🌾Wichita (and Wichita State) Players on NBA Rosters (2024)

November 6, 2024 | Sign Up | Support Us

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Good morning, Wichita! This is the Wichita Life Update, your place to stay up to date with everything going on in Wichita - without the crime and politics you'll find everywhere else.

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- Landon Huslig

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Wichita in the NBA

Wichita is full of interesting people.

We have entrepreneurs, musicians, social media stars, athletes and so much more. We wrote a deep dive on those Wichita guys who made it to the NFL, but what about the NBA?

The NBA season officially kicked off on October 22, so we wanted to shine highlights on our Wichita friends who made it to the best league in the world.

Most of these guys are Wichita State fan favorites and one is a hometown kid who just keeps raising the bar.

Wichita Kids

Gradey Dick

High School: Wichita Collegiate (2018-2020) / Sunrise Christian Academy (2020-2022)

College: KU (2022-2023)

Current Team: Toronto Raptors

Gradey Dick is the most recent Wichita Kid to make it big. He spent two years at Wichita Collegiate then two years at Sunrise Christian Academy. Gradey was named the 2022 Gatorade National Player of the Year and ended up at KU as 5 star recruit.

As a one-and-done at KU, Gradey went as the 13th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, selected by the Toronto Raptors.

He averaged 8.5 ppg in 21.1 min per game last year as a rookie.

As a sophomore, he’s already come out swinging averaging 21 ppg and just last week posting back to back 30 point games, setting his career-high at 31 points.

I have a VanVleet Raptors jersey, I think it is about time I got a Gradey Dick one.

Adrian Griffin

High School: Wichita East

College: Seton Hall (1992 - 1996)

Current Team: TBD

Past Teams: Head Coach of the Milwaukee Bucks & multiple other assistant jobs including Toronto Raptors, as a player - Bulls, Supersonics, Mavericks, Rockets, Celtics

Adrian Griffin is someone who does not get the flowers he deserves.

He was a 3 year starter at Seton Hall before going undrafted in the 1996 NBA Draft. He played in minor leagues and Italy before eventually making his way into the NBA in 1999.

Adrian played for a number of NBA teams from 1999 to 2008, including becoming a starter for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA finals.

He then turned to coaching where he was an assistant for a handful of teams, including the NBA Champions Toronto Raptors with Fred VanVleet, and became the Head Coach of the Milwaukee Bucks starting in the 2023-2024 season, but was fired when the team had a 30-13 record (last time I checked, that's a pretty good record, but what do I know?).

We can’t forget guys from the past like Korleone Young (East High), Maurice Evans (Collegiate), Perry Ellis (Heights), Greg Dreiling (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), Cleo Littleton (East High), Riney Lochmann (North High), Darnell Valentine (Heights), Ricky Ross (South) and Jabari Walker (born in Wichita). Lynette Woodard also needs a deep dive all on her own.

Just a Kid from Wichita is an awesome page / community that highlights the athletes who come out of Wichita and those that came before them.

I can’t cover all the guys from Wichita who played pro, so I’m just focusing on people who made it to the NBA.

Wichita State Guys

Fred VanVleet

High School: Auburn (Rockford, Illinois)

College: Wichita State (2012 - 2016)

Current Team: Houston Rockets

Past Teams: Toronto Raptors

Fred VanVleet was a major piece of the early 2010s WSU success, helping lead the Shocks to the Final Four and an undefeated season.

After a successful career at WSU, he went undrafted and decided to BET ON HIMSELF 🎲and boy did it pay off.

He started his career playing for the Toronto Raptors (and their G League Affiliate). Fred was a big piece of the NBA Championship the Raptors won in 2019. He set a record for the NBA single-game record for undrafted players at 54 points.

The summer of 2023 came along and he signed with the Houston Rockets where he signed a whopping three-year, $130 million contract. Fun fact: Texas doesn’t have an individual income tax which made this an even better deal for Fred.

Landry Shamet

High School: Park Hill (Kansas City, Missouri)

College: Wichita State (2015 - 2018)

Current Team: Westchester Knicks

Past Teams: Philadelphia 76ers, LA Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards

Landry Shamet had a great career at WSU, leading the Shocks to the NCAA Tourney each year he played.

He ended up going in the 1st round of the 2018 NBA Draft as the 26th overall pick to the 76ers.

He has been a bit of a journeyman while he collected jerseys across the league. Landry makes a splash (pun-ended - the guy can shoot) wherever he goes, which makes him a great bargaining chip for a lot of trades.

This year, he was waived by the Wizards in July, signed with the NY Knicks in September, but was waived on October 19th after he dislocated his shoulder.

Just a couple of weeks ago, he joined the Westchester Knicks after being selected in the 2024 NBA G League draft.

Craig Porter Jr.

High School: South (Terre Haute, Indiana)

College: Vincennes (2018 - 2019), Wichita State (2020 - 2023)

Current Team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Craig Porter Jr. is the most recent Shocker to make the jump to the pros.

Craig helped win the NJCAA national championship before coming to the Shockers where he was one of the most consistent pieces of success throughout his tenure at WSU.

He went undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, but signed a two-way contract with the Cavs in July 2023.

He signed a standard contract in February 2024 and is still on the team.

There are a number of other Wichita State guys playing in a professional basketball league like our friend Connor Frankamp and other guys who didn’t finish with the Shockers, but have had success elsewhere. Most notably Austin Reaves who is Lebron James right hand man in LA and spent some time with Wichita State before transferring to OU.

There have also been many other NBA from Wichita State like Ron Baker, Antoine Carr, Cleanthony Early, Xavier McDaniel, Cliff Levingston, Dave Stallworth, Gene Wiley, Nate Bowman, Toure’ Murray, Gal Mekel, Aubrey Sherrod, Cheese Johnson, Ricky Ross, and more.

Reading some of these names is a blast from the past.