The Wichita Eagle's Taylor Eldridge takes you inside Wichita State sports.
The Wichita Eagle's Taylor Eldridge takes you inside Wichita State sports.
The Wichita Eagle's Taylor Eldridge takes you inside Wichita State sports.
The Wichita Eagle's Taylor Eldridge takes you inside Wichita State sports.
Blue Ribbon: Wichita State No. 11 in preview magazine’s ranking.
ESPN:C.L. Brown summarizes basketball’s rule changes.
Gary Parrish: As long as Gregg Marshall coaches, Wichita State is set up for success.
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: MVC checks out the Quad Cities in advance of the women’s basketball tournament.
Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State baseball adds son of ex-big leaguer to roster.
Des Moines Register: Drake sophomore center Becca Jonas is out for the season.
Washington Post: Scot McCloughan, a former WSU baseball player and GM of the Washington Redskins, watches his wife lose her mind on Twitter and then apologize.
Gary Parrish’s podcast includes some Wichita State mentions in their discussion of the top jobs.
Sports Illustrated: Baker, VanVleet ranked among the nation’s top seniors.
BustingBrackets.com: A story on Ron Baker’s NBA draft hopes that doesn’t add much to the discussion. But it’s about Ron Baker.
Times Herald-Record: Cleanthony Early signs autographs and hands out backpacks in his hometown.
AUGUST
Times and Democrat: South Carolina State plans a weekend to honor Willie Jeffries, who also coached football at Wichita State.
The Southern: SIU volleyball star Taylor Pippen wants to take the Salukis to the NCAA Tournament
Evansville Courier & Press: Aces must replace most of its attackers.
Lansing State Journal: Michigan State guard Tum Tum Nairn goes to school on Fred VanVleet’s work.
Peoria Journal-Star: Bradley’s leading scorer is dismissed from the team.
The Pantagraph: Redbirds coach Dan Muller pleased with Spain exhibition trip and knocks down Deontae Hawkins rumors.
Asbury Park Press: WSU’s game at Seton Hall likely to be an early afternoon tip to clear out for the NHL game that night.
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Northern Iowa volleyball aims to end two-season NCAA drought.
ESPN puts Baker and VanVleet in its list of top players (membership needed).
ESPN ranks the Shockers No. 9 in its August top 25.
JULY
Jon Rothstein: Five questions for the MVC.
JUNE
Wichita State wanted Cameron Payne when other high-profile schools didn’t. He went to Murray State.
The Pantagraph: MVC coaches aren’t sure how much the shot clock will help offenses.
WCFCourier.com: Returning guards give UNI a strong start on following up 2015’s success.
Grantland: A cautionary tale for Wichita State football.
Washington Post: Former WSU coach Mark Turgeon talks regret and family life.
Former Drake women’s basketball star Kyndal Clark transfers to Nebraska for her final season.
From 2014: A look at Gal Mekel’s relationship with trainer David Thorpe.
Missouri State’s Eric Cheray turns down minors to start coaching career.
PJStar.com: Bradley adds a ninth freshman to its basketball roster.
PJStar.com: Braves won’t play games on campus under the new leadership.
Gene Stephenson remembers Miami’s 1982 CWS title and says he turned down a chance to coach the Hurricanes.
Future Shockers softball player earns all-state honor.
Josh Cunningham, one of the Valley’s top freshman, is transferring to Dayton.
Former Shocker Blake Hurlbutt homers in Enid’s alumni game. Former Shocker Tyler Fleming returns to the mound.
MAY
Springfield News-Leader: NCAA hurt Missouri State’s baseball team with lack of flexibility.
AL.com: UAB brings back the football program it killed in December.
Rockford Register Star: Back home, VanVleet says “Basketball has directly influenced my life. I’m trying to spread it down to these kids.”
AL.com: CUSA doesn’t want UAB without football.
ESPN.com: Missouri State, Missouri softball programs battle in email exchange.
The Advocate: Future Shocker Lenni Kunert hit .485 with 10 doubles as a senior in Louisiana.
SI.com’s Luke Winn ranks the Shockers No. 10 on his preseason power ranking.
SBNation: WSU No. 17 on spring top 25.
TheBigLead.com: WSU No. 11 on its spring top 25.
AL.com: UAB considers reviving football program.
AL.com: UAB prefers MVC membership as a landing spot.
Shot clock, fewer timeouts among changes proposed.
USA Today: Shockers No. 14 in the super-early top 25.
Fred VanVleet is always the big story in Rockford.
APRIL
UAB will know more about its future in Conference USA in June.
Jim Connell of the Springfield News-Leader isn’t exactly up for WSU’s challenge.
Sean Keeler: Return of the guards makes WSU favorites in the Valley.
MARCH
Daily Oklahoman: Marshall wise to stay at Wichita State. It’s a better job than most in power conferences.
Newsday: Cleanthony Early feeling more comfortable in recent games for the Knicks.
Las Vegas Review-Journal: UNLV doesn’t need a trip to Wichita State next season.
AL.com: Marshall’s move fits with what he told Alabama recruit Dazon Ingram.
AL.com: In 2006, a football coach turned down the Tide and things turned out great.
ALcom: Pitino? Prohm? Miller?
Dallas Morning News: Texas hires Shaka Smart.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Team meeting signaled the end at VCU.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Smart’s move not surprising after six seasons.
Washington Post: Smart walks away from VCU, free brisket and lap dances.
Dallas Mornings News: Texas AD Steve Patterson needed to boost his image with this hire.
The Oregonian: Shaka, beware Texas AD Steve Patterson.
Dallas Morning News: Can Texas lure Shaka Smart from VCU?
AL.com: Alabama should pay attention to Marshall’s family, Seth Greenberg advises.
AL.com: Paul Finebaum offers the insight that this is a big deal for Alabama.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Alabama may talk to Richard Pitino.
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Ben Jacobson agrees to 10-year deal.
Evansville Courier and Press: Aces defeat Tennessee-Martin to move into CIT championship game vs. Northern Arizona.
Chicago Tribune: Loyola takes 1-0 lead in CBI best-of-3 championship series vs. Louisiana-Monroe.
AL.com: Alabama AD leaves Wichita alone on his chartered plane.
Kevin Scarbinsky: Monday feels like a win for the Tide.
FoxSports.com: This is what Marshall’s decision should be about.
Austin American-Statesman: Crazy, crazy Monday in Texas.
Horns Digest: Marshall too blunt for Texas?
CBSSports.com: Texas talks hoops with VCU’s Shaka Smart.
Dallas Morning News: Summing up the Texas search.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Smart declines comment; AD says no contact yet.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: We’ve been here before with Smart.
Peoria Journal-Star: Bradley coach Brian Wardle starts work in Peoria.
The Southern: Transfers knock Southern Illinois back into rebuilding mode, admitted or not.
AL.com: Report says Texas chasing Shaka Smart.
Yahoo.com: Texas’ list starts with Marshall.
USA Today: Alabama isn’t the right fit.
FoxSports.com: Marshall can do better than Alabama
AL.com: Alabama’s basketball pedigree is better than you think.
AL.com: Tide should check out Avery Johnson as a candidate.
AL.com: UAB needs to find a home and the MVC might be a possibility.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
USA Today: Notre Dame’s offense overwhelms the Shockers.
South Bend Tribune: WSU couldn’t counter Jackson’s attack.
Indystar.com: ND coach Mike Brey didn’t need to say much during timeout.
Irish Illustrated: ND catches WSU at a good time.
New York Times: Notre Dame’s two-sport star came back for this moment.
USA Today: Marshall tells the truth when asked about Alabama.
Cleveland.com: Local recommendations for Shockers fans.
South Bend Tribune: Irish new to facing hype in the NCAA Tournament.
South Bend Tribune: Improved defense helps Irish advance.
Chicago Tribune: Notre Dame coach Mike Brey leans on family during difficult time.
Al.com: Why Gregg Marshall might consider Alabama.
Washington Post: Marshall doesn’t need Alabama.
Omaha.com: Kansas fans meet their worst nightmare.
Omaha.com: Shockers get their chance to play Kansas.
Indystar.com: Hoosiers can’t be satisfied with this role.
SI.com: Shockers don’t need validation by playing Kansas.
Yahoo:com: Pat Forde’s always entertaining best and worst. East Region. South. Midwest. West.
Washington Post: Emojis for every tournament team.
SI.com: See who didn’t pick Kentucky.
SI.com: Previews of every game, every team.
Grantland.com: It’s all about Big Blue Nation. Enjoy it.
Grantland.com: All about the tournament, mostly about the Kentucky.
ESPN.com: Mid-major danger or high-major meh?
538.com: Follow Kentucky’s (and three other teams) likely path to the Final Four.
Associated Press: Indiana survived a wave of bad news to reach March.
News-Sentinel: 5 keys for the Hoosier.
Journal Gazette: Emmitt Holt stepped up for Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament.
Indystar.com: Injury update is, not much of an update on Indiana’s big man.
Omaha.com: No. 7 seed may help WSU play disappointed or something like that.
Omaha.com: Dana Altman skipped out on Creighton. Time should soften that memory.
Omaha.com: Transplanted Shockers welcome their team.
Indystar.com: MVC coaches break down the Shockers.
Indystar.com: WSU coach Gregg Marshall sees familiar size in opponent.
Insidethehall.com: Hoosiers have some history with Wichita State.
Indystar.com: Indiana was prepared to play in First Four or NIT.
SELECTION SUNDAY
ESPN.com: No. 5 vs. Wofford in Jacksonville (West Region)
CBSSports.com: No. 7 vs. Purdue in Columbus (West Region)
USA Today: No. 5 vs. Wofford (South Region)
Warrennolan.com: No. 6 vs. Colorado State in Lousiville (West Region)
Foxsports.com: No. 7 vs. Purdue in Omaha (South Region)
Yahoo.com: No. 5 seed
MARCH
FoxSports.com: No. 6 vs. Purdue in Omaha (South Region)
ESPN.com: No. 5 vs. Wofford in Jacksonville (South Region)
CBSSports.com: No. 7 vs. Boise State in Columbus (West Region)
Yahoo.com: No. 5 seed
SI.com: No. 7 vs. Oregon (Midwest Region)
Warrennolan.com: No. 6 vs. Davidson in Omaha (East Region)
The Southern: SIU coach Barry Hinson wants to keep his roster intact, for the most part.
Toledo Blade: Former Shockers assistant Chris Jans will take his team to the CIT in his first season as coach.
Washington Post: Toure Murry appears headed to the Wizards.
Springfield News-Leader: Who is the 2016 favorite?
Sports Illustrated: Mark Turgeon raised Maryland to a surprising season.
Omaha World-Herald: Conference tournaments lose their zest as conferences expand.
Washington Post: Former WSU coach Mark Turgeon named Big 10 Coach of the Year.
Des Moines Register: UNI works to keep coach Ben Jacobson comfortable.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Casting a critical eye at the rise of the MVC.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Illinois State’s rise improves MVC outlook.
Bleacher Report: VanVleet runs WSU as its coach on the floor.
MVC TOURNAMENT
The Pantagraph: In 2012, an upset shook up the MVC Tournament.
News-Leader: Bears freshmen debut in St. Louis and hope for better times.
Journal-Star: Bradley needs to believe it can be part of the madness.
Des Moines Register: MVC Cinderella will likely need to be two ranked teams.
Courier: Shockers, Panthers try to pretend it’s not all about a rematch on Sunday.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: WSU, UNI are on same path to NCAA Tournament.
MARCH:
Grantland.com: Mark Titus reluctantly ranks WSU No. 12 and explains mid-major fatigue.
CBSSports.com: Gary Parrish says WSU and UNI are good enough to play deep into March.
Omaha World-Herald: 100 years of Nebraska’s all-state basketball. OK, it’s not really MVC-related, but the OWH did a great job with this and basketball fans will enjoy.
ESPN: WSU a No. 4 seed in Seattle vs. Valpo.
CBS: Shockers a No. 5 seed vs. Valpo in Charlotte.
Yahoo.com: No. 5 seed.
USA Today: Panthers, Shockers likely locked in to No. 4 or No. 5 seeds.
Gary Parrish: Tekele Cotton doesn’t need the spotlight.
WCF Courier: Panthers must lose from loss to Shockers.
WCF Courier: Crowd pushes Shockers past UNI.
Des Moines Register: Panthers a prop in WSU’s big day.
SI.com: WSU needed a win for its NCAA resume.
ESPN: Shockers return to the top of the MVC.
FEBRUARY
SI.com: Former WSU assistant Chris Jans turns things around at Bowling Green
Joe Lunardi: WSU a No. 5; UNI a No. 4.
Jerry Palm: WSU seeded No. 7 vs. Oregon
Yahoo.com: WSU No. 5; UNI No. 4
CBSSports.com: No. 7 vs. fading Iowa
ESPN.com: No. 4 vs. Eastern Washington
SI.com: No. 6 vs. Illinois
Yahoo.com: No. 5 seed
USA Today: Does anybody in Wichita want a shorter basketball season?
Yahoo.com: Pat Forde throws a bit of the spotlight on former WSU assistant Chris Jans.
Peoria Journal Star: Shockers aren’t pretty. Just effective.
The Pantagraph: WSU never loses its cool.
Kansas City Star: Skeptics resurface as the Shockers keep winning.
Terre Haute Tribune Star: Todd Golden loves him some Tekele Cotton. And why not?
College baseball brackets: Shockers, Patriots are starting strong.
SI.com: WSU’s backcourt makes the Shockers a contender.
ESPN: Lunardi slots WSU as a No. 5 seed.
CBSSports.com: Wake up Marco Baldi, Jerry Palm pits No. 6 WSU vs. St. John’s.
Yahoo.com: Shockers at the top of the No. 6 group.
CBS: Fred VanVleet turned to basketball after a tough start to life.
USA Today: Kyle Korver’s NBA career hits a high point at age 34.
KSHB: The story doesn’t seem to support the headline, but this look by a Kansas City TV station at WSU’s enrollment prospects is eye-catching. And most of those old-fashioned college players very much hope to play professionally.
ESPN.com: Shockers drop to a No. 5 seed.
CBSSports.com: Jerry Palm drops WSU to a No. 6 seed.
Yahoo.com: Shockers fall to a No. 6 seed.
SI.com: Loss to UNI dumps WSU to a No. 5 seed.
JANUARY
Jason King: NBA scouts talk Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet.
George Mason’s post-Final Four surge faded with loss of coach, conference change.
Yahoo.com: Shockers hold steady at No. 4.
ESPN.com: Lunardi keeps the Shockers a No. 4 seed.
Yahoo.com: No. 4 seed.
Fox Sports: Measuring Ron Baker’s NBA chances.
SI.com: A No. 4 seed for the Shockers.
CBS: WSU No. 4 seed, UNI No. 7 in Jerry Palm’s bracket.
ESPN: WSU No. 4 seed by Joe Lunardi.
ESPN: Backcourts you can trust in March.
Terre Haute Tribune Star: Challenge series with Mountain West Conference may make a comeback.
ESPN: Joe Lunardi places WSU as a No. 5 seed, UNI a No. 6.
CBS: Jerry Palm seeds WSU as a No. 4 and UNI as a No. 8.
The Sporting News: Kansas ranks in the top five of all 50 for hoops.
Springfield News-Leader: Bears on hold while Marshall-Lusk drama plays out.
Sports Illustrated: Shockers face challenges from the MVC, and that’s a good thing.
Peoria Journal Star: UNI’s skill trumps Bradley’s athletic ability.
Springfield News-Leader: Terrorism in France affects MSU senior Ron Mvouika.
Springfield News-Leader: Bears need leadership and more voices to stop skid.
Rockford’s NBC affiliate explains how Fred VanVleet is helping other athletes.
Springfield News-Leader: MVC teams see hope in race with Wichita State.
The Pantagraph: Redbirds played with proper passion at WSU in defeat.
DECEMBER
Jason King throws some love the MVC’s way in his non-conference review.
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: MVC power rankings.
Missouri State senior regains his spot in the rotation as the Bears enter MVC play.
Anthony Beane needs help from other Salukis on offense.
Indiana State starts fresh, and the Sycamores need it after a dismal two months.
Redbirds benefit from Paris Lee’s growing experience.
Northern Iowa’s non-conference record adds interest to MVC race.
Panthers open MVC play with the week’s big game at Evansville.
ICYMI: UNI’s locker room upgrades.
New York Times: Cleanthony Early, and other NBA rookies, watch their spending on Christmas presents.
Early plays Secret Santa for teammate J.R. Smith.
New York Daily News: Early’s return from knee injury nears.
Dave Skretta of the AP: Fred VanVleet learned tough lessons in Rockford.
Sports Illustrated suspects Northern Iowa will provide WSU a real challenge in the MVC.
Santa Scranton of the Springfield News-Leader visits the MVC and hands out good stuff to the top programs.
Western Kentucky assistant coach asks fans to emulate the crowd at Koch Arena.
Did you feel like you helped the Shockers beat the Tide? Yes? A coach agrees.
ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf ranks the nation’s top point guards.
Vitale boogies with Shockers cheerleaders.
After escaping Alabama, Wichita State might not face another challenge, SI.com wonders.
