Baseball | 4/17/2024 10:23:00 AM
By Paul Suellentrop
In early June, Wichita State coach
Brian Green spoke on a Zoom call with 16 or so incoming freshmen for Wichita State baseball. Almost all the new Shockers wanted to be Shockers, but they weren't sure how the new coaching staff regarded them.
"He said 'I want all of you all,'" outfielder
Lane Haworth said. "I was like 'OK, I'm on board.' He's not just going to tell us all to go kick rocks and find another spot."
Wichita State announced Green's hiring on June 5. He needed baseball players. He wanted to start his tenure with upbeat vibes and trust. The vibes started with the Zoom call to the freshmen recruited and signed by interim coach Loren Hibbs and his assistants.
"I was in the mode of 'Let's get a really positive atmosphere back here,'" Green said. "With all the guys in the portal we had some of that negativity going on. Even though it was a Zoom, with their parents, it was still really positive. That felt really good."
That Zoom feels even better 10 months later with a freshman class, kept largely intact, contributing in significant numbers. The Shockers (21-16) play ORU (12-23-1) at 6 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN+) at Eck Stadium.
Wichita State (7-5 American Athletic Conference) is No. 99 in the warrennolan.com RPI after finishing No. 109 last season. The freshman class, on the mound and in the batter's box, is helping the Shockers rebound from significant losses to the draft (All-American second baseman
Brock Rodden) and transfer portal (23 Shockers departed) last summer.
Pitcher
Tommy LaPour – a latecomer to the group recruited by Green's staff – is a weekend starter. Third baseman
Camden Johnson leads the Shockers with a .342 batting average. Lefty
Tyler Dobbs excelled in midweek starts and moved into the weekend rotation.
Shortstop
Kam Durnin took over the job with his defense. His hitting is improving as he recovers from a hand injury that sidelined him last fall. Outfielder
Lane Haworth is hitting .400 in his 10 starts and batting leadoff.
Beyond the starters, infielders
Darnell Parker Jr., (also recruited by Green) and
Gannon Snyder and pitcher
Brady Hamilton have had their moments as they adjust to college baseball.
"These guys have been major contributors," Green said. "The freshmen, it was intentional on their part, that they were going to come in have fun, be comfortable and be confident. They were like that from day one."
That mood started with a recruiting visit the freshmen made in the fall of 2022 as high school seniors. Almost the entire group came to Wichita with their families. They got to know each other over pickle ball (they remember former assistant coach Mike Pelfrey winning a lot), a fall series scrimmage, eating in the Farah All-American Club at Eck Stadium and chilling at Braum's.
"We all got to bond for a full weekend," Durnin said. "It was all one big friend group right from the jump. That was a good start."
The coaching change in late May put the group on edge. Had the new coach cut them loose, their options would be limited. Most scholarship money, in June, would be spoken for at NCAA Division I schools.
"Panic," Haworth said. "Group chat was going crazy. Everyone was trying to figure out what everyone else was doing. Once we figured out (Green) was going to be the coach, we were like 'We like this guy.'"
Green's quick move to Zoom and then call each person helped. The incoming freshmen saw the potential for playing time. While the coaches who recruited them moved on, the school and baseball program remained attractive.
"That gave me some peace, that he communicated early," Durnin said.
Green saw the first days of his tenure as time to make a good impression and build loyalty.
"We knew we had good players coming in," he said. "I thought we had a chance to grab some trust with them. They were all probably terrified, as well, that they were all going to get let go in June. We didn't have a lot of guys wobbling. Guys were excited to still come here. I thought it spoke to the power of Wichita State."
Green and his assistant coaches started making calls to evaluate the freshmen. Connections made by
Clay Overcash, formerly at Oklahoma, and
Anthony Miller, who came from Johnson County Community College, helped get information on the freshmen from the region.
"We had gotten a lot of positive vibes from those players and then we went to work on the video," Green said. "Thank goodness we had Clay and Miller. We started looking at them and we saw that these guys have some tools and some skills."
The group came to WSU in August. The freshmen felt connected by the events of the past few months and the consensus to stick together. Eleven Shockers returned from 2023 and veterans such as
Seth Stroh,
Jordan Rogers and
Caden Favors helped smooth the transition. And the freshmen – joined by a junior-college class of 14 – weren't the only newcomers to NCAA Division I baseball at Eck Stadium.
"Getting to school was definitely easier with how close we were," Johnson said. "Having these guys having my back and talking me through it, helping each other improve every day, that was definitely a plus."
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
