This year’s senior class for Wichita State’s basketball team will be honored during Saturday’s game, but fans may notice that one player is missing from the celebration.
That’s because senior guard Mike Gray Jr. has been granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA through a retroactive medical redshirt, head coach Paul Mills confirmed with KFH Radio on Tuesday.
Gray played in just eight games during his true freshman season at George Mason in 2021-22 before a knee injury caused him to miss the remainder of it. He also missed the entire 2022-23 campaign.
Due to the nature of Gray’s injury, it checked all the boxes for a medical hardship waiver by the NCAA. The last game he played was before the midseason cutoff, and he played in only 27% of the Patriots’ total games that season.
Mills also told KFH Radio on Tuesday that the team has filed a waiver for senior center Emmanuel Okorafor, but that it hadn’t been cleared as of then. The team has decided to honor him against Florida Atlantic on Saturday, anyway.
Okorafor joined Louisville’s roster in January 2023 as a true freshman and only appeared in five games for the Cardinals before missing the last six games with an ankle injury.
The issue with Okorafor’s waiver is when the injury occurred: It was technically during the second half of the season for Louisville, but during the first half of the games when Okorafor was on Cardinals’ roster that year.
“The problem is when the five games occurred,” Mills said to KFH Radio. “So, you do have to go through an appeal process with him.
“We’ll see how that plays out, but it’s definitely something we’re optimistic about.”
This isn’t the first time Mills, who is in his third year as the Shockers’ head coach, has had a waiver claim granted to a player while at Wichita State.
Former Shocker Quincy Ballard was granted an extra year of eligibility late last year after he missed significant time during the 2022-23 season with a back injury. He blocked the second-most shots in school history with 152 and set a single-season field-goal percentage record in 2024-25 at 75.1% from the floor. Ballard averaged 10 points and 9.2 rebounds a game last season.
Ballard entered the transfer portal soon after it opened, however, and wound up at Mississippi State.
But should Gray decide to stay at Wichita State — and if Okorafor’s waiver is granted — the Shockers could see up to 13 players from this year’s roster back in the Roundhouse for another season.