AL.com looks at Tuesday’s game.
Topeka Capital-Journal columnist Kevin Haskin dreams of a holiday tournament in Kansas City.
Peoria Journal-Star: UNI may play North Carolina at home, thanks to Marcus Paige.
ESPN ranks the best hair in college basketball.
NJ.com compiles reaction to the Seton Hall game.
Loss to San Diego State sticks with Utes star.
WSU’s Final Four run started in Salt Lake City.
Utes coach almost sick over excitement for Wednesday’s game.
The sons of Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak worked as ball boys for the Shockers in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Utah starts a tough stretch of games that includes WSU, BYU and Kansas.
NOVEMBER
Former Shocker Toure Murry thrives in Idaho.
SIU coach Barry Hinson daydreams about a new MVC member.
MVC PREVIEWS
Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State improves its size and raises its expectations.
The Pantagraph: Illinois State’s depth may require sacrifices in playing time.
The Pantagraph’s Jim Benson grows into a multi-media superstar.
Des Moines Register: Drake freshmen get the call for introductions.
Terre Haute Tribune-Star: Indiana State’s new look without Odum challenges coach.
Terre Haute Tribune-Star: Point guard Tre Bennett must learn quickly for the Sycamores.
The Southern: Salukis find a backup for foul-prone starter.
The Southern: MVC coaches motivated to compete with WSU.
Peoria Journal-Star: Braves roll out a bigger, deeper roster. They hope.
Chicago Sun-Times: Doyle’s injury clouds outlook for Loyola.
NOVEMBER
Indiana State adds two big men in its recruiting class.
Yahoo.com’s Pat Forde ranks intriguing coaches and Gregg Marshall intrigues him, but less than 14 others.
Fred VanVleet also intrigues Pat Forde at Yahoo.com.
Obediah Church, from Springfield, Ill., headlines Missouri State’s recruiting class.
Illinois State turns to high school ranks for the class of 2015.
Northern Iowa adds juco guard to its recruiting class, stealing him from South Dakota State.
The Peoria Journal-Star’s Bradley preview section. Nine MVC schools are chasing the Shockers.
Bleacher Report looks at Ron Baker’s journey from Scott City to WSU.
ESPN’s writers discuss expectations for the Shockers.
Gregg Marshall enjoyed the off-season and wouldn’t mind if it dragged on and on.
Athlon’s picks the MVC.
Tekele Cotton’s dunk skills catch the attention of ESPN.
The Sporting News puts Ron Baker on its second-team All-America list.
Sports Illustrated ranks Wichita State No. 16.
ESPN ranks Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet in its top 10.
Fox Sports finds a chip on the collective shoulders of the Shockers.
MVC MEDIA DAY COVERAGE
The Pantagraph: Illinois State coach Dan Muller voted his team No. 1.
Peoria Journal Star: Kirk Wessler rips off a depressing view of the future of college basketball.
Peoria Journal Star: Bradley coach Geno Ford isn’t concerned about preseason polls.
Springfield News-Leader: King Kong is back in the MVC.
Springfield News-Leader: Illinois State is the MVC’s mystery guest.
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Shockers used to playing with a target on their backs.
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: MVC women’s basketball strong in Iowa.
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Valley schools checking their wallets.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Shockers chase one remaining goal - NCAA title.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Marcus Marshall’s return proceeds cautiously at Missouri State.
OCTOBER
Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com ranks Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker in his top 100. Utah’s Delon Wright is on the list
CollegeBasketballTalk ranks the top point guards and shooting guards nationally. Normally, I don’t link to this blog, because it is the most parasitic bunch on the Internet, shamelessly rewriting stories and disguising the original publication (you know, the one that did the work). Pout over.
Mike Rutherford of SBNation ranks the nation’s top 100 players and includes VanVleet, Baker, Tuttle and Balentine. Prepare your fantasy draft, I guess.
ESPN ranks WSU No. 10 and Joe Lunardi projects the Shockers as a No. 2 seed.
Two Shocker opponents (and one potential) make The Dagger’s list of teams on the rise.
USA Today ranks WSU No. 11 and gets Gregg Marshall to say he’s happy in Wichita.
Bradley’s injury problems are easing.
Lyndal Scranton of the Springfield News-Leader likes what he sees from Missouri State and picks them third in the MVC.
Todd Hefferman of The Southern picks WSU No. 1 in the MVC, followed by Northern Iowa and Missouri State.
Indianapolis Howe guard Harris Brown commits to Evansville with the goal of winning the MVC.
SIU’s Tyler Smithpeters is back on the team.
Loyola’s Milton Doyle could miss the season after tearing the labrum in his shooting shoulder.
SIU’s Tyler Smithpeters is taking time off for personal reasons.
Carson Tigges of the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier picks WSU No. 1 in the MVC and showers Ron Baker with affection.
Bradley coach Geno Ford welcomes four big men back to practice after injuries.
Northern Iowa builds roster with two talented transfers.
Marcus Marshall’s health is a key factor for Missouri State.
Fred VanVleet is ready and willing to speak to your children.
Lyndal Scranton of the Springfield News-Leader says the MVC will adopt a three-tiered scheduling system to build RPI.
SEPTEMBER
Northern Iowa center Seth Tuttle turned into more of a scorer than his coach expected.
The Panthers are thinking NCAA Tournament, but not talking about it. Kind of.
Northern Iowa scheduled with an at-large bid in mind.
A $1 million gift helps Northern Iowa upgrade and expand locker rooms.
Loyola grabs a commitment from Sunrise Christian guard Roosevelt Smart, a Chicago native ranked No. 146 nationally by Rivals.com.
Missouri State’s 1999 Sweet 16 team reunited in Springfield. No word on if they paused to reflect on Troy Mack’s 23 and 22.
Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson is increasing his profile as the top Panther.
Students are upset that Missouri State can’t complete track and field facilities in time to hold the MVC Outdoor Championships.
Sports Illustrated ranks two Shockers on its list of top 20 guards.
Missouri State took a shot at Juwan Morgan before he hit the big time.
SI.com’s Seth Davis talks recruiting with Gregg Marshall.
Former WSU assistant Earl Grant takes over as head man at College of Charleston.
USA Today projects Northern Iowa as an NCAA at-large team on the strength of five returning starters and 8,569 redshirts.
AUGUST
UNI adds Richmond to complete a non-conference hoops schedule that includes Virginia Tech, Iowa and VCU.
Southern Illinois volleyball moves toward top of MVC.
Illinois State volleyball starts with six seniors.
Northern Iowa volleyball lost a key player to transfer after missing the NCAAs.
Injury problems continue for Bradley basketball.
Illinois State coach Dan Muller sees his team ahead of last year’s pace.
Angry birds: Creighton’s logo under attack by Toronto.
JULY
BasketballInsiders lists Cleanthony Early as one of the Summer League studs.
SIU guard Anthony Beane needs to take advantage of better shooters around him.
A coach breaks down WSU’s pick and roll.
Missouri State’s Marcus Marshall driven by injury and memory of loss to WSU.
Quad-City Times: MVC should draw well for its women’s tournament.
USA Today ranks Fred VanVleet among the top mid-major players.
The Big Lead ranks Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet among the top players in the nation.
Phil Jackson may not be sold on Cleanthony Early as a backup to Carmelo Anthony.
Howard Beck of Bleacher Report sits with Early for a video look at his early days in the NBA.
Early picks up books to learn his new bosses.
NBA.com cameras catch up with Early.
New York Daily News: Early a good fit for Phil Jackson’s offense.
New York Post: Falling into second round a blessing.
New York Times: Early prepared to play with, or without, Carmelo.
Times Herald-Record: Early stop at Denny’s includes autographs, pictures.
Newsday: Knicks picked Early for a reason.
MVC commissioner Doug Elgin looking for a scheduling partner.
JUNE
MVC schools feel the loss of BracketBusters and MWC Challenge.
NY Times: The sad story of a Bradley great barred from the NBA.
Age may have caused Early to drop in NBA Draft.
Conor Gillaspie makes his case as Chicago’s future third baseman.
ESPN.com ranks Gregg Marshall No. 8 among college coaches.
Cleanthony Early works out for Phoenix.
Nick Wiggins talks family genes at Golden State.
WSU’s women’s basketball team will play in the Paradise Jam, a field that includes Kentucky, Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma and others.
Fred VanVleet is the No. 7 point guard IN THE NATION, according to The Sporting News. Utah’s Delon Wright, a WSU opponent, is No. 2.
TSN ranks Ron Baker the No. 2 shooting guard in the nation.
Baseball recruit Isaac Anderson turned down $100,000 on draft day.
Ed Braeuer, father of former Shocker player Matt Braeuer, made a big impression on a young sports writer.
Future Shocker volleyball player Shimen Fayad started her WSU workouts.
Cleanthony Early’s performance vs. Kentucky raised his stock.
Tampa Bay execs are pleased to get Casey Gillaspie in uniform quickly.
Seton Hall is upgrading its basketball schedule with help from WSU.
Compare athletic departments in USA Today’s budget database.
SportsNet Central’s Dalen Cuff looks at Cleanthony Early’s draft potential.
MLB.com ranks Casey Gillaspie No. 25 on its draft list. Recruit Sam Hilliard is No. 167.
Painter finds a fitting home for his tribute to Bradley basketball.
MAY
HoopsHype sees Cleanthony Early going No. 20 to Toronto.
Conor Gillaspie takes over at third base for the White Sox.
The Sporting News follows Cleanthony Early on his draft tour.
Other teams may be willing to lure Toure Murry from the Knicks.
Sports Talk Florida’s Matt Stein projects Casey Gillaspie as a big-league first baseman.
Former Shocker pitcher Anthony Capra loves living in Wichita.
Cleanthony Early says Gregg Marshall predicted his NBA future.
Former Shocker Paul Guffrovich takes a new coaching job.
Oregon coach Dana Altman’s reputation takes a hit.
The Quad-Cities wants to host the MVC women’s tournament.
NBCSports.com looks at which schools might challenge WSU.
ESPN.com explains why coaches, including Gregg Marshall, stay put.
Q&A with Fred VanVleet by the hometown TV station.
Mark Turgeon understands why Maryland fans are anxious.
Perfect Game projects three MVC teams in the baseball regionals.
Drake, Bradley, Loyola picked up prominent Chicago-area recruits in the spring.
Eric McKnight, who displayed interest in WSU, is going to Tennessee. There is no evidence WSU reciprocated that interest.
Tacoma guard Ahmaad Rorie, class of 2014, claims an offer from the Shockers after asking for a release from Cal.
Bradley assistant coach Ron Coleman is bringing Chicago talent to Carver Arena.
Wingnuts manager Kevin Hooper: WSU wanted college experience.
Former WSU assistant Chris Jans benefits from a big donation at Bowling Green.
Sean Keeler: Nothing has changed in regard to scheduling Kansas State and Kansas.
Former Shocker coach Mark Turgeon is losing ground and players at Maryland, according to the Washington Post. Turgeon takes the blame for four transfers, in a story by the Baltimore Sun.
Rivals: WSU offers Class of 2016 guard Lamonte Turner.
Missouri State baseball attendance is a losing proposition at Hammons Field.
The Big East experienced growing pains with it TV schedule.
Cowley track star Jamesia Milton signs with WSU.
Philly guard Levan Alston has an offer from WSU, according to a local recruiting website.
Creighton wants to lead the Big East in baseball like WSU did in the MVC.
TUESDAY, MARCH 25
Before the Shockers’ loss, Twins teammates had some fun with former WSU pitcher Mike Pelfrey (video, it’s tremendous).
They were taking note of UK-WSU even at the University of Wisconsin student paper.
MONDAY, MARCH 24
Los Angeles Times’ Chris Dufresne takes the selection committee to task for Kentucky being an 8.
Lexington Herald-Leader’s coverage: game story, John Clay column.
SI.com’s Luke Winn with the inside access to Sunday.
SI.com says Cleanthony Early was the best player on the floor.
USA Today calls it one of the best first-weekend games in recent memory.
SBNation’s Sea of Blue fan site with its breakdown of the game.
SUNDAY, MARCH 23
Louisville Courier-Journal: Early finds right fit at WSU.
Bryan Burwell: Which team is David?
Jerry Tipton: The Shockers never quit on their principles.
Jerry Clay: Kentucky has a chance to prove the hype is real.
The Shockers get the edge in the backcourt.
Pat Forde: Marshall’s brand is growing.
SATURDAY, MARCH 22
Fans are overwhelmed by divided loyalties in St. Louis.
Eleven days off didn’t slow the Shockers.
Sam Mellinger of The Star: I don’t see any disrespect.
Pat Forde of Yahoo.com: CBS gets the match-up it wanted.
Gary Parrish: Biggest. Game. Ever.
Odd article by ESPN.com’s Adam Finkelstein: WSU lacks an identity in recruiting. Not sure about this one.
FRIDAY, MARCH 21
Here’s an ESPN.com scouting report from the guys who didn’t get it done.
Pat Forde of Yahoo wonders how Kansas’ divided loyalties will affect the crowd noise.
Do people paying SASO donations agree with this, from ESPN’s Darren Rovell?
Bryan Burwell: The selection committee did the Shockers a favor.
Bluejay alert: Fun read on divided loyalties in Nebraska. Kansans can relate.
TUESDAY, MARCH 18
Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times is glad WSU is no Duke.
Wichita State gets admiration from Forbes.com for its wins vs. millions spent ratio.
The Shockers make the top 10 of Matt Norlander’s rooting rankings. So does Creighton.
Scruffy, guest columnist for the Morris (Ill.) Times Herald remembers Drake’s 1964 win over the Shockers in Des Moines.
USA Today: Embrace your draw, Shockers.
Andrew Sharp of Grantland.com wants to see WSU-Kansas State.
MONDAY, MARCH 17
Ken Pomeroy’s numbers say the Midwest Region is tough at the top, easy through the rest.
WSU’s margin of victory doesn’t impress at FiveThirtyEight.
SUNDAY, MARCH 16
USA Today says WSU should begin the nuts and bolts cheer.
Kirk Wessler of the Peoria Journal Star says believe the committee.
From the Recordonline.com: Cleanthony Early feels no pressure on Selection Sunday.
SATURDAY, MARCH 15
You know Wichita State has arrived when there’s an Evolution of WuShock photo gallery on the New York Times website. (By the way, it’s awesome.)
Jim Benson of the Pantagraph takes on Doug Gottlieb.
The New York Daily News examines Cleanthony Early’s road from New York to Wichita.
FRIDAY, MARCH 14
USA Today with a look at assistant Chris Jans eyeing head-coaching opportunities.
Former Shocker Carl Hall experiences the losing side of life in Japan.
Charles Barkley sticks up for the Shockers and turns the question on TMZ.
THURSDAY, MARCH 13
Lyndal Scranton of the Springfield News-Leader wonders if this is what it was like watching Indiana State in 1979.
Randy Kindred of the Pantagraph compares WSU’s unselfishness with that of the 2005 Illini.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12
USA Today has Gonzaga coach Mark Few saying Wichita State can win it all.
CBSSports.com’s Jeff Borzello analyzes how far WSU has to get to avoid being called overrated.
Strength of schedule precedent throws up a caution flag, from the WSJ.
SI.com puts Fred VanVleet on its All-America teams.
TUESDAY, MARCH 11
Hey, Kansas is not the only state with a legislature thinking about regulating regular-season college basketball games.
Northern Iowa recruit Wyatt Lohaus controls his heart condition by dipping his face in a bucket of water
We post these stories sometimes wishing we had been able to edit them beforehand.
SportingNews.com says Gregg Marshall is the Coach of the Year.
SI.com’s Luke Winn dines and travels with the Shockers, but doesn’t get to sit next to Fred VanVleet. That seat’s taken.
Des Moines Register’s Andrew Logue on how the Valley takes advantage of 34-0.
MONDAY, MARCH 10
The long-form version, from Grantland’s Jordan Conn, on the non-rivalry between WSU and Kansas. (Editor’s note: He nails it.)
Latest bracket projections from Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm.
Bleacher Report may be the first out with its All-American picks.
The Lawrence Journal-World looks at Shocker fans in the Jayhawks’ front yard.
CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish on Gregg Marshall being moved by the moment of reaching 34-0.
SUNDAY, MARCH 9
Indiana State needed every second on the clock to beat SIU.
Bryan Burwell: WSU is just that good.
St. Louis bars and hotel miss the Bluejay fans.
Sean Keeler: Marshall can end the frustration in St. Louis today.
SATURDAY, MARCH 8
Latest bracket projections from Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm.
Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde on the sudden love affair -- Gregg Marshall and St. Louis.
Fox Sports KC’s Sean Keeler says the Shocker big men are big enough.
Wiggins vs. Wiggins. Yeah, they’ve talked about it.
FRIDAY, MARCH 7
St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss on that dreaded M-M word.
THURSDAY, MARCH 6
Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde thinks the Shockers need to lose in St. Louis.
CBSSports.com’s Gregg Doyel lets WSU associate AD Darron Boatright defend the Shockers’ schedule -- exasperatingly.
Des Moines Register’s Andrew Logue on the MVC spotlight squarely on the Shockers.
