Wichita State introduces baseball coach Brian Green

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Wichita State formally introduced Brian Green as the university’s next baseball coach in front of a packed locker room Wednesday at Eck Stadium.

A former coach at New Mexico State and Washington State, the Shockers announced his hiring on Monday. Since then, Green says he’s worked tirelessly to recruit the team’s 30-plus players who have entered the transfer portal, which includes every player who made significant contributions aside from two-way player Payton Tolle.

He noted the program isn’t a rebuild, but is ready to go “if i can keep those darn 30 guys out of the portal.”

“I’ve also been very upfront with the players saying look, you’re in a leverage situation, we’re in the era of the portal, the era of NIL. I understand that,” Green said. “But if it’s about trust and relationships, I’m gonna try and do that in a hurry. It’s gonna be about connecting with our players and getting the vision out about what we’re gonna be about and see if we can knock that down and continue to give us a chance.”

That vision is to get back to the College World Series, what Green calls his “only goal in life professionally.”

The plan laid out by director of athletics Kevin Saal led the charge in getting Green on-board.

“His intent to essentially create a football program in a baseball environment and to take this program back to Omaha, with a clear cut plan of how to do that,” Green said, noting he wants to sell out Eck Stadium and “make this place rock.”

Saal said more than a dozen candidates were interviewed, and Green stood out beyond their relationship dating back to their days at Kentucky.

“You can see the authenticity and how genuine he is and how emotional he is that he’s picking up a mantle of a traditional power and understands the responsibility that comes with that,” Saal said.

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