Pierre Couisnard and his father PJ (also Pierre) share much more than a name. Pierre, a freshman guard on Wichita State’s men’s basketball team, is following in the footsteps of PJ who played for the Shockers from 2003-08 and is now an assistant coach at his alma mater. 

“I chose the Shockers because it felt like home,” Pierre said. “I was here when my dad played. I was just around it a lot, and I liked it. They supported me, and they told me how they could make me a better player.”

Pierre was born while his father still played at WSU and remembers watching his dad’s games at Koch Arena. His father also coached him for most of his life.

PJ said he felt he should never force Pierre to play basketball if he didn’t want to, but it was a “dream come true” to have Pierre fall in love with the sport and eventually, come to play for the Shockers. 

“Soon as he was born, first thing I did was put a basketball in his little thing that they put him in,” PJ said. “I put a basketball right in there. I was like, ‘This is for him.’ And so we was at it every day when he was little. He was learning – he knew how to dribble with two balls at like 3 (years old) – and just, you know, he loved it.

“… His uncles and aunties, they played college basketball too. So he just got the example every day. So seeing it every day makes you want to be a part of, and I couldn’t be more proud of him than the person he came out to be.”

The path to Koch Arena wasn’t easy for Pierre. He suffered a knee injury when he was 11 that took him out of the game, and threatened to derail his career. 

Pierre was playing in a tournament when he crashed into a wall, fracturing his knee in two places. He had surgery and couldn’t walk or put weight on his knee for eight months. Then, his doctor noticed his knee was healing wrong, and Pierre had to have another surgery in which his knee was intentionally rebroken so that it would heal correctly. 

The journey, from surgery to learning to walk again, with and then without a supporting metal frame – and then repeating the process all over again – was tough for Pierre. But, he said, his family kept him optimistic. 

“My family and my team, my mom, dad, all of the people that helped me and supported me through the way, kind of gave me the energy and the support I needed to be here,” he said.

“So it was – it was an experience, I could say that,” he added with a laugh. 

PJ said while Pierre’s future was in limbo, he and the rest of the family made sure to never let him lose hope. 

“We definitely – me and his family, like his mom and all them, they definitely kept the faith in him and (did) not let him get weird and not let him think it wasn’t gonna happen for him,” PJ said. “So, you know, he was just watching every – all his friends keep playing, and cousins and family and all that continue to play, and he never got discouraged.”

PJ said that’s just the kind of person Pierre is – someone who “can kind of handle anything that’s thrown at him.”

“He’s a strong kid, stronger than I ever was, just to get to where he’s at today,” PJ said. “And he’s always been a great kid, funny kid, cracking jokes, and you know, just always believed in himself and never stopped believing in what he could do.”

PJ has coached Pierre for years, all the way up through his career and injury, and now continues to do so at WSU. 

“I was his coach in high school too. Like I said, he didn’t get a chance to play ninth grade, 10th grade, and basically the last five games of his junior year,” PJ said. “But coaching him in his senior (year) man, he was – we would talk every day, you know, about things that he wanted to do and things he needed to do. And so he was – he was easy, man, he was easy. Just, you know, once you’ve been through stuff like that … you don’t take anything for granted.”

Redshirt junior Jaret Valencia also played under PJ in high school and got to know his family well, even living with them for a couple of years. 

“They great people,” said Valencia, who’s from Colombia. “I lived with P (PJ)  for two years because I played high school for him, and he always treated me like family and everything. I actually lived with him when I didn’t speak English that well too. So I got – I learned a lot of English from Little P (Pierre) and him.”

Valencia said while PJ and Pierre are father and son, “they act like they were brothers.”

“They got a great connection,” he said. “They talk to each other – like they got great communication between them. It’s cool to be around both of them, too. I like that. Seeing PJ as a dad made me realize that that’s how I want to be with my kids.”

The coaching dynamic, and the stress that comes with constantly trying to improve, could easily put a strain on a father-son relationship. But PJ and Pierre said they make sure to never let it affect their bond. 

“We never take it home, never,” PJ said. “I’ve been coaching basically his whole life and I was part of sports where I’ve seen parents lose their relationship with their kids over sports, and I never wanted to be one of those guys, so I always value me and my son’s relationship over our sports success.”

Pierre said his dad coaching him for so long makes it feel normal to have him now. His father’s coaching and advice have helped him get to where he is today.

“It’s always fun,” he said. “I just look around practice like, ‘Oh yeah, my dad’s still here.’”

The best advice he’s gotten from PJ, Pierre said, is to “be humble, respect people and try to be open minded with learning new things on and off the court.”

It’s yet to be seen where that advice, and his own hard work, will take the freshman – his goal is to make it to the professional level. 

“He’s getting better and better every day,” PJ said “I think, just, you know, enjoy the process. Know it’s a process, and just continue to be in that process. I think – who knows where it takes him. I know he’s grateful for everything. So you know, who knows.”

It’s safe to say there are a lot of things the Couisnards have in common, even outside of Shocker basketball.  

“We’re similar in the way of humor,” Pierre said. “He makes jokes all the time, and me too.”

And how are the two different?

“I got more style than him,” Pierre said with a laugh.