Kansas City sports media critic Greg Hall documents the love/hate for the Shockers.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5
An NCAA.com video on the Shockers. With slo-mo footage!
Longtime Philly columnist Dick Jerardi sees the Shockers going a ways in the tournament.
Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Jimmy Burch is in the Shockers’ camp for a No. 1 seed.
TUESDAY, MARCH 4
Indiana communications student with an interesting take on Coach of the Year candidates.
SBNation with a defense of the Shockers’ non-conference schedule.
Bleacher Report’s Jason King on the influence of Fred VanVleet’s stepfather.
MONDAY, MARCH 3
Latest bracket projections from Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm.
In case you were wondering, St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli wasn’t going all ’72 Dolphins on the Shockers.
CBSSports.com’s Gregg Doyel wonders why we’re even arguing about the Shockers’ credentials?
We’ll expand into MVC Tournament stories this week. Here’s a good one from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on SIU coach Barry Hinson and his struggle to overcome a family tragedy.
SUNDAY, MARCH 2
KC Star’s Blair Kerkhoff weighs whether Shockers, Jayhawks fit on the bracket’s 1-line.
ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter was on hand for No. 31.
Bleacher Report’s Thad Novak writes that WSU is the only team not to stumble against an overmatched foe.
Forbes.com on how BCS conferences’ bottom-dwellers end up hurting the Shockers in seeding talk.
Vahe Gregorian of The Kansas City Star writes that WSU understands its season will be judged later this month by most.
SATURDAY, MARCH 1
Springfield News-Leader’s Lyndell Scranton on Missouri State trying to avoid being the Washington Generals on Saturday.
THURSDAY, FEB. 27
NBCSports.com on how Las Vegas wouldn’t mind the Shockers not going 40-0.
Fred VanVleet’s hometown paper with a story and video from Tuesday at Bradley.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26
Todd Golden of the Terre Haute Tribune Star votes four Shockers All-MVC.
Well, one website likes the Shockers as No. 1 in the nation.
Peoria Journal Star BU beat writer Dave Reynolds on Bradley’s best effort to end the streak.
Peoria columnist Kirk Wessler on the Shockers: 30-0’s great. Maybe not the nation’s best, but great.
The Eagle’s Suzanne Tobias on the Shocker bandwagon. They’re building a second deck for the postseason.
The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy: Quit playing what ifs, the Shockers have earned this.
Ohio State players remember this Shocker bunch well.
Fox Sports.com on the Wiggins bridge between Wichita, Lawrence.
TUESDAY, FEB. 25
Peoria Journal Star’s Dave Reynolds on senior night for Bradley’s Walt Lemon Jr.
Editorial writers in Topeka are getting in on the Shocker love.
MONDAY, FEB. 24
LJWorld.com’s Tom Keegan has been escorted to the Douglas County border.
Latest bracket projections from Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm. Would you rather face the Fighting Webers or the Fighting Boyles in the third round?
SUNDAY, FEB. 23
AP voter Rick Bozich has WSU No. 3 this week. He wishes Gregg Marshall would’ve scheduled tougher in non-conference.
The Newark Star-Ledger’s bracket analyst has WSU as the No. 1 overall seed.
Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com finds bitter Kansas fans and says pollsters should rank WSU No. 1.
FRIDAY, FEB. 21
SBNation recaps three reasons why WSU is unbeaten.
Kansas City TV/radio mouth Jack Harry stands up for the Shockers.
THURSDAY, FEB. 20
FoxSports.com’s Sean Keeler to the nation: Accept WSU as a No. 1 seed.
Rant Sports’ Taylor Sturm makes the case for WSU as the tourney’s No. 1 overall seed.
Chicago Tribune coverage of Wednesday’s Shocker victory.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19
CBSSports.com gets former Shocker opponents to scout up the nation’s lone unbeaten. Interesting stuff.
SI.com’s Seth Davis with some pro-Shocker insight: Skepticism is healthy, but WSU passes eye test.
The Shockers and Orange met in an online game simulation. A Syracuse writer, via WSU’s Sunflower, on the result.
CBS’ Jeff Borzello collects anonymous thoughts on the Shockers. All agree they can win it all.
MONDAY, FEB. 17
SI.com’s Seth Davis likes Gregg Marshall as his coach of the year.
Latest bracket projections from Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm. (WSU’s still a 1 in both.)
Sam Mellinger of the KC Star blogs: If you don’t believe in WSU, you’re looking at a jersey name and not the numbers.
Shocker fans agree: The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy is a right-thinking American.
CBSSports.com’s weekly podcast talks Shockers, among other things.
SUNDAY, FEB. 16
Minneapolis Star Tribune says don’t worry about the schedule, appreciate what WSU is doing.
FRIDAY, FEB. 14
Todd Golden of the Terre Haute Tribune-Star has been tweeting while participating in the NCAA’s mock selection process. Good stuff.
Wichita State, Kansas or Kansas State: Rant Sports says all three can lay claim to being the state’s best.
NBCSports.com now has WSU as a 1-seed facing GWU or New Mexico in the third round.
THURSDAY, FEB. 13
Latest bracket projections from Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm.
FoxSports.com on the Shockers’ most underrated player.
WSU’s former rival to the south talks about what it would take to get where the Shockers are.
ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil talks to Ron Wellman, chairman of the NCAA selection committee about WSU’s case for a top seed.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12
The Southern’s Todd Heffernan on an opportunity missed by the Salukis.
KC Star’s Vahe Gregorian on the underappreciated Shockers.
FoxSports.com’s Sean Keeler: Shockers are a No. 1 seed; forget the score.
SportingNews.com with a look at St. Joseph’s Phil Martelli and living an unbeaten regular season.
TUESDAY, FEB. 11
SB Nation says Gregg Marshall is coach everyone wants, but why would he leave WSU?
The New York Times follows the Shockers to Cedar Falls and asks the No. 1 seed question.
MONDAY, FEB. 10
WSU remains a No. 1 seed on Joe Lunardi’s bracket and Jerry Palm’s bracket. The Shockers are a No. 2 by NBCSports.com.
NBCSports.com on whether the Shockers are deserving of a top seed if unbeaten by March 16.
SUNDAY, FEB. 9
Waterloo Courier: Shockers impose will on UNI.
SATURDAY, FEB. 8
ESPN.com re-tells the “Play Angry” story.
CollegeInsiders.com talks about which is tougher, a Shocker Final Four run last year or this year?
FRIDAY, FEB. 7
SB Nation with an appreciation of how tough 18-0 would be in the MVC.
THURSDAY, FEB. 6
Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde was in the Hulman Center. The Shockers heat up a cold Indiana night.
Terre Haute’s Todd Golden on how the Sycamores felt like one got away.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5
SI.com profiles Fred Van Vleet, revealing why he pals around with Ron Baker.
ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil on WSU embracing “the big, fat zero.”
ESPN.com writers look for a Shocker weakness.
Terre Haute Tribune-Star beat writer Todd Golden on the VanVleet-Odum matchup and Indiana State playing host to its highest-ranked foe.
CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish on the Shockers’ big week.
TUESDAY, FEB. 4
Bleacher Report on the Shockers’ unbeaten chances.
USA Today with a long profile of Gregg Marshall.
Athlon Sports with some unbeaten tidbits.
Lost Lettermen misses the Jays and Shockers getting together.
MONDAY, FEB. 3
Fox Sports KC: Indiana State’s Greg Lansing sees a difference with these Shockers.
USA Today concurs with Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm. WSU goes unbeaten, it’s a No. 1 seed.
SI.com thinks Wednesday’s game at Indiana State could be a good one.
SUNDAY, FEB. 2
Arizona Star’s day-after coverage of No. 1 Arizona’s first loss, which leaves WSU and Syracuse as the nation’s remaining unbeatens.
AP’s Dave Skretta with his story from WSU’s win over Evansville (via Yahoo Sports).
SBNation on the Shockers’ comeback against Evansville, complete with “Wizard of Oz” references.
SATURDAY, FEB. 1
MLive.com writer calls Gregg Marshall’s postgame remark about Michigan State “snippy.”
Forbes.com says WSU lost money in its Final Four trip, at least on the balance sheet.
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/30999426","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"97426597","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/cgm32o/picture97426597","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"nick and chadrack with papers","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1502032863,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1471988055,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/cgm32o/picture97426597/alternates/FREE_1140/nick%20and%20chadrack%20with%20papers","href":"/web/v1/content/97426597","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State’s Chadrack Lufile and Nick Wiggins celebrate a 31-0 record at Koch Arena.","photographer":"The Wichita Eagle","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"unknown","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/cgm32o/picture97426597/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/nick%20and%20chadrack%20with%20papers"},{"id":"49015500","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article49015500.html","asset_type":"blogpost","state":"published","title":"Wichita State men’s and women’s basketball schedules","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1490122705,"published_date":1449772792,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/854g0y/picture97397577/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/brown%20dunk%20vs.%20msu","teaser":{"title":"Wichita State men’s and women’s basketball schedules","publication":"","layout_option":"","modified_date":0,"published_date":0,"thumbnail":"","credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"","kicker":"","href":"","byline":"","template_type":"","allow_comments":false},"access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360","3361"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Shockers open on Nov. 5 with exhibition game","content":"
Nov. 5 — WSU 73, Augusta (Ga.) 67
Nov. 11 — WSU 85, South Carolina State 39
Nov. 13 — WSU 92, Long Beach State 55
Nov. 16 —WSU 80, Tulsa 53
Nov. 20 — WSU 116, Maryland Eastern Shore 79
x-Nov. 23 — WSU 82, LSU 47
x-Nov. 24 — No. 10 Louisville 62, WSU 52
x-Nov. 25 — No. 24 Michigan State 77, WSU 72
Nov. 29 — WSU 87, Southern Nazarene 57
Dec. 3 — WSU 82, Colorado State 67
Dec. 6 — WSU 75, Saint Louis 45
Dec. 10 — WSU 76, Oklahoma 73
Dec. 17 — Oklahoma State 93, WSU 76
Dec. 22 — WSU 89, South Dakota State 67
Dec. 28 — WSU 80, Indiana State 72
Jan. 1 — WSU 100, Bradley 66
Jan. 4 — WSU 90, Drake 65
Jan. 8 — WSU 80, Northern Iowa 66
Jan. 11 — WSU 87, Loyola 75
Jan. 14 — Illinois State 76, WSU 62
Jan. 17 — WSU 82, Evansville 65
Jan. 21 — WSU 84, Indiana State 58
Jan. 24 — WSU 87, Southern Illinois 45
Jan. 29 — WSU 64, Bradley 49
Feb. 1 — WSU 77, Drake 69
Feb. 4 — WSU 86, Illinois State 45
Feb. 9 — WSU 80, Missouri State 62
Feb. 12 — WSU 81, Loyola 64
Feb. 15 — WSU 87, Southern Illinois 68
Feb. 18 — WSU 73, Northern Iowa 44
Feb. 21 — WSU 109, Evansville 83
Feb. 25 — WSU 86, Missouri State 67
MVC Tournament, St. Louis
March 3 — WSU 82, Bradley 56
March 4 — WSU 78, Missouri State 63
March 5 — WSU 71, Illinois State 51
NCAA Tournament
at Indianapolis
March 17 — WSU 64, Dayton 58
March 19 — Kentucky 65, WSU 62
x-at Paradise Island, Bahamas
WICHITA STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Nov. 2 — WSU 58, Newman 49
Nov. 6 — WSU 67, Cameron 65
Nov. 13 — WSU 62, Creighton 54
Nov. 15 — UMKC 56, WSU 54
Nov. 20 — Texas-Arlington 74, WSU 70
Nov. 24 — Purdue 86, WSU 49
Nov. 25 — Stanford 87, WSU 39
Nov. 26 — WSU 87, Northeastern 73
Dec. 2 — WSU 69, Arkansas State 51
Dec. 9 — Missouri 64, WSU 57
Dec. 16 — Wichita State 81, Abilene Christian 62
Dec. 17 — WSU 73, Incarnate Word 63
Dec. 21 — South Dakota State 78, WSU 58
Dec. 30 — Drake, 83, WSU 78
Jan. 1 — Northern Iowa 63, WSU 61
Jan. 6 — Missouri State 73, WSU 62
Jan. 13 — Southern Illinois 77, WSU 54
Jan. 15 — WSU 74, Evansville 67
Jan. 20 — WSU 65, Bradley 54
Jan. 22 — WSU 67, Illinois State 45
Jan. 27 — WSU 56, Indiana State 42
Jan. 29 — WSU 83, Loyola 64
Feb. 5 — Missouri State 65, WSU 60
Feb. 10 — WSU 69, Evansville 68
Feb. 12 — Southern Illinois 61, WSU 58
Feb. 17 — Illinois State 54, WSU 50
Feb. 19 — WSU 76, Bradley 69
Feb. 24 — WSU 65, Loyola 43
Feb. 26 — WSU 67, Indiana State 43
March 2 — Northern Iowa 62, WSU 37
March 4 — Drake 105, WSU 89
MVC Tournament, Moline, Ill.
March 10 — WSU 73, Southern Illinois 60
March 11 — Drake 86, WSU 68
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/49015500","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"97397577","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/854g0y/picture97397577","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"brown dunk vs. msu","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1490122705,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1471985121,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/854g0y/picture97397577/alternates/FREE_1140/brown%20dunk%20vs.%20msu","href":"/web/v1/content/97397577","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State’s Zach Brown dunks vs. Missouri State at Koch Arena.","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"unknown","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/854g0y/picture97397577/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/brown%20dunk%20vs.%20msu"},{"id":"224606750","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article224606750.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Exploring the ‘razor thin’ margin between winning and losing for these Shockers","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1547675856,"published_date":1547675853,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/latest-news/pe9rfs/picture224474475/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/AP_19013079052973.jpg","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state, wsu, shockers, winning, gregg marshall, losing, basketball","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3035","3360","3315","3323"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Video examples that highlight the momentary lapses the Wichita State men’s basketball team suffers that is costing it during its four-game losing streak. Here’s how the Shockers can get back to winning.","content":"No one is more disappointed in Wichita State’s 0-3 start in American Athletic Conference play than coach Gregg Marshall, but he also knows the Shockers aren’t far away from winning those games.
But Marshall and WSU fans haven’t been playing the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve games for a long time. It’s shocking to some fans to see any Shockers team lose four straight games, something they haven’t done in a decade, which perhaps puts in perspective just how impressive WSU has been under Marshall.
“We’re right there, but we haven’t finished,” Marshall said. “Our margin for error, especially this year, is razor thin. We’re going to have to find a way to get more quality possessions. More finished possessions on the defensive end and figure out a way to get a little bit better shots on the offensive end.”
I wanted to explore just how razor-thin that margin for error is with this team and I’ll use WSU’s last game, a 79-70 loss at Houston, to illustrate the point.
Did you know for 36 of 40 minutes and 124 of 136 possessions, WSU was every bit as good as a top-20 team on its home court? But during that four-minute, 12-possession stretch halfway through the second half, WSU went from up one, 56-55, to down nine, 66-57, and never fully recovered.
If WSU can hang with Houston on the road for over 90 percent of the game, then it’s certainly capable of competing with, and beating, any team in a conference that appears void of an elite team. But it’s worth exploring the kind of lapses that are plaguing the Shockers and holding them back in losses.
Think of each half separated into five “rounds.” Each round is four minutes. In WSU’s first three AAC games, it is winning or playing even in at least three of the second-half rounds. But there is always one four-minute stretch where the Shockers give up a huge run and it’s so hard to come back from that consistently.
At Memphis, a 85-74 loss, WSU was being outscored 15-5 in a four-minute stretch inside the 10-minute mark. In an 85-81 loss to Temple, the Shockers were torched 11-0 in the final 3:30 of regulation and eventually lost in overtime.
But the one we’re going to take a look at is the Houston game, where the 11-1 rally by Houston halfway through the second half gave it the cushion it needed to hold onto the victory down the stretch. In fact, WSU’s defense failed to generate a single kill (three straight defensive stops) against Houston in the second half, the first time that’s happened all season.
Let’s take a look at the seven key plays during this stretch that cost WSU the most. If the Shockers can cut down on these type of mistakes moving forward, their chances of winning should greatly increase.
The important part of this play happens underneath the basket when the shot goes up. Jaime Echenique is manning the middle of WSU’s 2-3 zone and is grappling with Houston’s Breaon Brady when the shot goes up. Echenique is in front, but doesn’t use his back side to check Brady out and Brady slips around him.
That matters because then Echenique puts his forearm on Brady’s back and when the shot comes off the rim, nudges him just enough to convince the referee to whistle him for his fourth foul. It was just a momentary lapse, but it cost Echenique, who missed the next six minutes because of foul trouble, and WSU, as Houston scored two points on the second chance after it looked like WSU’s defense had finished the stop.
WSU should have retaken the lead on this possession, as it had the perfect chance to cash in on opportunity basketball. Houston double-teams Dexter Dennis in the corner and his pass is high and wide, but Ricky Torres does well to snag it and comes down with two open options.
