Men's Basketball | 3/16/2026 5:54:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
"Finish Fridays" in June and July are months from March, but those summer days spent running, lifting weights and vomiting matter in the end.
 
"Those first couple of weeks, you can tell there's a lot of struggles," Wichita State coach Paul Mills said. "People are coughing up breakfast. After that, you saw the fight and resolve as you get into the summer. Week four, week five, you can see that enthusiasm die down. It wasn't dying down, and they were finishing stronger."
 
WSU (22-11) meets Wyoming (18-14) at 6 p.m., Tuesday (ESPNU) in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament at Koch Arena. The winner advances to play the winner of Davidson-Oklahoma State, also on Tuesday.
 
Fridays during the summer is when Mills tests his team with a mile run and assorted lifting challenges. Fridays are when he began to like his team and believe they loved the game, loved the work and had a chance to win. He watched experienced athletes such as Karon Boyd lead in the weight room and running the Koch Arena concourse. He observed players such as Kenyon Giles and Michael Gray Jr., show they wanted to win and understood the demands. Dre Kindell organized pickup games at a frequency not seen in previous seasons.
 
"Once I know that you care about getting better, I like you," Mills said. "You could tell their desire to get better."
 
Playing in the NIT is often about desire and enthusiasm. The turnaround time is so immediate the Shockers will do most of their prep work during a video session and a Tuesday shoot-around.
 
Some teams are disappointed to miss the NCAA Tournament and ready for the season to end. Some teams are excited to keep playing basketball.
 
Mills firmly believes the Shockers want to play, in part because of the spirit shown on those grueling Fridays in the summer.
 
"You can tell we clicked immediately and we wanted to win," Giles said. "That was the main goal."
 
Boyd, a senior forward, set the tone in many of the workouts.
 
"It was mentally challenging," he said. "But it was a workout set to help us get to where we are now. I would definitely try to push my teammates and push myself."

While common goals, purpose and spirit isn't required to play basketball, it helps make winning easier and more fun.
 
"There's a lot of highs and lows," Giles said. "You've got to be sure to love your guys, like your guys. During your lows, you've talk to each other. Make sure you're trying to be optimistic as much as you can."
 
Mills often says he wants athletes who love the game and that quality is a big reason the Shockers improved this season. He also often while he may love athletes on his team, he doesn't always like every team. After Sunday's loss to USF in the American Championship title game, Mills said friends texted him to express their disappointment. Several observed they could tell he liked coaching this group.
 
"Competitors want to compete," he said. "I just never thought this was going to be an issue – passing up an opportunity to continue to play basketball."
 
On Monday afternoon, Mills said he was two games in to studying Wyoming and would finish eight more over the evening and into Tuesday. The Cowboys went 9-11 in the Mountain West Conference and sit at No. 99 in the NCAA's NET ranking (WSU is 78). They split with Colorado State, a team that defeated Wichita State 76-70 in November.
 
Wyoming ended its conference tournament on March 11 with a loss to UNLV. Like the Shockers, the Cowboys are a strong offensive rebounding team. Top scorer Leland Walker averages 13.7 points and excels at drawing fouls, where he shoots 83.7 percent. He played for Florida Atlantic last season and scored 11 points in a 75-68 loss to the Shockers.
 
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.