The RoundHouse | 2/24/2022 10:10:00 AM

 
 
The knock on the door didn't make Mariah McCully happy. She wanted to sleep. She didn't want to think about weights, or class or study hall.
 
The knocking continued on her apartment door. Wichita State basketball coach Keitha Adams wouldn't stop.
 
That, in ways McCully didn't realize at the time, made her feel good. Somebody cared. Somebody demanded she get to class and graduate and play basketball. Somebody cared enough to push her to do those things that weren't easy.
 
"She used to bang on my door – 'Mariah, you have to do this, we're going to do this now,'" McCully said. "There were times I had to do homework and she made me come to her office to do homework. I was late to class. I wasn't answering Zoom calls.
 
"She was there when no one was there."
 
McCully, a senior guard from Grand Rapids, Mich., is a much different person and the changes pay off in the classroom and on the court. She is playing the best basketball of her Shocker career as Wichita State (13-13, 4-9 American Athletic Conference) prepares to play USF (19-7, 9-3) at 6 tonight (Thursday) in Koch Arena after a 61-57 loss to Bulls in Tampa on Tuesday.
 
She texts Adams early in the morning and works on her game in Koch Arena hours before practice. She walked with her graduating class in December and will finish up the final class (Argumentation and Advocacy) for her diploma in general studies - criminal justice with a minor in communication.
 
"She cared more, and her confidence grew," Adams said. "This is someone who lacked confidence in the classroom and who had struggled. Her graduating and walking in December was a big, big deal."
 
She matured. Adams pushed.
 
"We took baby steps," Adams said. "Her confidence improved a great deal regarding her academics, but most importantly, it became important to her."
 
McCully's parents supported both of them.
 
"There was a point in time when people didn't think I was going to graduate," McCully said. "I was out of school for a year. And that's when Coach (Adams) came in. I'm going to tell my kids about her. She's a special person. The patience she has. How understanding she is. The fire."
 
Alonzo McCully knew his daughter put basketball ahead of her studies during high school and stops at two junior colleges before coming to Wichita State. He and his wife Bernita pushed and monitored her academics to keep her in colleges.
 
 

At Wichita State, the parents found a strong partner. Alonzo McCully listened to Adams, trusted and told her to do what she needed.
 
"I remember Coach Adams called me after about three weeks, four weeks and she said, 'If Mariah calls you, don't worry,'" Alonzo McCully said. "'She's going to be (angry) at me because she's about to go flip tires because she missed a class.'"
 
Alonzo McCully liked that direction for his daughter.
 
"I said 'I don't care,'" he said. "'You can make her flip tires and run stadium stairs and I don't care. Just make sure you get her attention.' That was about the time things started to change. (Mariah) saw the people cared and wanted her to graduate."
 
Mariah McCully felt the same way as she saw the support from coaches and academic advisors. She wants to play basketball professionally. When her playing career ends, she considers teaching elementary school an option.
 
"I was really lazy," she said. "I didn't realize until Coach (Keitha) Adams called it out so much. She gave me a reality check. I'm like 'Whoa. True.'"
 
The reality checks caused McCully to do things on her own. She realized that if she handled her classes, Adams didn't need to knock on her door.
 
"I didn't have to call and ask about her grades," Alonzo McCully said. "Mariah started calling me and said 'Dad, I'm frustrated because I got a C.'"
 
Andrew Moses, assistant director of athletic academic services, recommended a checklist app for her phone that helped her with deadlines and schedules. Psychology classes captured her interest and help her learn how to enjoy classes and academic success.
 
"I never really had a schedule or a standard like, like most successful people have," she said. "Time management. Maturity. I just really had to grow up."
 
McCully believes the maturity off the court helps her game. In 12 AAC games, she averages 12.3 points and is shooting 34 percent from three-point range. She is coming off a 23-point outing in a win at Memphis and 21 points in Tuesday's loss at USF.
 
Part of her new-found morning energy is 400 shots as a daily routine in an empty Koch Arena.
 
"My shot has been really flat, so this helps me with my arch, getting the ball up higher," she said. "That gets me in a rhythm."
 
She also sees the strong finish to her senior season as the result of a consistent summer and fall with conditioning and practices.
 
"I was doing a lot of open gyms and extra basketball," she said. "Anything (coaches) had, I was going for, even though it wasn't mandatory. I knew it would help me in the long run."
 
That long run for McCully now includes a college diploma, memories of a strong senior season and the confidence that comes from working hard and maturing to accomplish those rewards.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.