He has Asbjorn Midtgaard on the left block or Samajae Haynes-Jones in the left corner open for the kick-out. Torres picks Midtgaard, which was the right choice, but he tries to make a bounce pass, which was the wrong choice. Instead of making the 7-footer reach down low, this pass should have been a lob up high where Midtgaard could have caught and finished it by the rim.
But WSU gets another chance to retake the lead immediately, as Torres pokes the ball out and creates a fast break. Usually you’re looking to push the ball to attack a back-pedaling defense, but here we see Markis McDuffie to pull up for a three-pointer that ends up being pretty well-contested by Houston’s Corey Davis Jr.
Should McDuffie have kept attacking and forced the issue at the rim? Probably. But it’s harsh to criticize split-second decisions like this one. Regardless, down 57-56, WSU has let Houston off the hook twice now when it had good opportunities to score.
Here was WSU’s third and final chance to take the lead back. Watch underneath the basket where Haynes-Jones puts his whole body into a screen on Houston’s center to free Midtgaard up. When Midtgaard comes off the screen, he’s in great position and open. He has his hand raised right where the ball would need to be delivered for him to go straight up with it for two points.
But the opening was brief and the ball handler, Jamarius Burton, hesitated for that brief moment and the window closed. It would have required a pinpoint pass and a good catch by Midtgaard, but this could have been a basket for WSU. Instead, Burton whips it to Haynes-Jones, who ends up taking an off-the-dribble, contested two-point jumper that misses.
On this defensive possession, WSU makes two small mistakes that add up to one costly mistake. The first comes with the on-ball defense by Haynes-Jones. He should be forcing Robinson to drive toward the base-line; instead he allows the in-and-out dribble by Houston’s Galen Robinson to get him off-balanced and as a result, gives up middle penetration.
Robinson isn’t much of a scorer himself, so this itself was not fatal. But when Robinson drives middle, Rod Brown swipes down as the help defender. Meanwhile, Brown’s man, Houston sharpshooter Armoni Brooks, drifts along with Robinson and presents him with the easy kick-out when Brown’s swipe comes up empty.
Give freshman Erik Stevenson a lot of credit here. He makes the quick read that Brown is beat and he comes off his man in the corner to make a great contest on Brooks’ shot. But Brooks is a lights-out shooter and when they get their feet set and have a clear look when they start their shot, a late contest doesn’t matter. Brooks sinks this three to put Houston up 60-56.
On WSU’s next possession, Haynes-Jones takes a screen from Brown and dribbles into an open two-point jumper that misses. Houston doesn’t push in transition, but sometimes the trailer on these plays can be the most dangerous. Here the most dangerous player is Corey Davis Jr., who is trailing the play.
After the miss, Stevenson, who is responsible for Davis, tracks back on defense and runs inside the arc. Most of the time, this is perfectly fine defense. But against an elite player like Davis, you have to be cognizant of where he is at all times. Davis uses this momentary lapse to his advantage, as he sets up for the three-pointer in stride. Stevenson gets caught in traffic, Davis cans the open three and within 37 seconds, Houston takes a 63-56 lead.
WSU switches back to its match-up 2-3 zone and it’s hard to fault the defense of Burton too much. He’s rightly concerned with Brady in the high post and when the ball swings to the left side and Brady slides over to set a ball screen, Burton feels obligated to be there to prevent Houston from penetrating.
But the overplay makes the other wing wide open and a simple pass back to Corey Davis Jr. gives him a wide-open look from three. It’s a tough ask, but Burton probably needed to stay a few steps closer so he could have retreated and challenged Davis more on the shot. Instead, Davis fires away freely and drills another three to cap Houston’s 11-1 rally.
As you can see above, none of these plays were egregious errors on WSU’s part. But good teams are going to exploit lapses and WSU will have to clean those up if it is going to snap out of its losing skid this week against Central Florida and Cincinnati.
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/224606750","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"\n
\n","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"224474475","url":"https://www.kansas.com/latest-news/pe9rfs/picture224474475","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"AP_19013079052973.jpg","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3035","modified_date":1547349899,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1547349862,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/latest-news/pe9rfs/picture224474475/alternates/FREE_1140/AP_19013079052973.jpg","href":"/web/v1/content/224474475","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3035"],"credit":"AP","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State guard Jamarius Burton (2) loses the ball as he goes up for a shot under pressure from Houston guard Corey Davis Jr. (5) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)","photographer":"Michael Wyke","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/latest-news/pe9rfs/picture224474475/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/AP_19013079052973.jpg"},{"id":"218151865","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article218151865.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Here’s how effective WSU’s 10 most popular lineups were last basketball season","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1536683977,"published_date":1536616877,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/xo88wi/picture190899944/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/121917wsu_th9","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state, shockers, wsu, gregg marshall, lineups, popular, 2018, 2017, analysis, basketball","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3035","3360","3382","3315","3323"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"A look at the 10 most popular lineups Gregg Marshall used during the 2017-18 season with the Wichita State men’s basketball team, including analysis of offensive and defensive efficiency.","content":"
There are plenty of websites out there that will give you an analytical look inside Wichita State’s 25-8 season.
KenPom will tell you WSU had the fourth-best offense in the country in adjusted efficiency. Hoop-Math will show the Shockers limited opponents to a 53.9 field-goal percentage by the rim, also a top mark nationally. And Synergy will prove that Landry Shamet was the most effective spot-up shooter in the country.
All of those are revealing statistics, but they only show the final result for Wichita State. What if you took it a step further and looked how each lineup combination helped WSU reach this final destination?
So I went back through last season’s play-by-play to examine the 10 most-used lineups by Gregg Marshall and the Shockers. Here are the results:
Time together: 149 minutes (11.4 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.21 points per possession on 242 possessions (1.14 PPP team average overall)
Defense: 1.11 PPP on 247 possessions (0.99 PPP team average overall)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.24 PPP on 200 possessions (1.14 PPP team average overall)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.19 PPP on 205 possessions (1.06 PPP team average overall)
Outcome: This was Marshall’s most-trusted combination. It got the starting nod 14 times and played by far the most minutes of any combination. This lineup excelled on offense, pumping out elite scoring against any level of opponent, but struggled somewhat producing stops compared to the team’s average defense.
Time together: 100 minutes (7.5 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.32 PPP on 151 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 0.87 PPP on 171 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.26 PPP on 105 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 0.86 PPP on 125 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: This lineup was a rousing success, as earned seven starts together and outscored opponents by 24 points in those games before the first WSU substitution. The most surprising part about this combination is the level of defense it maintained over a pretty sizable collection (and it actually improved against the good teams). The 0.87 defensive PPP is the level of defense WSU was playing when it led the nation in defensive efficiency.
Time together: 66 minutes (4.9 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.12 PPP on 113 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 1.03 PPP on 171 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 0.93 PPP on 68 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.09 PPP on 66 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: This lineup came out as an overall positive, but it really struggled when it went up against tough competition. They were outscored by 0.16 points per possession against top-150 competition and that difference grew to 0.25 against top-100 teams. It’s surprising this combination struggled so much on offense, especially against the tougher competition.
Time together: 54 minutes (4.1 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.23 PPP on 90 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 1.06 PPP on 86 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.23 PPP on 88 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.06 PPP on 85 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: This is the first lineup to include McDuffie and was basically only used in the second half of the season. Marshall went to this lineup to start the second half three times and to much success. The combination was right in line with the team’s defensive averages and added a little extra on offense to outscore top-150 opponents by 0.17 points per possession.
Time together: 45 minutes (3.4 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 0.95 PPP on 76 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 1.07 PPP on 76 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 0.93 PPP on 73 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.08 PPP on 73 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: It’s a little bizarre how this is the same lineup as No. 4, just with Frankamp inserted for Reaves, and the numbers can be so different. While No. 4’s offense pumped out elite production, this combination for whatever reason really struggled to produce. This lineup ended as a negative for WSU, as it was outscored by 0.15 points per possession against top-150 competition.
Time together: 32 minutes (2.4 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.17 PPP on 53 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 1.09 PPP on 55 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.19 PPP on 42 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.11 PPP on 46 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: Our first sighting of a non-traditional lineup. This three-guard combination didn’t give WSU as much of an offensive boost as expected and surrendered a little on defense compared to the team’s averages. Nonetheless, it still outscored opponents by 0.08 points per possession.
Time together: 31 minutes (2.3 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.24 PPP on 50 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 1.40 PPP on 52 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.12 PPP on 34 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.60 PPP on 66 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: It doesn’t take long to see what was wrong with this lineup. The defensive numbers are eye-popping, especially top-150 teams that were able to exploit this lineup’s defense for an astounding 1.60 points per possession. And if you look at top-100 teams, then the defensive PPP rises all the way to 1.77.
Time together: 27 minutes (2.1 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.25 PPP on 55 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 0.81 PPP on 47 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.21 PPP on 43 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 0.78 PPP on 37 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: You have to keep in mind the small sample size, but this lineup proved to be one of WSU’s most successful on this list. The combination smoked opponents by 0.44 points per possession and that number held steady (0.43 PPP) against top-150 opponents. What was most impressive was the combination’s defense, as it limited top-150 teams to 0.78 PPP.
Time together: 26 minutes (2.0 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.31 PPP on 49 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 1.19 PPP on 48 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.31 PPP on 49 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.19 PPP on 48 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: This lineup is nearly identical as No. 3 on this list, as Nurger replaces Morris at center. Both of these lineups struggled on the defensive end, but this lineup with Nurger redeems itself with great offense. They played all of their minutes against top-150 competition and came away outscoring opponents by 0.12 points per possession.
Time together: 26 minutes (1.9 percent of total minutes)
Offense: 1.02 PPP on 46 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense: 1.50 PPP on 36 possessions (0.99 PPP average)
Offense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.05 PPP on 43 possessions (1.14 PPP average)
Defense vs. Top-150 teams: 1.39 PPP on 33 possessions (1.06 PPP average)
Outcome: This was another combination that really struggled to find stops on the defensive end. That’s not good news when the offense was a tick below the team’s average efficiency, too. It’s a small sample size, but still, being outscored by 0.48 points per possession is hard to come back from.
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/218151865","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"
\n
\n","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"190899944","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/xo88wi/picture190899944","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"121917wsu_th9","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","modified_date":1536610349,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1513813126,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/xo88wi/picture190899944/alternates/FREE_1140/121917wsu_th9","href":"/web/v1/content/190899944","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall liked giving his starting five a lot of time together on the court last season. The numbers show that is favorite starting five played 149 minutes together, by far the most of any lineup combination.","photographer":"Travis Heying","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/xo88wi/picture190899944/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/121917wsu_th9"},{"id":"217803405","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article217803405.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"How three-guard lineups have helped WSU and what it means for this year’s Shockers","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1536158490,"published_date":1536097750,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/lfntqj/picture204245704/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/123017WSU_jg7","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state, shockers, wsu, basketball, gregg marshall, lineups, three guard, coach, analysis","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3035","3360","3315","3323"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"A look at how much success Gregg Marshall had with the 2017-18 Wichita State basketball team playing three-guard lineups.","content":"
One of the hunches I had last season was that Wichita State was very good when it played three sharpshooters on the court at the same time.
Gregg Marshall often lauded the Shockers for being the best-shooting team he’s had in two decades as a head coach. Landry Shamet, Conner Frankamp and Austin Reaves were all considered knock-down shooters and Samajae Haynes-Jones made 44 percent of his threes.
But just how good were the Shockers when they had three of those players on the floor at the same time?
I wanted to find out the answer, so I combed through play-by-play data for WSU during the 2017-18 season to find out just how often that lineup was used and its effectiveness.
Here are the results and how they could be good news for the Shockers this coming season.
Before we begin, it should be noted that WSU played a traditional lineup of two guards, a small forward (think Zach Brown or Markis McDuffie), and two posts for 74 percent of available minutes last season. It was a success with the lineup outscoring opponents by 0.12 points per possession.
WSU already had a successful offensive lineup, but that advantage skyrocketed when it had its “elite shooting lineup” on the floor. The Shockers used this lineup 12 percent of the time (162 minutes) and they eviscerated opponents by 0.26 points per possession.
Having three sharpshooters on the floor made the offense lethal, as the spacing and shooting led to 418 points in 318 possessions for 1.31 points per possession. For reference, WSU’s overall points per possession of 1.14 ranked No. 7 in the country.
The lineup even led directly to a Shocker victory, as Marshall turned to the trio of Shamet, Frankamp and Reaves paired with Rashard Kelly and Rauno Nurger to pull out the win at Baylor. The lineup entered with three minutes left in a tie game and exited with a win after pulling off a 7-0 run, including the go-ahead three-pointer from Frankamp against Baylor’s zone.
So if the lineup was so effective, why didn’t Marshall use it more? Simple. Because the Shockers couldn’t get a stop against top competition with the lineup.
WSU allowed 0.99 points per possession last season, good for the No. 94 overall defense, a colossal slide from where its defense has ranked in recent seasons. And when the Shockers inserted their elite shooting lineup, their defense plummeted even further to 1.05 points per possession.
And when you start to peel back the layers and subtract playing time against inferior competition, the defensive numbers become even worse. Take out the teams outside KenPom’s top 200 and WSU’s defensive points per possession elevates to 1.13 points per possession.
It gets downright scary when you examine the 62 minutes the elite shooting lineup played against top-100 KenPom competition. While the offense did produce a resounding 1.39 points per possession, the defense gave up a staggering 1.30 points per possession.
So if you were wondering why Marshall didn’t turn more to this lineup against top competition, here’s your answer.
Ultimately, Marshall was able to find the sweet spot to make the elite shooting lineup a success in the limited minutes it played. It shouldn’t come as a surprise the lineup didn’t see more court time because Marshall would have had to make significant sacrifices to the team’s defense to boost the offense, which doesn’t align with his principles.
It may seem like the Shockers don’t have the necessary firepower to come up with their own elite shooting lineup for this season. Shamet, Frankamp and Reaves are all gone and while Haynes-Jones was accurate from deep last season, he didn’t have the volume (only 32 attempts) to be counted on as a certain asset.
Don’t be surprise if freshman Erik Stevenson becomes a sharpshooter on their level, however. The combination of Haynes-Jones and junior-college transfer Ricky Torres should provide proficient-enough shooting at point guard and freshman Dexter Dennis has been reportedly been showing off a smooth stroke from the outside.
While that likely doesn’t add up to the firepower that Shamet, Frankamp and Reaves offered (six combined threes per game on 41.2 percent accuracy), the Shockers could still form a potent shooting lineup with the pieces it has this season.
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/217803405","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"
\n
\n","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"204245704","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/lfntqj/picture204245704","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"123017WSU_jg7","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","modified_date":1520563609,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1520563292,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/lfntqj/picture204245704/alternates/FREE_1140/123017WSU_jg7","href":"/web/v1/content/204245704","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Conner Frankamp, left, and Landry Shamet high-five after Frankamp scored a three-point goal in the final minutes of the game against Connecticut in December at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.","photographer":"Jaime Green","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/lfntqj/picture204245704/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/123017WSU_jg7"},{"id":"191213394","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article191213394.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Talk Angry Ep. 4: How concerned should Wichita State fans be about the team’s defense?","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1513960129,"published_date":1513960029,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6swv0k/picture191213389/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/121617wsu_th2","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state, podcast, basketball, shockers, talk angry, episode 4, december, 2017","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Taylor Eldridge joins Dustin Kuhn on the fourth podcast of the season to discuss how worried fans should be about the team’s defense.","content":"
Listen to the fourth episode of Talk Angry, a podcast about the Wichita State men’s basketball team hosted by Dustin Kuhn and The Eagle’s Taylor Eldridge.
On this episode, Kuhn and Eldridge discuss the defensive breakdowns against Oklahoma and Arkansas State, how worried they are about WSU’s defense moving forward, and preview Friday night’s game against Florida Gulf Coast.
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @tayloreldridge
\n
\n","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"191213389","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6swv0k/picture191213389","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"121617wsu_th2","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1513960128,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1513960029,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6swv0k/picture191213389/alternates/FREE_1140/121617wsu_th2","href":"/web/v1/content/191213389","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"","dateline":"","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6swv0k/picture191213389/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/121617wsu_th2"},{"id":"187904694","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article187904694.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"This rebound shows why WSU is country’s No. 1 rebounding team","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1512379599,"published_date":1512379269,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/rw5faw/picture187904689/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/willis","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state, shockers, basketball, rebounding, best, country, nation","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"A rebound late in the Baylor win shows traits of why the Shockers are so dominant at rebounding.","content":"
Through the first month of the season, Wichita State is the country’s No. 1 rebounding team. The Shockers are grabbing on average 15.9 more rebounds than their opponents and 60.3 percent of possible rebounds, both the highest marks in Division I.
So how do you explain a team that’s not particularly tall leading the country in rebounding?
There’s several factors to explaining that, but a good place to start is this rebound by Austin Reaves with 14 seconds remaining in No. 8 Wichita State’s 69-62 victory over No. 16 Baylor in Waco on Saturday.
\n\nWhy is Wichita State the #1 rebounding team in college basketball?
