Garret Stutz, a 7-0 foot center from Kansas City, Missouri has collected an impressive number of team and individual accomplishments in his first three seasons at Wichita State.  The senior helped Wichita State capture the 2011 National Invitational Tournament and he earned a spot on the NIT All-Tournament team.  Stutz also earned his second consecutive Missouri Valley bench team honor in 2010-11 and was an honorable mention MVC all-Scholar athlete.  The Missouri native is ninth on the Wichita State career leaders with 75 blocked shots.   I had a chance to sit down with the business management major prior to practice this week and talk down to him about his time here at Wichita State.

Your senior season has started and is almost halfway complete.  How fast have these three and half years gone by for you?

Stutz: Things have gone really fast for me.  I remember stepping on campus as a freshman and looking up to all of the upperclassmen and just trying to find my way in college and on the court.  To think that my collegiate career is coming to an end soon is crazy.

Each season you have had your role and minutes played increase and you always came off the bench for the team with upperclassmen starting in front of you.   This season you are one of the veterans/leader of the team especially in the post and you have started every game this season.  How have you adjusted?

Stutz: Every year I have progressed and this season I have enjoyed starting and playing more minutes and contributing more to the team is a good feeling.

All five seniors this season have significant roles and play substantial minutes as contributors to this team.  How do the five of you help each other and the team?

Stutz: We have an interesting mix of seniors this year between myself, David (Kyles), Toure' (Murry), Joe (Ragland) and Ben (Smith).  We have a guy at pretty much every position and we all get along and pick each other up when needed and work hard when we step on the court.  I think though the biggest thing is we hold each other accountable and understand each other and aren't afraid to get on a guy if he is screwing up.

This was a very busy summer for you with you spending a month at the Champions Academy in Indianapolis and with the 10-day trip with the team to Brazil in August.  What were the experiences like for you?

Stutz: It was great to connect with all of the new guys on our team during our trip to Brazil. Myself and the other returning players helped them adapt and teach them how we do things here at Wichita State and how we carry ourselves on and off the court as Wichita State basketball players. 

I was at the Champions Academy in Indianapolis for about a month and its run by Ed Schilling.  My time there was a tremendous experience for me and it opened up my eyes to a lot of things I wasn't thinking about or noticing on the court.  They helped me work on my footwork, fundamentals and some more technical parts of the game.  I got to work against other college players and NBA players and it served as a good measuring stick for where I am at and want to get to with my game.  I spent a lot of time on and off the court with former Butler star and current Utah Jazz forward, Gordon Hayward.  We lifted and worked out on the basketball court alot.

You have a big family (two brothers, one sister) and an athletic family.  Your dad played basektball at Slippery Rock and your older brother, Logan at Washburn in Topeka.  How have sports influenced your family?

Stutz: For as long as I can remember my brothers and I played any sport we could in our backyard or in the driveway of our house.  Football, basketball, baseball, hockey anything we could we would play we did.  If we weren't playing sports we were watching sports pretty much every night in our house and they had a major impact on my life.

Garrett, you are very involved on campus, with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and on the team you help with off-court tasks.  How rewarding is that for you?

Stutz: I try to be a positive role model and influence and live my life in a way that is honoring to Jesus Christ.  Hopefully lead by example.

Outside of school and basketball, what do you enjoy doing when you have free time?

Stutz: One of my favorite activities to do is shoot pool at my house and have friends over to play.  I'm an average player but I enjoy more for the social aspect of it because you can talk and have conversations with others easily.  I also enjoy watching golf and soccer on television.  I try to golf as much as I can but it was real hard to find time this summer with going to Indianapolis and with preparing to go to Brazil. 

Only two games remain in the non-conference portion of your schedule before league play begins when you travel to Bradley on December, 28.  How do you think the Missouri Valley Conference will be this season?

Stutz: Looking at games and scores from Valley games so far this season, I feel like the league is up and is stronger than it has been in the past.  Hopefully it will be a multi bid league for the NCAA tournament and we want to be one of those teams.  Every night you have to bring your best performance because anyone from one to ten can upset anybody and it's a deep league.