The RoundHouse | 10/5/2018 4:56:00 PM
Dexter Dennis rose to catch a pass off the backboard for a dunk in P.E. class as a left-handed eighth-grader. He landed – painfully – and started the transition to right-hander.
"I hung on the rim for a little bit and when my legs swung back, I let go," he said. "I fell on this wrist."
Two surgeries later, Dennis, a freshman from Baker, La., uses his right hand for almost everything. After he healed from his first surgery to fix a broken bone in his arm and a dislocated wrist, he remained mostly a lefty while experimenting with his right hand. He needed a second operation as a junior to insert a screw and correct growth of the bone.
He went full righty following that surgery, which left his left arm about an inch shorter than his right.
"When I first started, I couldn't shoot to save my life," Dennis said. "With the right hand, it kind of felt a little weird, but it felt like I could get used to it."
Wichita State coach
Gregg Marshall knows the basics of the story. Dennis is all right, as far as he is concerned.
"You would never know that he used to be left-handed," Marshall said. "The only time I think about it is when he's missing shots. I'm thinking 'If I started shooting left as opposed to my normal righty, how long would it take me to be really good with hand-eye (coordination).'"
After the second surgery, Dennis, a 6-foot-5 guard, devoted himself to the right hand, practicing with a cast on his left hand.
"I was nothing but a right-handed shooter," he said. "So, after a lot of workouts, I felt really, really confident."
The Shockers scrimmage at 2 p.m. Saturday at Koch Arena, giving fans their first look at a team featuring 11 newcomers. Dennis, Marshall said, is an athletic guard who is learning Wichita State's system at a good pace.
"He's a very smart young man," Marshall said. "He's focused in. His best attribute right now is his athleticism and his understanding of what we're trying to accomplish."
Saturday's scrimmage may give fans an idea of the team's swings between good and bad. When the Shockers are playing well, they are limiting turnovers, hustling on defense and rebounding. Those good stretches rarely last as long as Marshall prefers.
"It could look pretty good at times; it could look really, really ugly at times," Marshall said. "It can change from day to day, possession to possession."
For the newcomers, Saturday's scrimmage is their first chance to play in front of Shocker fans. Wichita State plays its exhibition game on Oct. 30 vs. NCAA Division II Catawba (N.C.) College. The season opens vs. Louisiana Tech on Nov. 6.
"We can't wait to get a lot of people out there," Dennis said.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