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) December 4, 2017
Lots of reason, but here’s a great clip to start with. WSU so committed to checking out. Kelly/Nurger/Frankamp do it so well that ball hits ground and Reaves swoops in for the rebound. pic.twitter.com/d4BecV0rH2
The play starts as Baylor point guard Manu Lecomte attacks WSU’s defense in transition, then lays the ball off to Nuni Omot on the right wing for a three-pointer that could have cut WSU’s lead to two points.
When the ball leaves Omot’s hand, Rauno Nurger doesn’t have ideal box-out position against his man, Rashard Kelly and Conner Frankamp are floating in no man’s zone without an obvious player to box out, and Austin Reaves is standing at the top of the perimeter.
What happens in the next few seconds shows WSU’s discipline and commitment to rebounding. Watch the clip over and keep your eyes on Kelly and then Frankamp. As soon as the ball goes up, they turn immediately and identify a player they can box out.
“Our ultimate goal when the ball goes up is to move whoever is trying to get the offensive rebound out the way,” WSU senior Shaquille Morris said. “We do what we have to do to get our defenders on our backs.”
In this case, Kelly hustles from the right side of the lane all the way across to make sure the free Baylor player roaming for a weak-side rebound is sealed, while Frankamp’s diligence to check Baylor’s Jake Lindsey pays dividends when the ball caroms off the rim.
Combined with Nurger moving his man further underneath the basket to improve his rebounding chances, WSU has fully accounted for every potential offensive-rebounding threat on Baylor.
That becomes evident when Omot’s shot rolls off right in front of the rim and actually bounces — how many rebounds that come off straight over the rim fall to the ground untouched? — as Kelly, Nurger, and Frankamp have all sealed their targets. The possession ends when Reaves comes swooping in to snag the rebound.
“I think that play right there can be a teaching lesson to everyone watching, all of the young kids,” Kelly told me after the game. “That shows you how important boxing out is.”
While it may seem a little nerve-wracking for the defensive rebound not to be secured above the rim, WSU coach Gregg Marshall said seeing a rebound like that — where the ball bounces before a guard crashes down to secure it — is a coach’s dream.
“That’s how you diagram it,” Marshall said. “If you get everyone to box out, then the ball can hit the ground. There are actually drills where we make the ball hit the ground like that.”
Rebounding numbers are always discussed and assigned great importance, but the actual act of completing a rebound and what players have to do to secure them sometimes goes overlooked. Marshall and his staff are great at preaching the details to WSU, as you can see in this play.
It may have seem like a random, end-of-game rebound, but the play encapsulated why Wichita State is grabbing 80 percent of defensive rebounds and the most dominant rebounding team in college basketball right now.
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @tayloreldridge
\n
\n","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"187904689","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/rw5faw/picture187904689","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"willis","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1512379599,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1512379269,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/rw5faw/picture187904689/alternates/FREE_1140/willis","href":"/web/v1/content/187904689","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Darral Willis tries to secure a rebound earlier this season. WSU is the No. 1 rebounding team in college basketball through the weekend.","photographer":"Travis Heying","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/rw5faw/picture187904689/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/willis"},{"id":"187352643","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article187352643.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Listen to Talk Angry podcast, Ep. 1: Reviewing Maui and previewing Baylor","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1512071825,"published_date":1512071825,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bbskjq/picture187352638/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/standing%20wsu%20basketball%20fans%207","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"talk angry, podcast, wichita state, basketball, november, 2017","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3035","3360","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Hosts Dustin Kuhn and Taylor Eldridge talk Wichita State basketball in the Talk Angry podcast.","content":"
The first episode of the latest season of “Talk Angry,” a podcast about Wichita State men’s basketball, was just published.
Taylor Eldridge joined co-host Dustin Kuhn to discuss the start of the season for the Shockers, the big test ahead in Waco on Saturday, and the 2018 recruiting class for Wichita State.
\n
\n","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"187352638","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bbskjq/picture187352638","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"standing wsu basketball fans 7","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1512071825,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1512071825,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bbskjq/picture187352638/alternates/FREE_1140/standing%20wsu%20basketball%20fans%207","href":"/web/v1/content/187352638","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"File photo","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State fans cheer as the Shockers take the floor before their game against Evansville at Koch Arena in 2014.","photographer":"Travis Heying","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bbskjq/picture187352638/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/standing%20wsu%20basketball%20fans%207"},{"id":"183045486","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article183045486.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"WSU’s Landry Shamet named to Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1509996092,"published_date":1509996092,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6w7tem/picture183045481/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/031717wsu_th9","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Shamet was one of the country’s top 32 players named to the preseason watch list.","content":"
The preseason accolades continue to roll in for Wichita State sophomore point guard Landry Shamet, who was one of 32 players named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list on Monday. The trophy is awarded to college basketball’s player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Shamet averaged 11.4 points and 3.3 assists last year and gained recognition with a standout performance against Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Wichita State returns all five starters, including Shamet, from a 31-win team and has been ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press preseason poll.
Shamet is currently recovering from an offseason surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot. He returned to practice last week and was nearing a return, but coach Gregg Marshall said Shamet was complaining of ankle soreness. His availability is unclear for Monday night’s exhibition game against Newman.
Wichita State opens its season on Friday against Missouri-Kansas City.
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/183045486","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"183045481","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6w7tem/picture183045481","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"031717wsu_th9","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1509996092,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1509996092,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6w7tem/picture183045481/alternates/FREE_1140/031717wsu_th9","href":"/web/v1/content/183045481","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State point guard Landry Shamet was named to the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list this preseason. The award is given to the top player in college basketball by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.","photographer":"Travis Heying","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/6w7tem/picture183045481/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/031717wsu_th9"},{"id":"182433546","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article182433546.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Shocker film room: Why Landry Shamet is so good at the pick and roll","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1509668288,"published_date":1509668288,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/7lmxin/picture182433541/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/031917wsu_th11%20(2)","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"landry shamet, wichita state, pick and roll, film room, nba, guard, shockers","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Studying the tendencies of Landry Shamet in the pick and roll and what makes the Wichita State sophomore so deadly in it.","content":"
Wichita State’s potential was unlocked last season when coach Gregg Marshall shifted Landry Shamet to the point guard position midway through the season.
The rest is history: Shamet averaged 11.4 points, shot 44 percent on three-pointers, and finished with 117 assists compared to 39 turnovers in his redshirt freshman season. He delivered his best game on the biggest stage, scoring a team-high 20 points and not committing a turnover in 34 minutes against Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Even with while currently on the mend, recovering from offseason surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot, Shamet has received praise entering the college basketball season with some outlets saying he could be an All-American.
Some might think that’s a little much for a player who had modest averages — 11.4 points and 3.3 assists. But advanced numbers tell a different story.
Taking care of the basketball is priority No. 1 to play point guard for Marshall, and Shamet was one of the best in the nation. His 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked in the 99th percentile from the pool of more than 2,500 college basketball players who had at least 400 possessions end with them shooting or their pass leading directly to a teammate shooting, according to Synergy. Shamet’s 1.44 points per possession in those situations was in the 98th percentile from that same pool.
Shamet is expected to have the ball in his hands even more this season since he’ll begin as the point guard. So what can Shockers fans expect this season when Shamet returns? A healthy dose of Shamet operating in the pick and roll.
According to Synergy’s data, more than a third (38.5 percent) of Shamet’s offensive usage last season came off the pick and roll. These plays resulted in 190 points on 175 possessions for a PPP of 1.09, which ranked in the 96th percentile of players who had at least 100 such possessions.
Let’s take a look at what makes Shamet so effective in the pick and roll.
Shamet prefers the screen coming from the left side, so he can turn the corner going to his right with the ball in his right hand.
When Shamet decides to take the screen, most defenders are going to trail Shamet and go over the screen, which leaves the opposition’s big trying to stay in front of Shamet to discourage a drive for a second until his defender can completely recover.
With any pick-and-roll coverage, there is a split second — the ball handler’s defender hasn’t quite recovered and the big man shifts back to the screener to defend the roll — where the defense is exposed. Shamet was able to exploit this last season by using a hesitation dribble to send the big man off, then exploding down the freeway and finishing at the rim.
Here are video examples:
\n\n5️⃣ LS is so good at the hesitation dribble, then exploding going to his right. Shamet had a 1.22 PPP when he finished at the rim in 16/17. pic.twitter.com/nlqoGSbAC4
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) November 2, 2017
According to Synergy, Shamet scored 34 points in 28 possessions when he finished at the rim. That 1.21 PPP is close to elite production, and defenses must account for the threat Shamet presents driving the ball.
\n\n4️⃣ Shamet knows how to use his 6’4” length. Here are two plays where he finishes at rim and doesn’t take a dribble inside the 3-point arc pic.twitter.com/ilLi5kV2eF
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) November 2, 2017
Watch that short clip and you will see two occasions when the 6-foot-4 Shamet doesn’t take a single dribble inside the three-point arc and still finishes at the rim, both times because of his length.
While we’re probably not going to see much more of the second clip when Shamet rejects the screen, which he rarely does, and flies down the lane for a two-handed slam, the first clip in the NCAA Tournament against Kentucky can be a preview of what’s to come.
First off, Kentucky has length and athleticism that will be more prevalent in the American. It’s impressive to watch Shamet show off his own length and athleticism to trump it.
But what I like the most about this play is that Shamet uses a “hostage” dribble after Rashard Kelly sets the screen on the left wing. The defender trails the screen, but instead of exploding right at the big man waiting for him in the lane, Shamet shows patience by putting the trailing defender on his backside with the hostage dribbles. That creates a 1-on-1 situation with Shamet and the big man, a game Shamet wants to play every time.
In the NBA, this technique is called putting your defender in jail. When Shamet has his defender shielded on the backside, he is unable to defend Shamet going toward the basket. This is a play I think we will see more of with Shamet going up against higher-caliber athletes and a play he can have success with due to his length.
It will be interesting to see how defenses approach the pick and roll with Shamet. For this section, we’ll look at how Shamet is able to expertly manipulate the big man in the two-man game to set up others on the floor.
In the video below, I have paused the clips and circled the help defender that Shamet is reading before he makes the pass. But it’s also important to point out what Shamet is doing before the pass that sets up the score for the Shockers.
\n\n4️⃣ Shamet knows how to use his 6’4” length. Here are two plays where he finishes at rim and doesn’t take a dribble inside the 3-point arc pic.twitter.com/ilLi5kV2eF
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) November 2, 2017
The first clip shows the big man defender aggressively jump the screen to trap Shamet, which isn’t a good strategy because Shamet is 6-4 and can make the pass out of the double team and it leaves your other three defenders scrambling to cover four players and Wichita State will at times have five shooters on the floor. In this clip, Shaq Morris rolls down the middle of the lane after the pick and Darral Willis’ defender has to rotate over because Morris’ man is trapping the ball. Shamet reads this and calmly delivers the pass to Willis, who is left wide open to step into a 15-footer.
What defenses are more likely to do is what the rest of the clips show. The big man defender doesn’t jump out to trap, but still doesn’t want Shamet taking an uncontested three-pointer or turning the corner with full speed to the rim. Shamet knows this, so he slyly stretches out the defense by taking dribbles to the side. This draws the big man further away from WSU’s screener and sends the defense scrambling to cover the roll down the middle of the lane.
Shamet waits for the play develop and as soon as a help defender commits to the roller in the middle of the floor, Shamet delivers a dart to the player the help defender left wide open ready to shoot a jumper. Shamet is an expert at identifying who the open man will be and ensuring a clean look for them, which is the reason Wichita State scored 112 points on the 94 possessions where Shamet passed out from a pick and roll. That 1.19 PPP ranked in the 95th percentile of college basketball from a pool of players who had at least 75 possessions of passing out of a pick and roll, according to Synergy.
Why on Earth would you go under a screen on Landry Shamet? All he did was make 72 three-pointers last season at a 44-percent clip.
But some teams are so concerned about Shamet breaking down their defense that you’ll see an occasional defender go under a screen for Shamet. I don’t think we’ll see this much in the 2017-18 season because Shamet roasted defenses when they did this last season.
\n\n3️⃣ When defense goes under, Shamet goes up. LS scored 38 points in 30 possessions (1.27 PPP) when he took dribble jump shots off PnR. pic.twitter.com/FlxBwUppGJ
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) November 2, 2017
According to Synergy, Shamet scored 29 points in 22 possessions when he used a screen and took a dribble jump shot. His 1.32 PPP in those scenarios ranked him in the 97th percentile in college basketball.
We’ve established why Shamet is so deadly in the pick and roll. He can finish at the rim, manipulate the defense to create open shots for teammates, and knock down the three-pointer if you go under on the screen.
So it’s easy to understand why Shamet has such a gravitational pull on the defense when he comes off a screen in the pick and roll. He’s dangerous in so many ways that most defenses struggle to rotate quick enough to prevent him from creating an open shot for himself or a teammate.
Just watch these videos and you can see how Shamet’s pull from the pressure he applies breaks down defenses. It sends defenses scrambling and when defenses are scrambling, more times than not someone is going to be left open. And more times than not, Shamet will find them.
\n\n2️⃣ When he attacks, he has such a gravitational pull on the D that often 2 defenders come. LS has height + vision to exploit scrambling D. pic.twitter.com/ihdB5NqONQ
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) November 1, 2017
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @tayloreldridge
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"182433541","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/7lmxin/picture182433541","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"031917wsu_th11 (2)","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1509668288,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1509668288,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/7lmxin/picture182433541/alternates/FREE_1140/031917wsu_th11%20(2)","href":"/web/v1/content/182433541","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Rising sophomore star Landry Shamet was at his best last year when Wichita State used him in pick and roll situations.","photographer":"Travis Heying","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/7lmxin/picture182433541/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/031917wsu_th11%20(2)"},{"id":"182321676","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article182321676.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Ron Baker dancing as Jake from State Farm? Only for Halloween","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1509650377,"published_date":1509649150,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/x6ob7m/picture182321671/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/021517baker_th13","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"ron baker, jake, state farm, knicks, wichita state, basketball, halloween, shockers, wsu","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3034","3035","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"New York Knicks teammate Tim Hardaway Jr. captured video of Baker’s moves at a Halloween party.","content":"
The picture of Ron Baker dressed up as Jake from State Farm (with a headset and all) at a Halloween party in New York was funny enough.
Then videos started surfacing on New York Knicks teammate Tim Hardaway Jr.’s Instagram story of Baker delighting the crowd by dancing to the viral hit “Juju on That Beat” blasting from the speakers.
\n\nRon Baker lit as Jake from State Farm. ( @br_hoops) #Wichita #Shockers #PlayAngry #NBA #Knicks #BucketBros pic.twitter.com/i0VfP8GszU
— The Bucket Bros (@_BucketBros) November 2, 2017
It’s safe to say, the former Shocker won the dance-off among NBA players on Halloween. And he even got a shoutout from the Jake from State Farm Twitter account on Thursday.
Baker signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the Knicks this offseason. Baker played in New York’s first three games of the season, averaging 3.7 points and 3.7 assists in 16 minutes, but has sat out the last four games due to an ankle injury.
\n\n@RonBaker31 Just saw a video of you dressed as me. Nice headset. Nice moves.
— Jake from State Farm (@JakeStateFarm) November 2, 2017
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"182321671","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/x6ob7m/picture182321671","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"021517baker_th13","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1509650377,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1509649149,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/x6ob7m/picture182321671/alternates/FREE_1140/021517baker_th13","href":"/web/v1/content/182321671","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"File photo","dateline":"","caption":"Former Wichita State Shocker Ron Baker plays point guard for the New York Knicks against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. Baker, after an illustrious career at WSU, signed with a free agent with the Knicks and beat the odds by making the team.","photographer":"Travis Heying","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/x6ob7m/picture182321671/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/021517baker_th13"},{"id":"182104431","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article182104431.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"ESPN’s BPI says Wichita State is the favorite to win the national title","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1509589085,"published_date":1509561516,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/g8hvez/picture182104421/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/3g","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3034","3035","3360"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"The Shockers are ranked No. 1 in the Basketball Power Index and given an 11 percent chance to win the national championship.","content":"
The Basketball Power Index, ESPN’s predictive model of team strength, looks at many factors in its rankings. It looks at things such as the past performances of the coach and players on the roster and recruiting rankings, but it also takes into an account the percentage of minutes returning.
Wichita State’s experience was the main reason why the Shockers were ranked as the No. 1 team in the country in the BPI’s initial rankings in July. On Wednesday, BPI released its postseason odds and Wichita State was given a 26 percent chance to reach the Final Four and an 11 percent chance of winning the national championship — both the highest in the country.
Wichita State was given a BPI rating of 12.0, meaning it is 12 points better than the average team on a neutral court. The Shockers return all five starters, their top eight scorers, and close to 89 percent of its minutes from last season’s 31-win team.
“Wichita State, despite being a 10-seed in the NCAA tournament in 2017, actually finished the season — by BPI's measure — as the 15th-best team in the country,” ESPN’s Seth Walder wrote back in July. “And it did so as a team that hardly played its seniors at all, so the Shockers are bringing almost everyone relevant back. In BPI's mind, that's huge. Returning so many minutes after a strong season is a big reason why BPI considers the Shockers to own the fourth-strongest offense and defense in the country, which helped them edge out the likes of Louisville and Villanova in overall BPI.”
