Wichita State Athletics

Career Summary: Skilled big man from Estonia who contributed important minutes off the bench as an upperclassman… Appeared in 121 games with seven starts and totaled 425 points, 251 rebounds and 44 blocks over four seasons… Career 50.2 percent shooter… Moved into the regular rotation as an upperclassman and averaged 4.5 points, 2.7 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per contest over his last two seasons… Formed an effective platoon at the center position behind all-conference performer Shaquille Morris…  Good team defender and wall-builder with a knack for finding the right spots… Described as a “lane lurker who takes charges and mucks up offensive movement”… Effective screen-setter and a capable outside shooter… A member of the MVC’s All-Bench team as a junior… Closed his career as one of nine Shockers to participate in more than 100 career victories (joined by teammates Shaquille Morris, Zach Brown and Rashard Kelly). WSU was 100-21 when he saw action.

Individual Honors/Accolades:
1x MVC All-Bench Team (2017)
4x WSU Letterman

Team Success:
3x MVC regular season champions (2015, 16, 17)
5x NCAA Tournament qualifiers (2015, 16, 17, 18)
1x NCAA Sweet 16 (2015)
1x MVC Tournament champions (2017)
 

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2017-18 (Senior): Appeared in all 33 games with two starts… Averaged 4.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.4 minutes… Averaged 8.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19.6 through the first 10 non-conference games… Opened the year with three straight double-figure scoring games (11 vs. UMKC, 16 vs. Charleston and 11 vs. California)… 16-point performance against the College of Charleston (on 6-of-10 shooting) was a career-best… Matched his career-high with eight rebounds and tallied 10 points in the Nov. 28 win over Savannah State… Scored a team-high 14 points in 15 minutes in a Jan. 11 win at ECU.

2016-17 (Junior): MVC All-Bench Team selection… Appeared in all 36 games with five starts… Averaged 5.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14.1 minutes… Ranked third on the team with 15 blocks… Played with much greater confidence in his third season of college basketball, exceeding his combined freshman and sophomore scoring total by mid-January… First Shocker off the bench in 15 games…  Effective screener and three-point sniper (13-of-28, .464)… Seven double-figure scoring games… Scored a team-high 14 points in just 16 minutes in the season opener against South Carolina State (Nov. 11)… Had 12 points and played a season-high 25 minutes before fouling out in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game against Michigan State (Nov. 25)… Made his first career start Nov. 29 against Southern Nazarene and held down the starting center job through Dec. 17… Scored just five points in five games as a starter, spanning 71 minutes, but exceled after his return to the bench. Over the next five contests, was 18-of-20 from the field and averaged 7.2 points… Averaged 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18 MVC games while shooting 56.9 percent from the floor… Played seven minutes in the MVC opener at Indiana State but registered a season-high four blocks… Reached double-figures for the first time ever in an MVC game with 10 points and five boards against Bradley (Jan. 1) and repeated the feat seven days later at UNI (13 points on 6-of-7 shooting)… Scored 12 points at Evansville (Jan. 17), 10 against Missouri State (Feb. 9) and 12 at Southern Illinois (Feb. 15)… Logged 10 points in 30 minutes in three MVC Tournament games, including three points in the championship game against Illinois State… Averaged 3.0 points, 5.0 rebounds in 10.0 minutes in WSU’s two NCAA Tournament contests… Finished with four points, seven rebounds and a block in 12 minutes during the first round win over Dayton.
 
2015-16 (Sophomore): Had planned to redshirt the 2015-16 season while focusing on strength and skill development but was forced into duty after an injury to senior Anton Grady on Nov. 27… Removed his redshirt in the season’s sixth game (Nov. 29 vs. Iowa)… Averaged 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game… Came up big for the Shockers during the NCAA Tournament… With the WSU frontcourt in foul trouble, matched his season-high with six points,  grabbed three rebounds and tallied a block in 17 minutes to key a First Four win over a Vanderbilt team that played two seven-footers… Performed well two nights later against a large Arizona front line with one point and a pair of boards in 13 minutes, while playing effective defense… During the regular season, scored six first-half points to key a win at Saint Louis (Dec. 5)…
 
2014-15 (Freshman): Impressed in short spurts early in the season… Appeared in 24 games off the bench, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.8 minutes… Erupted for a season-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting against Saint Louis on Dec. 6 at INTRUST Bank Arena – a performance that included two treys… Twice hit his season-high of four rebounds on Nov. 23 against Newman and on Feb. 7 against Missouri State… Had four points in his collegiate debut against New Mexico State on Nov. 11 and played a season-high 20 minutes… Missed three weeks of early season practice with a stress reaction in his foot… Named to the Fall Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.
 
Prep School: Averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds for the post graduate team at Sunrise Christian Academy in nearby Bel Aire, Kan… Teammates with fellow Shocker freshman Zach Brown… Originally signed with Mississippi but was released from his letter of intent following a coaching change... Committed to WSU in the early summer of 2014.
 
High School: Played on Estonia’s national team at the 2013 FIBA U-20 European Championships, averaging 10.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in nine games… Collected season-highs of 39 points and 17 rebounds…
 
Personal: Born Nov. 24, 1993 in Keila, Estonia… Son of Ranno and Marja Nurger… Has three brothers… Majoring in Sports Management.