Wichita State men’s basketball head coach Paul Mills said in his weekly press conference on Saturday that even before the 2024-25 season started, this year’s group of seniors were committed to success the first week they were on campus in June.

During that time, the team gathered weekly to eat a team meal. Mills said it would be easy for some players to find an excuse not to show up, but found that everybody made sure to be there.

“Everybody was here. Everybody was working,” Mills said. “… If you don’t have the buy-in from the jump, from your level of commitment to being here, from your level of commitment to socialize — it’s not going to happen.

“(But) they were committed on both fronts.”

What makes this year’s team unique is that the Shockers are graduating eight seniors, the most Mills recalls having on one team at the same time. 

Wichita State is also tied for the second-oldest team in college basketball with seven players in their fifth-year or more of eligibility. None of the Shockers’ seniors began their collegiate careers in Wichita.

“It’s not anything I’ve ever been a part of,” Mills said. “ … I know my last year at ORU (Oral Roberts University), it was a whole bunch of guys who had been there the entire time … But that’s definitely different.

“… It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a good thing.”

Now heading into the team’s final regular season game in Charles Koch Arena on Sunday, Mills said he wants his seniors to leave the program better than they found it.

“I feel that when guys come in, that there constantly needs to be an upgrade,” Mills said. “Like you need to leave things better than you found them … you just can’t thank those guys enough for their contributions and investment and just how much it really means to them.”

A part of this team’s legacy, Mills said, will be how they handled the slump in January. 

The team went 1-7 during that month, a stretch that included a four-game losing streak — the longest of the season. Wichita State then turned its year upside down in February, finishing the month 6-1 and going on the longest conference winning streak in four years.

“There’s a lot of situations where you would have people who aren’t that resilient and they just don’t have that ability to fight through,” Mills said. “And it’s easy sometimes, especially for players when you’re in, you know, the latter weeks … is like, ‘Let me just go ahead and move on to next year.’” 

Despite the number transfers, Mills said some of this year’s group have had that “constant upgrade” feeling throughout the season. A significant leader was Wichita native Xavier Bell. Mills said the Andover Central High School graduate “takes tremendous pride in being from Wichita.”

“Growing up here and knowing what this place has been, and trying not only to carry on a legacy, but restore a legacy, it means a lot to me,” Mills said. 

Mills described a moment from a year ago when, during some of that team’s trials and tribulations, he asked them, “Are you all in?”

Mills then knew how serious it was for Bell to play for Wichita State. He said, “Before I could even finish the sentence, Xavier Bell piped up, ‘I am.’”

“And it was just one of those things that you’re really mindful of the fact of how much pride he takes in representing this city,” Mills said.

Another senior Mills pointed to was Ronnie DeGray III, who has been the team’s “glue guy,” a player who holds things together. Mills praised DeGray’s defensive prowess, his ability to guard every position and his approach to the game.

“It’s one of those situations where it’s not only necessary, it’s required (to have a player like DeGray) if you’re ever going to have a good team,” Mills said. “… You need three or four Ronnie DeGray’s on your roster. I wish we had more of them because a game is won defensively.”

Staying on the defensive side of the ball, Mills said that fifth-year newcomer AJ McGinnis’ intensity throughout the course of the season has been “night and day.” 

Mills said when most players transfer to a new program, they get upset when they don’t see the production of what they’re used to and hope for. Instead, Mills said that McGinnis has understood his new role and what it takes to add value to the team.

“(It’s) not only a sign of character, but it’s a sign of your willingness to win,” Mills said. “And you see that in AJ. (I’m) really proud of how he’s handled everything this year because … he’s a wonderful, wonderful young man.”

One of the team’s biggest contributors as of late has been senior Bijan Cortes. In his last six games, Cortes has averaged 10.7 points per contest, which included back-to-back career-highs of 13 points and 16 points against the University of Memphis and Florida Atlantic University.

Before then, Cortes averaged just 3.9 points per game, and had five games where he put up a goose egg. Mills credited Cortes’ recent success to him simply being more aggressive on offense, allowing more opportunities to open up.

“He’s not as careless with the basketball and trying to hit home runs,” Mills said. “And the fact that he has a level of accountability, I’m really, really proud of Bijan and the strides he’s made in two years.”

Wichita State will play its final regular season game on Sunday, March 9, against the University of Tulsa. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

After that, the team travels to Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, for the American Athletic Conference Championship starting Thursday, March 13. Wichita State secured the first-round bye and will find out its second-round opponent after the game against Tulsa.

“We don’t want the script to be, ‘Man, they battled back but they could just never get over the hump,’” Mills said. “Like, we need to continue to strive and we’ve done that. It is a situation where we need to continue to get better and better.”