Being named favorite to win the national title is the highest praise in an offseason full of praise.
The Shockers received top-10 preseason rankings in the Coaches Poll (No. 8) and the AP Poll (No. 7) — both the highest preseason ranking the program has received in the respective poll in 36 years. Sports Illustrated projected Wichita State to land the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region in the NCAA tournament over Kansas on Tuesday, as well.
Coach Gregg Marshall has never put stock into preseason rankings and has made sure his team is aware of how little he cares before the season-opener on Nov. 10 against Missouri-Kansas City.
“It’s all conjecture,” Marshall said. “That’s nothing that has been proven, so I tell our guys to not believe the hype. We have to get ready to get people’s best shot.”
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/182104431","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"182104421","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/g8hvez/picture182104421","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"3g","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1522966106,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1509561628,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/g8hvez/picture182104421/alternates/FREE_1140/3g","href":"/web/v1/content/182104421","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"Travis Heying","dateline":"","caption":"Vegas odds give Wichita State and Gregg Marshall a 40-to-1 chance to win the 2019 national championship, the best odds of any team in the American Athletic Conference.","photographer":"The Wichita Eagle","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/g8hvez/picture182104421/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/3g"},{"id":"181608466","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article181608466.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"An update on Wichita State recruiting: four down, more to go","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1509364923,"published_date":1509318422,"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/c067b7b9-9361-4393-ac98-08e685b282d3/6b914c8d-a33f-4e9a-b307-55e4bbb43fc9/160x90/match/image.jpg","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state, basketball, recruiting, update, gregg marshall, 2018, class, shockers","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3034","3035","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Rivals analyst Corey Evans gives his thoughts on an important 2018 recruiting class for the Shockers.","content":"
Not only will the 2018 recruiting class be the largest in Gregg Marshall’s tenure at Wichita State, it could also be his most important.
The Shockers must replace six seniors — all key contributors — and also face the possibility of Landry Shamet and/or Markis McDuffie leaving for the NBA. That means Marshall and his staff could possibly be replacing more than half of the roster in a single recruiting class.
Just how rare is that? I asked Corey Evans, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals.
“Outside of your typical Kentuckys, Dukes, and KUs, who are doing the one-and-done type of stuff, it doesn’t happen very often,” Evans said. “Trying to replace six guys in a class is tough, then you throw in the fact that they’re sliding up a scale to the American Athletic and it becomes even more difficult.”
Throw in the fact that two of Marshall’s top assistants left during the thick of recruiting season in the spring and the task becomes even more daunting. But the hiring of Donnie Jones and the experience he brings, having recruited the South, has been a welcomed addition to go along side assistants Kyle Lindsted and Isaac Brown.
Jones said the transition has been a smooth one.
“The biggest thing for me was learning to recruit what fits our system,” Jones said. “I’ve been here a few months now and I see what it takes to play for coach (Marshall) and what it takes to be a Shocker.”
The staff has already received four verbal commitments from Morris Udeze, Isaiah Chandler, Erik Stevenson, and junior-college transfer Jaime Echenique. It’s a class that Evans says is already shaping up to be Marshall’s highest-regarded recruiting class at WSU.
Evans thinks all four can contribute immediately with Stevenson filling the absence of Conor Frankamp as the team’s long-range shooter, and Echenique and Chandler adding depth to the front court. But Evans was most excited about Udeze, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound power forward who he sees as a mixture of Rashard Kelly and Shaquille Morris.
“I think Morris (Udeze) is pretty much the ideal ‘Play Angry’ big man that Gregg Marshall has come to love,” Evans said. “He’s a big guy with a 7-1 wingspan and he plays hard and is going to be a strong rebounding force. I think he’s going to be a Day 1 producer for them.”
But how the staff fills the final two slots in the recruiting class will be crucial. The early signing period this year for basketball recruits begins Nov. 8 and ends a week later. The next signing period won’t be until April 11, 2018.
Alex Lomax is a 6-foot point guard from Memphis who is rated a four-star prospect by ESPN and considered a top-150 prospect by Rivals. Wichita State is reportedly the front-runner for Lomax, who would continue Marshall’s recent string of highly-rated recruits following Fred Van Vleet, McDuffie, and Shamet.
“You never know what’s going to happen with Landry Shamet, so Lomax is priority 1, 2, and 3 for them,” Evans said. “They definitely need a point guard, there’s no doubt about that. Getting a guy like him would be a giant boon for the program. It’s about the demographics of getting the top one or two kid from the city of Memphis, a city they’re now playing out of in the American. It would be huge if they can go in there and get a top kid like that from an affiliated city.”
The final slot seems to be more up in the air.
Wichita State could try to add one more post. Udeze, Chandler, and Echenique all play the position and will join Asbjorn Midtgaard next season. The Shockers could also use some depth on the wing, where only McDuffie and Rod Brown return. Stevenson fills a spot, but the Shockers might try to add more depth.
Some potential targets: Chance Moore (6-9, 200) is a three-star wing prospect from Louisville, Neftali Alvarez (6-1, 175) is a three-star point guard from Miami, Keyshawn Bryant (6-6, 165) is one of the better athletes in the country out of Florida, and Bryan Penn-Johnson (7-0, 215) is a four-star center in Utah who Evans believes the Shockers are still in play for.
“We’re recruiting about five or six guys for these last two spots,” Isaac Brown told me. “We’re in the mix for some really, really good players, so we’re just going to try to finish it up and get two of them.”
Does Wichita State have a preference to bring in another junior-college transfer to break up the recruiting class some, so the staff isn’t faced with the same problem down the line?
“It would be nice if it worked out that way, but the goal is to bring in players who can help us win a national championship,” Lindsted said. “You’ve got to go get the best player you can and a guy who’s going to fit our culture and fit what we need. In a perfect world, yeah, you would like to break it up if you could though.”
Wichita State’s staff says it has already noticed a benefit with the move to the American, as higher-rated recruits are now more willing to consider the Shockers.
Receiving more interest from four-star prospects is nice, but that hasn’t changed how the staff evaluates prospects.
“You always try to bring in talented players, but then there are talented players who are able to connect the dots when they move to the next level,” Lindsted said. “We always try to figure out the guys who are going to connect the dots. I like the guys we have coming in, but they’re going to be young. We’re going to have to coach them up.”
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @tayloreldridge
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"179376356","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article179376356.html","asset_type":"videoIngest","brightcove_id":"5729864422001","state":"published","title":"What you may not know about your Shockers","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","modified_date":1520091005,"published_date":1508278498,"leadtext":[{"text":"Some Shockers answer the question \"What is something people would be surprised to learn about you,\" during media day at Koch Arena Tuesday. (Video by Fernando Salazar/The Wichita Eagle)"}],"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/c067b7b9-9361-4393-ac98-08e685b282d3/0419ef78-f8b7-4dfa-8d1a-b054300913be/1280x720/match/image.jpg","href":"/web/v1/content/179376356","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323","3034","3035"],"credit":"fsalazar@wichitaeagle.com","summary":"","content":"","brightcove_thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/c067b7b9-9361-4393-ac98-08e685b282d3/6b914c8d-a33f-4e9a-b307-55e4bbb43fc9/160x90/match/image.jpg","photographer":"McClatchy","allow_ads":true,"ads":[{"publication":"kansas","tag":"https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?ciu_szs=300x250&correlator=%5Btimestamp%5D&cust_params=sect%3Dwichita_state%26id%3D179376356%26eid%3D179376356%26vidlength%3Dshort%26pl%3D&description_url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&env=vp&gdfp_req=1&hl=en&impl=s&iu=%2F7675%2FWCH.site_kansas%2FSports%2FCollege%2FCollege&output=vast&sz=400x300&unviewed_position_start=1&url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&vidlength=short&vpos=preroll","lang":"en","sz":"400x300","vpos":"preroll","cust_params":"sect=wichita_state&id=179376356&eid=179376356&vidlength=short&pl="}],"kicker":"","allow_comments":false},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/c067b7b9-9361-4393-ac98-08e685b282d3/6b914c8d-a33f-4e9a-b307-55e4bbb43fc9/160x90/match/image.jpg"},{"id":"179017531","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article179017531.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"What Danish freshman Asbjorn Midtgaard could look like for the Shockers","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1509057010,"published_date":1508097390,"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/44ef86a7-2b9d-4bce-9760-65a7fe331968/e52ebec6-d34f-494c-91b1-36d1543ad984/160x90/match/image.jpg","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"An early look at what the 7-foot freshman might provide on both ends for Wichita State.","content":"
What coach Gregg Marshall decides to do with 7-foot freshman Asbjorn Midtgaard this season will be one of the more fascinating storylines early in the season for Wichita State basketball.
Ideally, Midtgaard would take a redshirt season and become an understudy to deep frontcourt of Rashard Kelly, Darral Willis, Shaquille Morris, and Rauno Nurger. This would be followed by sprinkling him into the rotation the next season and giving him as much time as possible to transition to Division I and American basketball.
But time isn’t a luxury Marshall has. Kelly, Willis, Morris, and Nurger will all be gone next season, leaving Midtgaard as the only returning post player on scholarship. Marshall has help on the way, but none will have the advantage of training with the Shockers this season like Midtgaard.
So that begs the question — what do you do with Midtgaard this season? It comes down to how valuable Marshall feels the on-court time Midtgaard could have in blowouts would be compared to saving his freshman year of eligibility and giving him four more years to make an impact with the Shockers.
It’s unclear right now which way Marshall is leaning and that can be answered at a later time. For now, let’s look at what the Shockers might have in this Danish big man.
The good news: Midtgaard didn’t start playing competitive basketball in Denmark until he was 14 and didn’t start lifting weights until he was 19. More good news: He comes to Wichita State as a 20-year-old freshman who will have four (maybe five) years to bulk up a frame that is already 7 feet, 270 pounds. Imagine what he will look like when he’s a 23- or 24-year-old senior.
It’s clear Midtgaard is going to be a project on the offensive end, but he has the size and athleticism to become a big-time rebounding and defensive presence. You can learn post moves and improve footwork, but you can’t teach being 7-foot, 270.
For the past three years, Midtgaard has been playing against older professionals in the Danish League. After two so-so seasons, Midtgaard saw his productivity increase last season to 8.9 points on 56-percent shooting, 69-percent free-throw shooting, 6.4 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in 18.7 minutes per game.
So what will translate to Wichita State?
Midtgaard should be an above-average rebounder right away. As Kelly put it, “he’s seven foot and right there at the rim” so he should be a good rebounder.
On defense, there will be a learning curve. The speed of the game will be difficult to adjust to. Teams will surely want to make him defend the pick-and-roll to draw him away from the rim, so he will have to prove himself in that chess game. He will have to work on moving side-to-side.
Midtgaard has never posted crazy per-minute block numbers in the Danish League and it’s unlikely he’ll turn into a great shot-blocker at Wichita State, but he doesn’t have to necessarily be one. His size alone could deter teams from driving and if his 7-foot-4 wingspan can at least alter shots, then that will allow WSU’s wing defenders even more leeway squeezing ball handlers along the perimeter.
Here’s a video of Nurger from last season playing the kind of defense Midtgaard could provide.
\n\nWant a look at what freshman Asbjorn Midtgaard could look like on defense? Here @RNurger gives you picture-perfect PnR defense by a center. pic.twitter.com/qfaAHZXLwx
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 13, 2017
It begins with Nurger’s man setting a screen near the left wing. Landry Shamet takes away the option to dribble to the middle of the floor and forces the ball handler away and into a lurking Nurger. Shamet fights through the screen to stay on the ball handler’s hip and Nurger is there to stave off the penetration.
Nurger knows his coverage mark typically can’t shoot from the outside, so leaving him open at the top of the key is OK. When the pass goes back to his man, Nurger recovers. He chops his feet on the close-out and when his man puts the ball on the floor and attempts to drive past, Nurger keeps his feet moving and lets his length do the rest as the play results in a turnover. This is what Midtgaard could look like.
On offense, I’ll use Nurger again since he is 6-10 and the closest to Midtgaard’s height on the current roster.
A common theme I heard from the team before Friday’s practice was that they have been impressed with Midtgaard’s mobility for his size. He might not be very quick side-to-side, but he can run the floor.
\n\nThe team is telling me they are impressed with how Midtgaard can run the floor at 7 ft. Could see plays like this with him in coming years. pic.twitter.com/dSZMozc8uc
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 13, 2017
Above is a video of the type of play that could become a hallmark of Midtgaard over time with WSU. It’s a clip of Nurger racing down the floor after a turnover, out-hustling his man, catching a ball in transition and finishing (and shoutout to the 6-9 Kelly for the look-ahead pass). If Midtgaard has the ability to run the court and the coordination to pull off something similar to this, this could be a way to make an early impact on offense.
From the film I’ve seen, Midtgaard will be limited offensively early in his career. He isn’t likely going to be a post you can throw it into on the low block and tell him get a basket. But that’s OK. If he can run the court and use his strength around the basket chasing offensive rebound put-backs, then his offensive game will be enough to make him a two-way force for Wichita State.
How quick will that day come? We’ll find out in time.
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @tayloreldridge
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"179410361","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article179410361.html","asset_type":"videoIngest","brightcove_id":"5729872052001","state":"published","title":"Getting to know Wichita State’s Asbjorn Midtgaard","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","modified_date":1585332365,"published_date":1509055111,"leadtext":[{"text":"Wichita State center Asbjorn Midtgaard talks during media day Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017."}],"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/44ef86a7-2b9d-4bce-9760-65a7fe331968/aa41238e-d3b5-44c6-bfff-9b5db8270559/1280x720/match/image.jpg","href":"/web/v1/content/179410361","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323","3035"],"credit":"fsalazar@wichitaeagle.com","summary":"","content":"","brightcove_thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/44ef86a7-2b9d-4bce-9760-65a7fe331968/e52ebec6-d34f-494c-91b1-36d1543ad984/160x90/match/image.jpg","photographer":"McClatchy","allow_ads":true,"ads":[{"publication":"kansas","tag":"https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?ciu_szs=300x250&correlator=%5Btimestamp%5D&cust_params=sect%3Dwichita_state%26id%3D179410361%26eid%3D179410361%26vidlength%3Dshort%26pl%3D&description_url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&env=vp&gdfp_req=1&hl=en&impl=s&iu=%2F7675%2FWCH.site_kansas%2FSports%2FCollege%2FCollege&output=vast&sz=400x300&unviewed_position_start=1&url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&vidlength=short&vpos=preroll","lang":"en","sz":"400x300","vpos":"preroll","cust_params":"sect=wichita_state&id=179410361&eid=179410361&vidlength=short&pl="}],"kicker":"","allow_comments":false},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/44ef86a7-2b9d-4bce-9760-65a7fe331968/e52ebec6-d34f-494c-91b1-36d1543ad984/160x90/match/image.jpg"},{"id":"180450796","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article180450796.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy tabs Wichita State No. 4 in the country","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1508872924,"published_date":1508791099,"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/e446feed-755c-4eb2-b56f-73a3af8fd135/160x90/match/image.jpg","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3034","3035","3360","3315","3323"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Find out how Pomeroy’s rankings have the season playing out for the Shockers.","content":"
Wichita State has historically rated favorably in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings and that will once again be the case to begin the 2017-18 season.
Pomeroy, a popular college basketball analyst, released his preseason rankings over the weekend and Wichita State was ranked No. 4 in the country, one spot above Kansas and seven spots ahead of its new American foe, Cincinnati. Villanova was rated as the No. 1 team, joined by Kentucky, Arizona, Wichita State, and Kansas to round out the top-five.
Pomeroy has crafted a detailed formula to measure a team’s offensive and defensive efficiency, which helps him arrive on a team’s final rating. Wichita State has finished in the Top-20 in Pomeroy’s rankings every season since 2011-12. If you’re curious, here’s the Shockers’ recent finishes: 8th in 2016-17, 13th in 2015-16, 13th in 2014-15, 6th in 2013-14, 17th in 2012-13, and 11th in 2011-12.
According to Pomeroy, Wichita State is projected to finish with a 23-5 record and a 15-3 mark in the American Athletic Conference (the second and third games of the Maui Invitational are not included). Although his system has Wichita State favored in all but one game (at Cincinnati on Feb. 18), Pomeroy points out the five losses are based on the cumulative probabilities of WSU winning each game.
Pomeroy gives the Shockers a 0.3 percent chance of finishing the regular season unbeaten and a 1.3 percent chance of winning every game against American competition.
There are only four games on the schedule where Pomeroy puts Wichita State’s probability of winning less than 70 percent: at Baylor (53 percent), at Oklahoma State (68 percent), at Cincinnati (46 percent), and at SMU (54 percent).
Here are the games Pomeroy’s algorithm has predicted will be decided by less than 10 points: at Baylor (72-71 win), at Oklahoma State (80-74 win), vs. Oklahoma (79-71 win), at Connecticut (75-68 win), vs. SMU (76-68 win), at Houston (78-71 win), at Temple (77-70 win), at SMU (73-71 win), at Central Florida (75-69 win), and vs. Cincinnati (73-68 win).
