John Pierre would be a newcomer. Tell shakra fans a little bit about him.
Speaker 6 00:05:50 Uh, he got an interesting personality. Like he's gonna make sure his voice is heard on the court and off the court. So, so that's good for him.
Speaker 5 00:06:00 So people have told me that you have been one of the guys taking a, a vocal role. You become a, a real leader in this short time period. Tell me about that. Has that always been part of your, part of your personality? What you like to contribute?
Speaker 6 00:06:13 Yeah, because, um, just going through college basketball and being here now for four, going onto my fifth year, it is kind of just like somebody has to be vocal or it's not gonna work really. And I'm trying to show all the young dudes something that I didn't know when I first came into college that you really gotta be vocal from the first day. Because like, if you vocal early, it is just only gonna get better and better. And you gonna feel comfortable in court.
Speaker 5 00:06:42 If you weren't playing basketball, what would, what sport might you be playing?
Speaker 6 00:06:46 Um, I'd probably play football,
Speaker 5 00:06:48 Probably play football. What, what is your football experience?
Speaker 6 00:06:50 Um, I played, I played background football really from my young till I was about 11. Then I got into basketball. I was like 12.
Speaker 5 00:07:00 And that's been your sport since? Yeah. Okay. I heard an interesting story about you from camp. Tell me, tell us the story about you helping a young camper, catch a Rollie. Poey on the sidewalk.
Speaker 6 00:07:12 <laugh> uh, young kid named Lincoln. We was walking. Uh, I seen him in the back, so I went to go talk to him and he was just real interested with the nature and stuff like that. And then he was like, whoa, a Rollie poey and then I looked down and I was like, what's the RO Foley? And then he just started picking him up. And then from there, that's
Speaker 5 00:07:35 How it went. All right. Do you enjoy that part of camp getting to hang out with young kids interact with them?
Speaker 6 00:07:40 Yeah, for sure. Cause when I was a kid, I would've loved to go to a camp, but like my family wasn't really like knowledge to put me in those type of places. So like just seeing how happy they were and how free they were. It kind of like seeing how I would've been if I was a kid.
Speaker 5 00:08:00 All right. So you're out there helping, helping the youngsters with a little nature discovery. What a bonus get, get basketball and Rollie pulley. That's a good deal. <laugh> uh, we have a new strength and conditioning coach here at Wichita state, Ryan Horn. You've been working with him for a few weeks. What kind of impression has Ryan made?
Speaker 6 00:08:17 Uh, real good. Uh, basically he tries to put all of the workouts, like translated to on the court cuz like usually, um, weight trainers, they just try to get us big and like strong and it, and it doesn't really translate to basketball. Like he tries to get us strong and mobile, like we stretch in, in between lifts and stuff like that. Like hips, ankles, calves, everything.
Speaker 5 00:08:44 Okay. So it's been interesting. The younger guys have pointed out his energy and his enthusiasm and Colby, Rogers and yourself more experienced guys have been more about the technique, the details, the fundamentals. Yeah. So you've kind of, and Colby said, you know, he's been through the energy and enthusiasm. He knows what to do, how hard to work. Yeah. He's now more interested in, you know, how can you help me, you know, avoid injury, get, get better at basketball. Is that you taking the same approach? Yes,
Speaker 6 00:09:13 Same, same.
Speaker 5 00:09:15 I'm gonna make you an NBA coach. So you get to start an NBA team. Mm-hmm <affirmative> who are you get to pick any player from the league? Who's your first pick?
Speaker 6 00:09:23 Uh,
Speaker 5 00:09:23 Gianni. Gianni. Okay. So we've had some Giannis. We've had had a lot of Steph Curry. Why Gianni?
Speaker 6 00:09:30 Uh, he's a leader and he plays hard and he's gonna hold dudes to a standard like and people going to feed off their energy.
Speaker 5 00:09:40 What advice would you give a, a freshman about college academics, college athletics. How do you get started off on the right foot in this world?
Speaker 6 00:09:48 Um, college academics. I' just say it's time management. Make sure you just logging in every day. Checking your email, staying on top of every assignment and then like basketball. All I can say is just try to get better every day. Like no matter what it is, even if you tired shoot free throws, get up a couple shots. Work on your handle. Cuz like from freshman year to senior, it is four years. It go by quick, but again can change so much.
Speaker 5 00:10:21 Who's the best basketball player you've been on the court with any, any kind of game high school? Summer basketball college.
Speaker 6 00:10:27 Uh, I've seen my high school teammate. N Marshall he's on the pelicans now.
Speaker 5 00:10:32 Okay. And he went to, where did he go to college? I know the name Xavier. He went to Xavier. All right. Good choice. Okay. GU soca for thank you for your time.
