The black (actually dark, dark brown with black pieces) turf at Eck Stadium was removed on Tuesday. AstroTurf crews will install a lighter brown turf soon in order to get WSU through fall practices.
By spring, the basepaths and some areas around the batter’s box will be a contrasting shade of brown from the infield border.
I took a close look at outfield turf this morning as the crews were putting down the black rubber infill and grooming the turf. It does caputure the look of grass. The outfield blends well into the natural grass on the outfield hill. It’s not grass, but I think skeptical fans will be pleasantly surprised at how it looks.
We will see how it plays. The people working on the turf are confident it will give WSU a good surface with little maintenance. They can adjust the infill to control how fast the surface plays.
The infield border and basepaths turf at Eck Stadium is black, as you can tell by the live camera shots. Up close, it’s a little better but still definitely too dark. Athletic director Eric Sexton has checked it out, and he knows some fans are concerned. He said that if Wichita State decides the turf isn’t the right color, a change will be made.
Stay tuned for more.
Now I can cease my efforts to track down Ryan Minor. I wanted to talk to the former Oklahoma two-sport star about that life in college. However, Wichita State’s Johnny Coy is a baseball guy after a meeting Wednesday with basketball coach Gregg Marshall. Coy quit the basketball team. Read More »
Basketball teams gradually build up to the start of practice in mid-October these days. Oct. 15 lost some of its “big event” feeling some time ago. The Shockers started doing individual work in small groups last week. Next month, coach Gregg Marshall can choose to practice with the entire team on a limited basis.
Here are his reviews on the first week of individuals. WSU started Aug. 20.
- Not surprisingly, the Shockers are farther along than the previous two teams because basically the entire team spent parts of the summer in Wichita. Only Johnny Coy, who played baseball in St. Joseph, was not around. Coy is behind because of that, but he has until late December (when he becomes eligible) to get his basketball game back. (More on him later). With that as the background, Marshall is pleased with his early look at the Shockers.
“The most physically fit and mentally prepared team since I’ve been here,” Marshall said. “We’re working on their games. We’re working on their individual skills. We go hard for 40 minutes three times a week or twice for an hour. Everything we do is competition, in terms of shooting, handling, working on their moves.”
- Freshman forward Jerome Hamilton is living up to his billing as a top-shelf leaper. Marshall got out of his seat to describe a right-handed reverse dunk Hamilton, who is a lefty, threw down during a recent session. Marshall said the coaches stopped to stare at each other, unsure about what they really saw.
- Freshman guard Kenny Manigault is also as advertised. “Strong, he’s long and he can get to the rim,” Marshall said.
- Freshman guard Tyler Richardson “shoots it and is very strong,” Marshall said. “Quickness, guarding, how athletic he is – that’s going to be his issue. He’s so young.” Richardson turns 18 in October.
- Freshman guard Demetric Williams has been out with a sprained ankle on the first day of school, so Marshall hasn’t worked with him much. He was scheduled to work out briefly on Friday.
- Marshall doesn’t want to jinx sophomore guard David Kyles with premature praise. However, the the progress Kyles showed late in his freshman season continues. His concentration and practice habits are improving, allowing his athletic skills to shine. “He’s come with a different mind-set, and it’s very apparent,” Marshall said. “He looks good. He is certainly a talent, and we’ve known that for a long time.”
- Marshall can start team practices next month on a limited basis. He may use that option, but the need isn’t as great as last season because of his returning experience.
- As much Marshall likes his freshmen, he loves the fact he is not counting on them to start. Contributions are welcome and helpful from the newcomers, but not as critical as last season. “We’ve got veterans,” he said. “We didn’t have that.”
- Marshall recently did an interview with an Omaha radio station. Five months after the clock problems at the MVC Tournament, he can lighten the mood. Marshall said the promo was the idea of the hosts. He went along with it. “What else are you going to do but laugh at this point,” he said.
- Baseball America, in an article available to subscribers, lists WSU’s Johnny Coy as one of the top prospects in the MINK League, where Coy played this summer with St. Joseph. The story also says Coy has dropped basketball and will play only baseball at WSU. Not true, according to Coy. “Not true at all,” he said Friday afternoon. Coy was aware of the ranking, but had not read the article. “That’s weird,” he said. Marshall also said Coy remains a member of the team. A bout with strep throat has kept Coy off the practice court.
One of Wichita’s frozen-treat purveyors needs to step up. The Shockers can’t fall behind in the MVC’s custard race.
Wichita State lost Garrett Gould to the pros. The Shockers shouldn’t feel lonely. Oklahoma State lost three players (and kept one) on the final day.
North Dakota State, a member of the Summit League, visits Koch Arena on Dec. 21. Ben Woodside is no longer a Bison.
Schedule update:
Nov. 15-18 CBE Classic at Koch Arena (vs. Texas-San Antonio and Farleigh Dickinson)
Nov. 23-24 at CBE Classic in Kansas City (vs. Pitt, Texas or Iowa)
Nov. 28 at Cleveland State
Dec. 9 at UMKC
Dec. 12 vs. TCU
Dec. 19 vs. Texas Tech
Dec. 21 vs. North Dakota State
Baseball stuff
This news helps Missouri State.
Indiana State’s hiring of Rick Heller raised some tempers in Terre Haute. The other top candidate was Mitch Hannahs, a former Sycamore player.
While Hannahs may be qualified, it’s hard to fault the Indiana State athletic director for going with Heller. He did a good job in a tough situation at Northern Iowa. Former Sycamore coach Lindsay Meggs got some momentum rolling for the program. Heller is taking over a program with some assets. Wichita State, Missouri State and Creighton seem established as the MVC’s top programs. The Sycamores are not going to supplant WSU. They probably won’t be a more consistent winner than MSU. They might be able to join the group that can contend.
The fact that ex-Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico and TCU assistant Randy Mazey were the other finalists is interesting. Mazey took East Carolina to a super regional and three regionals as head coach. This illustrates that head coaching jobs, even in Terre Haute, are valuable jobs.
The Dodgers, according to the L.A. Times, signed Maize pitcher Garrett Gould. This played out exactly as almost everyone predicted. The Dodgers took him in the second round, fully intending to sign him away from Wichita State. They did just that, even a few days before the Aug. 17 deadline.
The Shockers would love to have him. But they were fully prepared to lose him. Losing three top recruits – Derek Norris, Jon Gilmore and Pete Kozma – was devastating in 2007. Losing Dusty Coleman and Logan Watkins unexpectedly last summer was crippling. This is different. It hurts because Gould is a special talent, but the WSU coaches never got too attached to the notion of using his talents.
Fortunately for the Shockers, the rest of the recruiting class should remain intact. Pitcher Tobin Mateychick, infielder Nate Goro and outfielder Micah Green are expected to attend college despite being drafted in the late rounds in June.
“It’s like losing Antoine Carr from your recruiting class,” WSU pitching coach Brent Kemnitz said. “We still have a great class. It will be one of the best in the country.”