The American is rated at the seventh-best conference in the country behind the Big 12, Big East, SEC, ACC, Big Ten, and Pac 12. The Missouri Valley is rated as the 10th-best conference.
The American includes eight teams in the Top 100 in Pomeroy’s preseason rankings: Wichita State (4), Cincinnati (11), SMU (24), Central Florida (60), Houston (64), Temple (67), Connecticut (69), and Tulsa (82).
Wichita State will play at least 19 games against Pomeroy’s preseason Top 100, as the Shockers will face College of Charleston (74), Baylor (19), Oklahoma State (50), and Oklahoma (21) in their non-conference slate. Wichita State will also either play Marquette (49) or VCU (83) in Maui and could potentially play Notre Dame (22) or Michigan (32) on the third day.
Wichita State’s strength of schedule should receive a significant bump compared to its days in the Missouri Valley, where there are only three teams — Illinois State (87), Loyola-Chicago (93), and Missouri State (99) — in Pomeroy’s preseason Top 100.
More love for the Shockers — It appears as if Wichita State will be on the cover of USA Today’s college basketball preview, as the men’s basketball Twitter posted a picture on Monday of Gregg Marshall, Landry Shamet, Conner Frankamp, Markis McDuffie, and Shaquille Morris on the cover with the question: “Can Wichita State become the nation’s next powerhouse?”
\n\nHot off the press! Shockers on the cover of @usatodaysports College Basketball Preview. #watchus pic.twitter.com/BEXV1P7nCo
— Wichita State MBB (@GoShockersMBB) October 23, 2017
ESPN college basketball analyst John Gasaway also penned a piece laying out the case for why Wichita State should be ranked No. 1 in the country. The link to the article is below.
\n\nPart two of a four-team series, my case for why Wichita State should be No. 1:https://t.co/GaT0hpbq3z
— John Gasaway (@JohnGasaway) October 23, 2017
WSU volleyball moving up — In the NCAA’s latest RPI report, Wichita State (18-3) moved up two spots to No. 18 in the country. The Shockers are on a 10-match winning streak, as they have opened up American play undefeated and are on top of the conference.
The Shockers were ranked No. 21 in the country for the second straight week in the latest AVCA poll released on Monday.
Wichita State will play at Central Florida on Friday, then travel to South Florida on Sunday this week.
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/180450796","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"179644821","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article179644821.html","asset_type":"videoIngest","brightcove_id":"5743179871001","state":"published","title":"2017-18 Shockers dazzle crowd at Shocker Madness","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","modified_date":1536333965,"published_date":1508380719,"leadtext":[{"text":"Conner Frankamp was the repeat winner of the three-point contest and C.J. Keyser ran away from the competition in the dunk contest. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle)"}],"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/ddb07539-7831-4dfa-b988-90d7fc38b31e/1280x720/match/image.jpg","href":"/web/v1/content/179644821","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323","3034","3315"],"credit":"theying@wichitaeagle.com","summary":"","content":"","brightcove_thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/e446feed-755c-4eb2-b56f-73a3af8fd135/160x90/match/image.jpg","photographer":"McClatchy","allow_ads":true,"ads":[{"publication":"kansas","tag":"https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?ciu_szs=300x250&correlator=%5Btimestamp%5D&cust_params=sect%3Dwichita_state%26id%3D179644821%26eid%3D179644821%26vidlength%3Dshort%26pl%3D&description_url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&env=vp&gdfp_req=1&hl=en&impl=s&iu=%2F7675%2FWCH.site_kansas%2FSports%2FCollege%2FCollege&output=vast&sz=400x300&unviewed_position_start=1&url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&vidlength=short&vpos=preroll","lang":"en","sz":"400x300","vpos":"preroll","cust_params":"sect=wichita_state&id=179644821&eid=179644821&vidlength=short&pl="}],"kicker":"","allow_comments":false},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/e446feed-755c-4eb2-b56f-73a3af8fd135/160x90/match/image.jpg"},{"id":"180350986","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article180350986.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Shocker film room: Why Shaq Morris can be dominant in the low post","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1508767785,"published_date":1508739415,"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/e446feed-755c-4eb2-b56f-73a3af8fd135/160x90/match/image.jpg","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"Shaq Morris, low post, dominant, best, country, Wichita state, basketball","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3035","3360","3315","3323"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"The numbers say that Wichita State senior Shaq Morris is one of the country’s best scorers in post-up situations.","content":"
When scanning the Synergy stats for the Wichita State basketball team from last season, it’s difficult to pick out just one thing the team did really well. The Shockers did a lot of things at a very high level compared to other teams in the country as they finished with a 31-5 record and another NCAA tournament appearance.
But when looking at the individual statistics, something kept popping out: Shaq Morris’ dominance in post-up situations.
As a team, Wichita State was among the country’s best with post-ups last season. The Shockers used 14 percent of their possessions on post-ups, which returned 0.899 points per possession. There were 91 teams in the country where post-ups accounted for at least 10 percent of the offense and Wichita State’s efficiency ranked No. 27 among them.
Don’t think Morris deserves all of the credit – Darral Willis and Rauno Nurger were both above-average options. But Morris is an elite post-up option and accounted for 37 percent of the team’s post-up attempts. From the 150 post-up chances Morris had last season, he scored 158 points.
To put that in perspective, there were 313 players in college basketball last season to have at least 125 post-up opportunities. Morris’ 1.053 points per possession ranked in the 92nd percentile in college basketball.
Let’s examine why Morris is so good at it and how Wichita State maximizes its best weapon in the low block.
\n\nWhat makes @Shaq_Morris dominant down low?
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 20, 2017
1. Positioning & seal
2. Others staying above FT line for spacing
3. lobs from @Shamet_Landry11 pic.twitter.com/0WYbFoQRGI
When Morris is at his most efficient, he’s using his body to seal a defender and catching a lob over the defense that sends him straight to the basket for the finish.
It sounds easy enough, but in the clips above you can see just how Wichita State sets this up.
For starters, Morris has a 280-pound frame and he knows how to use it. When defenders are foolish enough to try fronting him, Morris not only is an expert at sealing but also at creating the best angle for the passer to throw the lob. Sometimes the defender just tries to flip to a side, but Morris has a keen sense of when this is happening and can catch them and pin them on his backside.
But these lobs wouldn’t be so easy if Wichita State’s offense doesn’t have good spacing. In the video above, I paused every clip when the entry pass was thrown so you can see the spacing on the floor. Almost every time the other three players are above the free throw line. Here’s a screenshot example:
The defender shifts to the high side on Morris and he has him sealed at the free-throw line. Ideally, Markis McDuffie’s defender on the backside should have one foot in the paint to discourage the the lob. But because McDuffie is parallel to Morris at the free-throw line on the wing and not in the corner, the defender hesitates leaving him.
The final piece to the puzzle is the lob. Wichita State has two capable passers in Conner Frankamp and Landry Shamet. They don’t just get it over the top, they send pin-point passes that take Morris directly to the hole. He’s not having to re-calibrate after catching the pass, all Morris has to do is catch and go up for the dunk or layup.
\n\nAnother move that makes @Shaq_Morris so good down low: catching on left block, putting a shoulder into the defender then a soft right hook. pic.twitter.com/V6jonmbqkW
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 22, 2017
If Morris catches on the left block, he loves to turn over his left shoulder, bury it into the defender, then raise up for a soft baby right hook.
Even if a defender has a height advantage over Morris, the bump right before the shot usually prevents the defender from timing their leap. The bump serves another purpose too: it’s almost like it sets up Morris when he goes up for the hook.
According to Synergy, Morris scored at a 60 percent clip when he caught the ball on the left block and turned over his left shoulder for a hook shot. He delivered 1.267 points per possession with this move, which is an excellent return.
\n \nAnother weapon in @Shaq_Morris’ low-post arsenal: the fadeaway jumper off the right pivot foot. He’s really, really good at this shot. pic.twitter.com/HmoSAt1QvP
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 22, 2017
So why doesn’t every defender shade Morris on his left shoulder to take away this right hook shot? Because like every great post player, Morris has a counter that keeps the defense honest.
If you shade Morris to the left, then he has an ability to catch an entry pass, turn over his right shoulder and knock down a fadeaway jump shot. It’s a near-impossible shot to contest because Morris turns the catch into a shot in one motion.
You wouldn’t think this is a very efficient shot, but for Morris it is. Last season Morris produced 16 points on 14 possessions when he caught a post-up chance, turned over his right shoulder and attempted a jump shot. That’s a reliable option and gives Morris another weapon in his arsenal in the low block.
\n\nMy favorite set from WSU to get @Shaq_Morris position down low is this 2-man game with @CFrankamp_23. An automatic 2 when ran correctly. pic.twitter.com/tdgmxdW3Su
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 20, 2017
The above video shows a simple, yet clever set that Gregg Marshall likes to run for an easy basket for Morris.
When Landry Shamet crosses halfcourt, Wichita State has a stack of three players on the right block: McDuffie on top, Morris in the middle, Frankamp on bottom. Morris breaks out to the right wing to receive the pass from Shamet, as the point guard cuts diagonally to the stick in the corner.
McDuffie leaks out to the top of the key to receive a pass from Morris, then Morris cuts to the right block where Frankamp hasn’t moved. Frankamp steps up and set a back screen on Morris’ defender. The key here is to at least disturb Morris’ defender before Frankamp darts out to the right wing.
The defender is tricked into thinking a swing pass is coming to the left side of the floor, so he tries to beat Morris to the left block. But instead of running to the left block, Morris pivots underneath the basket and blindly puts his backside to the defender to begin to seal the unsuspecting defender.
All the while on the perimeter, the ball goes back to Frankamp on the left wing and he has an easy pass inside to Morris with his man out of position. It’s a rather simple play, but a clever one and an automatic two points every time Marshall digs deep into the playbook.
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @tayloreldridge
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"179644821","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article179644821.html","asset_type":"videoIngest","brightcove_id":"5743179871001","state":"published","title":"2017-18 Shockers dazzle crowd at Shocker Madness","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","modified_date":1536333965,"published_date":1508380719,"leadtext":[{"text":"Conner Frankamp was the repeat winner of the three-point contest and C.J. Keyser ran away from the competition in the dunk contest. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle)"}],"thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/ddb07539-7831-4dfa-b988-90d7fc38b31e/1280x720/match/image.jpg","href":"/web/v1/content/179644821","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323","3034","3315"],"credit":"theying@wichitaeagle.com","summary":"","content":"","brightcove_thumbnail":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/e446feed-755c-4eb2-b56f-73a3af8fd135/160x90/match/image.jpg","photographer":"McClatchy","allow_ads":true,"ads":[{"publication":"kansas","tag":"https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?ciu_szs=300x250&correlator=%5Btimestamp%5D&cust_params=sect%3Dwichita_state%26id%3D179644821%26eid%3D179644821%26vidlength%3Dshort%26pl%3D&description_url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&env=vp&gdfp_req=1&hl=en&impl=s&iu=%2F7675%2FWCH.site_kansas%2FSports%2FCollege%2FCollege&output=vast&sz=400x300&unviewed_position_start=1&url=%5Breferrer_url%5D&vidlength=short&vpos=preroll","lang":"en","sz":"400x300","vpos":"preroll","cust_params":"sect=wichita_state&id=179644821&eid=179644821&vidlength=short&pl="}],"kicker":"","allow_comments":false},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5615998028001/7a47daae-93c4-49aa-a8cd-77b9e0dda306/e446feed-755c-4eb2-b56f-73a3af8fd135/160x90/match/image.jpg"},{"id":"179834366","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article179834366.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Shocker mailbag: Guess the starting five, a possible charity game, and Wichita State’s best newcomer","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1508451778,"published_date":1508451778,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bq7tju/picture179834361/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/011117WSU_fs19","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360","3315","3323"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Taylor Eldridge answers a variety of questions from Shocker fans about Wichita State athletics.","content":"
The start of college basketball season is still about two weeks away, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get started.
I opened up my Twitter and Facebook and asked fans to send me their questions. If you didn’t get yours in this week, I’ll be making this a weekly feature during the season. So be on the look out for that.
Let’s get right to the first question.
\n\nYour prediction for the starting 5 with LS and MM out?
— Bryn Blasdel (@brynblasdel) October 18, 2017
I think Conner Frankamp, Zach Brown, and Shaq Morris (assuming he is healthy) are givens. I have been impressed with Wichita native and junior-college transfer Samajae Haynes-Jones and right now I think he’s likely to start in the backcourt with Frankamp. The coaching staff likes how the team looks with Frankamp off the ball, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Haynes-Jones initiate the offense and then the duo would have the ability to interchange at the guard positions. But don’t count out Austin Reaves. If he’s fully healthy, I would give him the advantage because he has a year in the system, but right now it looks like he’s still working his way back. As for the forward position to replace McDuffie, my best guess right now would be Darral Willis. He’s added to his range and Gregg Marshall was really complimentary of the work he’s put in this summer on his shot. So here’s what I’ll go with for the starting lineup against UMKC on Nov. 10, guessing today:
G — Samajae Haynes-Jones
G — Conner Frankamp
F — Zach Brown
F — Darral Willis
C — Shaquille Morris
\n\nKU-Mizzou are playing exhibition for hurricane relief. Would GM consider playing Creighton in similar fashion?
— James Kellerman (@JamesKman13) October 17, 2017
From what I’ve heard, Wichita State had preliminary talks with Missouri State about playing some kind of exhibition. That obviously fell through when the Bears decided to pair up with Kansas State for a hurricane relief game. I don’t think a game with Creighton will materialize, but I do believe the program is still trying to find a partner to set an exhibition up with. It’s not a guarantee, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear an announcement soon about a game in the coming weeks. Wichita State is also playing Oral Roberts in a closed scrimmage next Saturday.
\n\nHow much playing time does CJ get this year? And does Austin appear to be ready for significant minutes early in the season?
— Jeff Elliott (@BluzRover) October 18, 2017
As a freshman, C.J. Keyser played in 25 games, coming off the bench in all of them and averaging 4.8 minutes. But he only played one minute in WSU’s final four games of the season when Marshall’s rotation shrunk. I think with the addition of Haynes-Jones, Keyser’s road to minutes will once again be blocked when this team is fully healthy. I’m sure Keyser will see minutes in the non-conference, especially for however long Shamet is on the shelf. But once the rotation is trimmed and the stakes are raised, it may be difficult for Keyser to crack the rotation.
After watching Reaves play at Shocker Madness, it was clear he’s still working back to where he was last season before the shoulder injury. It will take time and obviously he’s not ready for 20 minutes right now, but he has three weeks to work up to that. Wichita State would desperately need him ready if Shamet isn’t back in time for the Maui Invitational, but all signs are looking like Shamet will return in time for that tournament.
\n\nWho is the newcomer (frosh/xfer) who will surprise? Who is most improved? Who is likely to redshirt?
— Todd Warner (@Divergence65) October 19, 2017
I was high on Haynes-Jones before I got to see him play in Shocker Madness. After watching him play, it confirmed what I thought: he’s still going to be the quickest player on the court, even at the Division I level. I covered his games when he was at East High and his first step back then embarrassed a lot of defenders. He can get his shot off against just about anybody and I think he’s going to be a real problem for the opposition this season. If he is able to channel his emotions into positive energy, then he could be a big factor right away and have the ability to break down defenses with dribble penetration. In terms of the biggest impact on a consistent basis, Haynes-Jones is the best bet. (But don’t sleep on freshman Asbjorn Midtgaard. His size gives something WSU it doesn’t have elsewhere.)
I would say the most improved is Willis. He’s really worked hard on his shot and showed off his range at Shocker Madness by knocking down 11 of 22 attempts in the three-point contest. Remember, Willis didn’t make a single three-pointer last season and only attempted one. He has the green light now from Marshall and I think that’s really going to diversify his game. Zach Brown is another candidate to see his production see a jump this season.
\n\nGive us a rundown how recruiting is going. How nervous should shocker fans be with this FBI investigation into basketball?
— t van (@jhawkr32) October 17, 2017
They have six scholarships to hand out and have non-binding commitments from guard Erik Stevenson and big men Isaiah Chandler, Morris Udeze, and Jaime Echenique. That leaves two slots to fill and I believe the staff has narrowed it down to about six or seven guys they are really going hard after. Three-star swing man Chance Moore was in the building at Shocker Madness and he would give WSU some length (he’s 6-foot-8) on the wing. The Shockers are also high on Alex Lomax, a coveted point guard prospect from Memphis. My guess is that you’ll see the staff try to go after a guard and a wing with these final two slots.
And as far as the FBI investigation goes? If you listen to Marshall, Shocker fans have nothing to worry about. At the AAC media day in Philadelphia, Marshall made it clear that the scandals fans are reading about in the news will not affect the Shockers.
\n\nWhat is a realistic conference record this year?
— Mad Hatter (@BigChrisHatter) October 19, 2017
It’s safe to say that Wichita State will have more than just two or three games to look forward to in conference play this season. All signs point toward the AAC being an improved conference this season, but there’s a reason why Wichita State is a consensus top-10 team this preseason as well. A road trip to UConn to start conference play is going to be an interesting one. I think the Cincinnati games are going to be all-out wars, so both of those are toss-ups. I think Central Florida, SMU, Houston, and Temple could all stay competitive with Wichita State, but I don’t necessarily see any from that group beating the Shockers at this point. If things fall into place, a 17-1 or 16-2 conference record could be in line. An undefeated run would be asking a lot. Taking anything more than three conference losses would be somewhat of a disappointment considering how high the expectations are for this season.
