The Wichita State women practice like all other teams around the country: aggressive, energetic, loud and focused.
It looks like any other practice on the surface, until you hear a voice in practice bark out a play call that's several octives deeper and lower than a female's voice.
Then you notice the person running the point has a five day old beard and his practice squad teammates don't share the same locker room as the rest of the Lady Shockers.
Wichita State has a crew of five male practice players that are held to the same standards as the women who are on scholarship. They give the women an extra edge in practices. Wichita State is on the verge of at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, a first for the team in school history.
"I think girls are (brought) up in a different shelter, to be kind to one another," head coach Jody Adams said. "But once you cross the white lines here, it's all about competing and it's all about working hard."
The practice squad members are all former prep players and are fully vetted before they hit the court with the full team.
"It kind of threw me off guard - playing with the women because as a guy you think they aren't as physical," Adam May, a WSU senior from Garden Plain said. "But once I got here I figured out that wasn't the truth."
"There are days when we are going back and forth; talking trash, being physical, so it's always a good atmosphere," senior Chynna Turner said. "If they make a pass, I'll let them know! I totally feel like they are part of the team."
All the practice players are recruited from campus, mostly through pick-up games at the Rhatigan Student Center. A practice member for KU while an undergraduate, Michael Gomez serves as a graduate assistant with the Lady Shockers and leads the "recruiting." The responses range from confused to stunned.
"When I approach them, let them know who I am, and ask, 'would you be interested in being a practice player for the women's basketball team?" Gomez said. "They have to repeat what I said, but if they come to practice, I change their response immediately."
Male practice players is not a revolutionary concept to Wichita State or even women's basketball, on the whole. Adams has used them ever since she came to Wichita and practiced against them when she was a point guard for Tennessee. She even played on a boys' YMCA team in high school.
But Adams points out that without the guys on the court against her girls, the Lady Shockers wouldn't be half as good.
"They are a great help," said Adams. "They have elevated the play here with us."
It's a battle of the sexes everyday on the court but give the edge to players like Jessica Diamond and Alex Harden.
"A couple of guys have come out to practice, tried and then not shown further interest because the competiton, the talent, the physicality - all of the above," Gomez said.
Their reward for the blood sweat and tears? Outfitted in the same Nike gear the varsity players get, a nice set of Nike shoes and other Shocker shwag but more than that, it's being treated like one of the guys, or girls.
