Brent Kemnitz is part of the 2022 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The class will be inducted on Sat., Feb. 5.
 
Noah Booth came to Wichita State with a baseball brain and the talent to throw the ball to the right spot. He did not, however, possess an intimidating physical presence or a powerful left arm. 

Wichita State built its success on the talents of immensely gifted pitchers such as Tyler Green, Darren Dreifort and Mike Pelfrey – all first-round draft picks. It also thrived on those such as Booth, pitchers of more modest talent whom former pitching coach Brent Kemnitz helped mold into standout college pitchers.
 
When Booth coaches his high school pitchers, the voice in his head is Kemnitz, a member of the 2022 class of the Wichita State Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame.
 
"I tell those guys more than anything – it doesn't matter how hard you throw," Booth said. "What matters is where you believe that ball is going. Your belief in that pitch and where you throw it is more effective."
 
Generations of Shocker pitchers will echo Booth's endorsement and can recite Kemnitz's catch-phrases, jokes and nicknames as a secret Shocker language. They reminisce about "flow" meetings before practice, and the lessons from 13 pages of notes on legal paper with 395 bullet points known as "Brent's Brain." No. 145 is "Eliminate comfortable at-bats." No. 162 is "You are what you perceive yourself." No. 190 is "Comedy is tragedy separated by time."
 
"He's family to me," Booth said.
 
Kemnitz came to Wichita State as a graduate assistant for the 1979 season, the second under coach Gene Stephenson after the revival of the program.
 
"Gene actually gave me the pitchers," Kemnitz said. "I think being a new program made that possible. Established program – no way you're giving your first GA, who's 21, the pitchers. Well, he gave me the pitchers. I saw that as an amazing opportunity."
 
Stephenson elevated him to full-time assistant before the 1982 team advanced to the College World Series for the first time in program history. Kemnitz, from Perry, Okla., coached until 2016 and now serves as assistant athletic director for outreach and staff development.
 
The Shockers made seven College World Series appearances and won the 1989 title with Kemnitz leading the pitchers. The 1982 (2.53) and 1991 (2.91) teams led the NCAA in earned run average. He coached nine first-round draft picks, including NCAA Pitcher of the Year Bryan Oelkers (1982) and Dreifort, the Golden Spikes Award winner (1993).
 
Booth is also one of Kemnitz's success stories. He had some interest from NCAA Division I schools, but intended to go to Seminole State (Okla.) College. Wichita State needed a pitcher late in the summer and grabbed Booth.
 
During his time as a Shocker, Booth changed his arm angle, endured elbow surgery and a torn Achilles tendon and switched from a starter to a reliever. Those are major adjustments for a pitcher. Kemnitz helped him through with his blend of positive energy and experience.
 
"That came with a lot of building trust and coming in as a young kid and trusting the process," Booth said. "There's always going to be negative – but after that negative, there's that positive to the sky. That's one of the most important things he taught me, that there is a learning process to everything, and that learning process is life. You learn. You get through it."
 
Booth learned those lessons well enough to end his career as one of Wichita State's best relievers. He holds Shocker records for career appearances (115 from 2003-07) and ERA (2.06) and is tied for fourth with 26 saves. In 2007, he went 6-1 with a 1.23 ERA and six saves to help the Shockers to their first super regional.
 
Kemnitz enjoys coaching the elite talent. He also enjoyed taking pitchers such as Booth or Travis Wyckoff or Brandon Baird or Pat Cedeno and turning them into something more than perhaps their physical gifts indicate.
 
"Those guys that were under the radar from a pro standpoint – they had to learn to compete, had to learn how to pitch, had to learn how to do all the little things," Kemnitz said. "I took a lot of pride in those guys. It was figure out what makes each guy click. And I always felt like I had the ability to pump people up, talk them up a level, get them to believe in themselves. The brain is the difference-maker."
 
Kemnitz starred as a 6-foot-3 shooter in high school in Perry and considered coaching basketball and teaching history or driver's education as a possible career path. He pitched at Phillips (Okla.) University in Enid and his future became baseball.
 
He wrote Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Wichita State in search of a GA position to get his start coaching and earn an advanced degree. Stephenson's detailed letter back helped lure him to Wichita State in the summer of 1978 to help build a program where none existed from 1970-77.
 
Success came quickly – NCAA regional in 1980 and the College World Series in 1982. A return to Omaha in 1988 and 1989.
 
Professional jobs tempted him over the years, most prominently with the Florida Marlins and good friend Jim Hendry in 1992. He took a serious look at Kansas' head coaching job in 1988. Stephenson's ambition and push to improve the stadium and resources always gave Kemnitz the feeling bigger things were on the horizon for the Shockers. He liked his niche working with the pitchers, scheduling and recruiting while Stephenson raised money, battled with administrators and planned the future.
 
"There was a couple times I thought I was going to (leave Wichita State)," Kemnitz said. "Our program just kept getting better. My job just kept getting better, for a lot of reasons. We were treated like a major sport."
 
Shocker baseball is a major sport, and Kemnitz's years of working with the pitchers is one prominent reason for that status.