Speaker 6 00:10:39 Yes sir.
Speaker 5 00:10:53 Jake Walton is a six foot seven junior guard. He is from Columbus, Georgia, and he transferred to Wichita state from Shelton state. Jake. You've been here about three weeks, played some pickup games. You've worked out with your new teammates, uh, give shocker fans a name that they should be paying attention to. Who's made a good impression on you so far.
Speaker 6 00:11:14 Each one player players one. Yeah. Um, everybody, but you know a couple people Craig Porter, Pierre. I like the big guy. Quincy,
Speaker 5 00:11:28 Quincy Ballard.
Speaker 6 00:11:29 Yeah. Um, was good. Like we got a lot of good players,
Speaker 5 00:11:34 Good players. Uh, Craig Porter. A lot of people have mentioned him and that makes sense. He's experienced plays point guard. Uh, tell us a little bit about his game. What have you noticed from him?
Speaker 6 00:11:44 Craig is really smooth. He's hard to guard in the open court and like he get everybody involved. So I might have fun playing with him this year.
Speaker 5 00:11:53 Do you have another favorite sport? Like if you weren't playing basketball, is there another sport you might be doing?
Speaker 6 00:11:58 Yes. Baseball or football? Most definitely.
Speaker 5 00:12:02 All right. You're our first baseball person. Uh, what position did you play?
Speaker 6 00:12:07 I played pitcher and catcher and second base.
Speaker 5 00:12:11 Okay. So you were an up the middle guy then? Yes, sir. How long did you play baseball?
Speaker 6 00:12:14 I played it, um, from sixth grade to eighth grade. Okay. Stopped high school.
Speaker 5 00:12:21 Okay. We have a new strength and conditioning coach at Wichita state Ryan Horn. You've been working with him for a few weeks. Give us some impressions of Ryan.
Speaker 6 00:12:30 I love that guy. He's energetic. He, he comes to work every day. So I go in there ready to work. Cause I know I gotta matches it intentionally. Every time I walk in there,
Speaker 5 00:12:41 Strength, coaches play such an important role in, in a basketball team. Why is that? What do you depend on a strength coach for,
Speaker 6 00:12:49 To be physical on the court? You know, just to compete with the other players from the other team, you know, you gotta be strong, you know, it's a contact sport, so you wanna be physical out
Speaker 5 00:13:00 There. I wanna make you an NBA coach. You're starting a team. You get a draft, anybody in the league. Who's your first
Speaker 6 00:13:07 Picks
Speaker 5 00:13:07 You Anthonys Anthony Edwards. All right. That's the first Anthony Edwards vote. We've gotten, tell us why, what do you like about him?
Speaker 6 00:13:15 He has no holes in his game, you know? And then I've been watching him since like seventh grade. We grew up together. So, you know, we went to Georgia together and I just seen him progress from ever since we was young. Really?
Speaker 5 00:13:30 He had a really nice season place for the Minnesota timber bowls. Anthony Edwards. Good answer. Uh, what advice would you give a incoming freshman about you getting started in this new world of, of college athletics? What do you tell 'em to, to get 'em off to a good start,
Speaker 6 00:13:45 Come ready to work every day, know, build you a routine without a routine. You know, it's gonna be hard to get through a college a day, a day in college. So I would definitely say build you a routine and just stick with it.
Speaker 5 00:14:01 You may have just answered this, but I'll ask anyway, who's the best basketball player you've been on the court with?
Speaker 6 00:14:09 Uh, yeah. Anthony
Speaker 5 00:14:10 Else? Anthony Edwards. Was there a, do you remember the moment when you first played against him first saw him and he, you said, wow, that guy is something special.
Speaker 6 00:14:19 Yeah, he wasn't always that good. Like he was good. Don't get me wrong. You know, he always had that star potential, but when I really see him like take off it, it was like his 10th grade year. Like that's when he just set itself apart from everybody. And we went to the Steph cur camp together and like, he really solidified, you know, hisself <affirmative>, you know, itself as one of the top players in the country.
Speaker 5 00:14:43 All right. J Walton, thank you for your time. All right.
Speaker 1 00:14:56 Thank you for listening to the roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita state university's strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate reviews, subscribe wherever you get your podcast, such as on iTunes or Google play, you can find more roundhouse content, go shocks.com. Thank you for listening
Speaker 7 00:15:17 And they let him pass it up court. And then he gets picked off along three by Pango. No good. One second. It's over. It is over and Wichita state pass beaten the number one team in the nation to go to the sweet 16. Go crazy with Utah. I know you are.
