The RoundHouse | 11/21/2019 10:51:00 AM

 
Sophomore guard Jamarius Burton is known as the old soul of the Wichita State basketball roster, mature and dedicated to his studies and his workout routines and it shows in his performances.
 
He is also the youngster in the backcourt. 
 
That fact, Burton says, reveals something about how that group of sophomores and freshmen can play with such maturity this early in their college careers.
 
"All of them are older than me," Burton said. "They stay in the coaches' offices. They're in there studying, doing everything they can do to help us out."
 
Burton, born in April 2000, is indeed younger than freshmen Tyson Etienne (born Sept. 1999), Grant Sherfield (Oct. 1999) and Noah Fernandes (Jan. 2000). Same with sophomore Erik Stevenson (April 1999).
  
Wichita State endured typical early season inconsistencies – poor shooting, hot shooting; two games of crisp execution followed two out-of-offense experiences labeled as "hero ball" by coach Gregg Marshall. Through it all, the Shocker guards took care of the basketball and played their roles in a defense that hasn't allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40 percent or score more than 63 points. 

The Shockers (4-0) play Oral Roberts (2-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Koch Arena (Yurview KS).
 
It is the ball-handling that stands out, even against a favorable schedule of home games. The Shockers average 8.7 turnovers a game and their percentage of possessions that end with a turnover (12.9) ranks ninth nationally, according to Ken Pomeroy's statistics. 
 
"I don't want to get too high on (the lack of turnovers), but I want to make sure they understand to value the basketball," Marshall said. "They're doing a great job with that. We've got to continue to do that."
 
When offense slumbered through a win over Texas Southern, the guards took in a week of video study and practice and changed things. The Shockers handed out 29 assists on 40 baskets against UT Martin and 16 on 27 against Gardner-Webb.
 
"We've been working and we got some easy looks," Fernandes said. "We were taking good shots, OK shots, but we wanted to emphasize getting great shots. Never mind a good shot, get a great shot."
 
The guards come by their maturity in different ways. 
 
Burton and Stevenson learned tough lessons last season as freshmen who played large roles. They suffered through Wichita State's early struggles and improved as the Shockers improved on their way to the NIT semifinals.
 
"We're listening really well," Stevenson said. "JB, Dexter (Dennis) and I, we played a lot of minutes last year. We're not fully veterans, but in this system, we're vets. We're seasoned."
 
All three of the freshmen attended prep school, which accounts for some of their advanced age and experience. Marshall called them precocious earlier in the season.
 
"They do a good job of picking everything up," he said. "I don't know why that is, but they're more in tuned with basketball I.Q. things than last year's group was."
 
Sherfield is a worker who remade his body and improved his defense over the summer at Marshall's urging. Fernandes is a pass-first point guard with a mature feel for the game. Etienne is a video fanatic, often in the office with assistant coaches to review his performances and take instruction.
 
"He's a student of the game," assistant coach Lou Gudino said.
 
The freshmen also benefit from joining a roster with several returners, in contrast to the makeover before 2018-19. They can learn from Burton, Stevenson, Dennis and others.
 
"This ball club is way more familiar with the offense than last year," Burton said. "We had 10 new guys. This year, we have five new guys. Not to mention the young guys are asking us questions and staying in the coaches' office with the coaches going over the plays. When you put in work like that, it's paying off."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.