Which 2025 prospects Wichita State basketball eyed on first day of fall recruiting

On the first day of the fall recruiting period, Wichita State men’s basketball coaches spread across the country to evaluate high school prospects in the 2025 class on Wednesday.

WSU coaches were spotted in Houston at former Shocker great P.J. Couisnard’s Legacy School of Sport Sciences, in pursuit of three-star wing Tyrus Rathan-Mayes , and also at Ridge Point High School to see three-star wing Dorian Hayes , as well in Benton, Arkansas, to check out four-star wing Terrion Burgess .

While the transfer portal has significantly decreased the emphasis on high school recruiting for Division I programs everywhere, it’s safe to assume WSU will be more active in high school recruiting for this upcoming cycle.

That’s because potentially nine of the team’s top 14 players will use their final year of college eligibility this season. There was hope internally that Lipscomb transfer A.J. McGinnis would receive a retroactive redshirt year, but that was denied and he will be a one-and-done player for WSU, while Croatian big man Matej Bosnjak is still working through eligibility requirements with the NCAA and awaiting his final class designation as a junior or senior.

To be sure, WSU head coach Paul Mills and his staff will most likely reload the bulk of the roster through the transfer portal following this upcoming season. But it’s also likely WSU will be in the mix for a commitment or two from high school targets for this fall signing period, much like how the Shockers signed current freshmen T.J. Williams and Zion Pipkin last November.

WSU joined the pursuit for Rathan-Mayes, a rising 6-6 wing from Houston, in May with a scholarship offer and then brought him in for an unofficial visit to Koch Arena in late June. According to sources, Rathan-Mayes will begin an official visit with the Shockers on Thursday, a clear sign that Mills, a Houston native, is interested in continuing to build a pipeline between WSU and the Houston program run by Cousinard, who also coached Pipkin last season. Rathan-Mayes also holds offers from Arizona State, Boston College and Nevada, while it appears he has not taken an official visit yet.

Another stop was made in the Houston area to see Hayes, a 6-4 guard who took his first official visit to WSU in late August. The son of former NBA player Chuck Hayes has since set up official visits to Murray State, UTSA and UTEP, but Wednesday’s check-in makes it clear he is a target for the Shockers.

WSU’s appearance in Benton comes as more of a surprise, as the program has not officially offered Burgess, a 6-foot-9 wing who is rated as the No. 61 player in the 2025 class by the 247Sports composite rankings and holds offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Memphis.

But Mills’ staff does offer some expertise in the state with assistant T.J. Cleveland, a former standout player for the Razorbacks who later coached at Arkansas from 2011-19.

The Shockers have also pursued in-state targets in Mill Valley senior Carter Kaifes, a 6-6 guard, and Shawnee Mission Northwest senior Keaton Wagler, a 6-6 guard who picked up his offer from WSU on August 28. Other offers out from WSU to 2025 high school targets include Evan Cochran, a 6-8 forward from Houston, Jordan Lowery, a 6-1 point guard from Denton, Texas, Chuck Love, a 6-6 wing from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Braydon Hawthorne, a 6-9 wing from Beckley, West Virginia.

The early period when 2025 recruits can officially ink their name to their future colleges begins on November 13 and lasts one week.