\n\nScheduling is always fun topic. Any info on future potential series or tournaments? I know Charleston Classic is next year. Anything else?
— Jason Ault (@JasonAult16) October 17, 2017
I haven’t heard much yet in terms of future scheduling. As I stated above, I think you can expect to see a charity game set up in the preseason. I think an interesting part about the move to the AAC will be to see how it affects non-conference scheduling. In the past, WSU had to schedule hard in the non-conference to make sure it gave itself a chance at an at-large bid. If things go according to plan in the AAC, that shouldn’t be the case anymore. I’m interested to see if Marshall will still retain such a challenging non-conference slate or if he dials it back in the coming years.
\n\nYou've already sort of addressed the redshirt thing in your article on Midtgaard, care to make a prediction on him and Rod Brown?
— Jeff Elliott (@BluzRover) October 18, 2017
I think if Wichita State was completely healthy entering this season, it would be a no-brainer for Marshall to use a redshirt on Rod Brown. But with McDuffie expected to be out until December, WSU doesn’t really have a natural back-up to Zach Brown at the three. It would be a gamble to try to skate by without a backup until December when McDuffie returns. It’s doable, but my guess is that Marshall won’t roll the dice and will use Rod Brown early in the season to give the Shockers depth.
As for Midtgaard, I honestly believe he has the ability to help the Shockers right away. Maybe not for 15 minutes every game, but there will come a time when Wichita State needs his size in a highly-competitive game and I think Marshall will want that weapon in his arsenal. Ideally, Midtgaard would take the redshirt and develop. But I think he’s going to be able to help WSU win this season and that’s too valuable to give up when you have a team capable of competing for a national title. Even if he only helps you for a handful of games.
\n\nHere goes. What is Todd Butler’s plan of action for upgrading the baseball team to national relevance? Is that plan in writing? #letsseeit
— Jeff Theis (@jefftheis1) October 17, 2017
I haven’t had the chance to sit down and talk with coach Butler yet about his plan of action. But I think any coach will tell you that recruiting is going to be vital. Not necessarily bringing in higher-rated recruits, but identifying players who fit the system and can be developed by the coaching staff. Player development is always crucial and I think that’s the road to success. Hopefully I’ll have a more detailed answer after I’m able to speak with coach Butler.
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/179834366","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"179834361","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bq7tju/picture179834361","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"011117WSU_fs19","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1508451778,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1508451778,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bq7tju/picture179834361/alternates/FREE_1140/011117WSU_fs19","href":"/web/v1/content/179834361","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Darral Willis seems likely to be in the starting lineup on Nov. 10.","photographer":"Fernando Salazar","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/bq7tju/picture179834361/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/011117WSU_fs19"},{"id":"179381076","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article179381076.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"C.J. Keyser promises to “put on a show” at Shocker Madness on Wednesday","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1508277948,"published_date":1508277948,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/gyo991/picture179381071/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/102016Shockers_fs2","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"c.j. keyser, wsu, shockers, shocker madness","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Shocker Madness begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Koch Arena with the dunk contest expected to be the main event.","content":"
The annual Shocker Madness is set to take place on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Koch Arena.
The Wichita State men’s basketball team will have a ring ceremony, receiving their championship rings for winning the Missouri Valley last season. That will be followed by a three-point contest, a dunk contest, and a 15-minute scrimmage by the men’s and women’s teams.
C.J. Keyser, a sophomore from Baltimore, has been brainstorming ways to make the dunk contest the signature event of the night.
“I’m definitely going to put on a show,” Keyser said. “I might try to jump over somebody, put it between my legs a few times, some 360s, might throw it off the side of the backboard. You never know.”
Keyser has been labeled the dunk favorite by his teammates, although Zach Brown and Rod Brown will attempt to give him some competition. A new champion will be crowned after two-time champion Eric Hamilton transferred to UNC Greensboro in the offseason.
After Keyser’s bid last year fell short when he couldn’t complete a dunk over 6-10 teammate Rauno Nurger, he says he has learned from last season.
“My legs were too tired by the end, so I might start with that this year,” Keyser said. “It’s all about technique. You can’t jump too early or too late. You have to know when to jump when you know you can go up there, catch the ball, and slam it in the hole.”
Austin Reaves and Kaelen Malone are expected to be among the challengers to Conner Frankamp in the three-point contest. Frankamp has won the event the last two seasons. The women’s three-point field is expected to be Rangie Bessard, Diamond Lockhart, Jeliah Preston, and Tamara Lee.
The scrimmage will also be a chance for WSU’s three newcomers — junior-college transfer Samajae Haynes-Jones and freshmen Asbjorn Midtgaard and Rod Brown — to acclimate themselves to Koch Arena with a crowd.
“I’m definitely excited to play in front of people on this court,” Midtgaard said. “Right now I’m excited, but I’m sure I will be nervous once I run out of the tunnel.”
The 15-minute scrimmage won’t be much, but players on the team said it has helped them transition to the Division I game in the past.
“We want to put out a good product of course, but it’s also a time for those guys to play for the first time in front of the public,” guard Landry Shamet said. “It’s a chance to have a little fun. I remember my first Shocker Madness how it was kind of a relief almost to get some of the jitters out of the way.”
After a sloppy end to Tuesday’s practice, coach Gregg Marshall had a warning for fans Wednesday night.
“Hopefully we don’t injure anyone at Shocker Madness,” Marshall said. “I’m not talking about players, I’m talking about people in the front row.”
Changes to the fan experience — Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and it’s probably wise to arrive a little earlier than in the past, as Wichita State will debut new security measures that will be adopted for this season.
For Wednesday, fans will enter from the main and east entrances then pass through metal detectors. A new bag policy will also be implemented, as no bags bigger than 14 inches by 14 inches by six inches will be allowed. All bags are subject to search.
Starting this summer, Wichita State is now a tobacco-free campus and there will be no smoking allowed outside the arena. WSU has a no re-entry policy to its sporting events.
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @tayloreldridge
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"179381071","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/gyo991/picture179381071","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"102016Shockers_fs2","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1508277948,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1508277948,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/gyo991/picture179381071/alternates/FREE_1140/102016Shockers_fs2","href":"/web/v1/content/179381071","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State's C.J. Keyser goes through the legs during the dunk contest at Shocker Madness in Koch Arena last season.","photographer":"Fernando Salazar","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/gyo991/picture179381071/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/102016Shockers_fs2"},{"id":"179132881","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article179132881.html","asset_type":"blogpost","state":"published","title":"Random thoughts with WSU’s Gregg Marshall at AAC media day","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1508183424,"published_date":1508180475,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/39dfy7/picture179132876/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/022517WSU_fs18","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"gregg marshall, wsu, shockers, wichita state, american conference","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360"],"credit":"","dateline":"PHILADELPHIA","summary":"Marshall gave his thoughts on a variety of topics at AAC media day in Philadelphia.","content":"
Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall spoke at length during American Athletic Conferece media day Monday in Philadelphia. Here’s a collection of Marshall’s thoughts:
On the difference in road trips in the AAC compared to the Missouri Valley:
“We’re excited about all the major-league cities,” Marshall said. “Nothing against Peoria or Cedar Falls or Carbondale, Ill., but now you’ve got Orlando and Dallas and Houston and New Orleans, Cincinnati, and on and on and on. Maybe we can catch an NBA game when we’re in town or have a nice steak somewhere.”
On Wichita State joining the AAC as a basketball-only school:
“There’s not football at our school. A lot of schools – I’m not going to name names – but when the football team is playing, you have a 15,000-seat stadium and there’s 4,000 people there. We don’t have that issue. We don’t wear helmets in Wichita.”
On if giving Missouri Valley traditions was a hard transition for Wichita State:
“There’s probably someone in their living room right now that’s complaining we’re not going to play Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois anymore,” Marshall said. “But 100 percent of the people who have talked to me are ecstatic about the change and ecstatic about the new destinations. There will be a sea of yellow and black at every American arena because our fans are so great.”
On Cincinnati being picked over Wichita State in the coaches’ poll:
“I was a little fearful of being picked No. 1, to be honest,” Marshall said. “I put myself in the position if I’m in the Missouri Valley again and we added a program and they’re picked to win the league, I would go, ‘Hold up, we play pretty good basketball here.’ That’s what every one of these coaches here is saying. There’s a new team moving up in weight class in our conference and they’re picked to win it? I wouldn’t like that.”
On how the move to the AAC affects recruiting for Wichita State:
“Bottom line is we’re going to try to bring in the best players we can,” Marshall said. “But now we can bring Zach Brown home to Houston. Now we can take guys home to Dallas and Tampa, places like that. So it helps.”
","kicker":"","text_alignment":"Left","href":"/web/v1/content/179132881","allow_ads":true,"allow_stn_player":true,"byline":"","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"179132876","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/39dfy7/picture179132876","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"022517WSU_fs18","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1508183423,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1508180474,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/39dfy7/picture179132876/alternates/FREE_1140/022517WSU_fs18","href":"/web/v1/content/179132876","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"File photo","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall urges his team on during the first half of their game at Missouri State Saturday. (Feb. 25, 2017)","photographer":"Fernando Salazar","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/39dfy7/picture179132876/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/022517WSU_fs18"},{"id":"178439641","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article178439641.html","asset_type":"story","state":"published","title":"Conner Frankamp gives Wichita State an elite weapon in isolation","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","home_section":{"name":"Wichita State Shockers","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/"},"modified_date":1507823956,"published_date":1507819718,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/3jzsdo/picture178439631/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/frankamp","authors":[{"name":"Taylor Eldridge","email":"teldridge@wichitaeagle.com"}],"access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323","3034","3035","3360","3350","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"The senior guard from Wichita should once again be the team’s best weapon when plays break down.","content":"
Isolation basketball has never been prevalent in Wichita State’s offense in Gregg Marshall’s tenure.
The Shockers were among the nation’s best last season in virtually every statistical measure except one: isolation offense. And that’s not a bad thing to be bad at.
Marshall probably takes pride in how few possessions end in one-on-one situations. In fact, per Synergy Sports, WSU’s isolation usage has trended downward for five straight seasons, with last season being the lowest in the Marshall era with the Shockers ranking 299th in the country with 4.2 percent of their possessions ending in isolation.
But having a weapon on the court that can bail out the team when a play breaks down is a valuable asset and Conner Frankamp appears to be that piece for the Shockers.
Wichita State struggled last season when it tried to go solo. The team shot a collective 35.1 percent with 0.769 points per possession (196th in the nation) on 121 isolation possessions. Compare that to the team’s overall numbers of 46.5 percent shooting and 0.993 points per possession.
Now let’s take a look at Frankamp’s numbers compared to the team average and three other players who led the team in isolation possessions: Darral Willis, Markis McDuffie, and Zach Brown.
As the chart shows, Frankamp’s production level far exceeded anyone else on the team with double-digit isolation attempts.
Since WSU has so few isolation possessions, there’s not a ton of data to pull from. But Willis (18), Frankamp (17), McDuffie (15), and Brown (15) all had a similar number of possessions end with them going one-on-one at a defender.
But on a team that generally struggled, Frankamp was elite in these situations. We know he is one of the best marksman in the country already, but where other players’ efficiency drops in those one-on-one battles, Frankamp’s efficiency sees an uptick. When the Wichita native was isolated, Frankamp made 8 of 16 shots that produced 20 points. His PPP of 1.176 ranked him in the 95th percentile in college basketball last season in isolation situations.
So what makes Frankamp so good? Let’s begin with his go-to move: the hesitation pull-up three-pointer, or as Kevin Durant prefers to call it, the “hesi pull-up jimbo.”
\n\nDid you know last season @CFrankamp_23 ranked in the 95th percentile in the NCAA on isolations with a 1.176 PPP? Pull-up hesi jimbo game pic.twitter.com/nOFjQSHwfA
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 12, 2017
Frankamp is superb at bringing a hesitation dribble into a rapid-fire release, demonstrated in the clip above. Frankamp sets this move up by putting his defender in a trance with a couple of cross-over dribbles that go nowhere, but keeps the defender leaning. When he’s comfortable, Frankamp then drifts the ball to his left hand with his left foot already planted.
That’s important because it allows Frankamp to swing his right (lead leg) foot forward with the ball still in his left hand. When most defenders are expecting another dribble, Frankamp gathers and begins his shooting motion. Some defenders manage to raise a hand, but Frankamp’s release is so quick it usually doesn’t matter because the ball is gone by the time the defender’s hand blocks his vision.
I’ve slowed down the part when Frankamp turns the hesitation dribble into a shot just to show you how quickly he pulls this off and you can see that the defender each time is late on the contest.
Simply put: when Frankamp is able to step into his shot he is deadly.
\n\nOh yeah, and he has counters to that move. pic.twitter.com/1B2bmUCYN0
— Taylor Eldridge (@tayloreldridge) October 12, 2017
And that isn’t the only way he can score. As shown in the clip above, Frankamp can knock down that same contested shot even with the ball in his right hand. And if a defender wants to try to pressure him beyond the three-point arc, then Frankamp isn’t afraid to show off his handles and create a mid-range jump shot.
Again, isolation basketball will be a small part of Wichita State’s game this season.
But there is almost sure to be a tightly-contested game where the Shockers will need to be bailed out by a great one-on-one play and Frankamp could be the one to deliver it.
Taylor Eldridge: 316-268-6270, @vkeldridge
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"178439631","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/3jzsdo/picture178439631","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"frankamp","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3323","modified_date":1507820111,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1507819717,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/3jzsdo/picture178439631/alternates/FREE_1140/frankamp","href":"/web/v1/content/178439631","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3323"],"credit":"","dateline":"","caption":"Conner Frankamp ranked in the 95th percentile in the country last season on his efficiency in isolation situations.","photographer":"The Wichita Eagle","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/3jzsdo/picture178439631/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/frankamp"},{"id":"170028642","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article170028642.html","asset_type":"blogpost","state":"published","title":"Florida guard Serrel Smith is a scorer with Wichita State on his mind","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1504040114,"published_date":1504034711,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/sexm8l/picture170028632/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/Serrel%20Smith","authors":[{"name":"Paul Suellentrop","email":"psuellentrop@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state shockers, college basketball, ncaa, american athletic conference","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3035","3360","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Serrel Smith, of St. Petersburg (Fla.) will also visit Dayton and Mississippi.","content":"
Serrel Smith compares his style to Jamal Crawford, a three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year for his instant offense.
Smith, a senior guard at St. Petersburg (Fla.) High, displays the same manner of bouncy scoring in his highlight films. Since he averaged around 27 points a game and is on pace to set the school’s scoring record, according to coach Chris Blackwell, the YouTube impression is accurate.
“Serrel does a lot of everything,” Blackwell said. “He’s going to get his share of points from the free-throw line. He can create a shot. Tremendous scorer.”
Smith (6-foot-3, 170 pounds) visited Wichita State last weekend. The trip made a positive impression, especially his visit to the Doo Dah Diner.
“We went out to eat and, everywhere, people are big fans of the Shockers,” he said. “Very friendly.”
Smith watched the Shockers practice and played pickup games.
“It was intense, a nice workout,” he said to describe watching current players work with coaches in small groups. “I’m just trying to find a school that has the right coach that will get me better for the next level.”
Smith said he is visiting Dayton this weekend and Mississippi the weekend of Sept. 9.
Smith plays point guard, but considers himself capable of manning shooting guard.
He is a bit of an under-the-radar recruit compared to some other Wichita State targets. Rivals.com does not list him among its national or state rankings. 247sports.com gives him three stars and lists him No. 250 nationally.
ESPN.com considers him a four-star prospect and ranks him No. 24 nationally at his position and No. 10 in Florida.
“He’s a very intelligent floor leader,” Blackwell said. “He gets his team involved. He’s tremendously, highly motivated.”
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"170028632","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/sexm8l/picture170028632","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"Serrel Smith","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1504034823,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1504034711,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/sexm8l/picture170028632/alternates/FREE_1140/Serrel%20Smith","href":"/web/v1/content/170028632","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"Tampa Bay Times","dateline":"","caption":"St. Petersburg (Fla.) High guard Serrel Smith visited Wichita State last weekend. He also plans to visit Dayton and Mississippi.","photographer":"Scott Purks","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/sexm8l/picture170028632/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/Serrel%20Smith"},{"id":"169409942","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article169409942.html","asset_type":"blogpost","state":"published","title":"Florida juco big man visits Wichita State with a bonus on his resume","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1503693848,"published_date":1503693493,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/l4et08/picture169409937/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/standing%20koch%20arena","authors":[{"name":"Paul Suellentrop","email":"psuellentrop@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state shockers, college basketball, american athletic conference","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Two high school guards also scheduled to check out Wichita State this weekend.","content":"
Wichita State’s efforts to replace six seniors for the 2018-19 season continue this weekend with three visitors to campus.
Memphis East point guard Alex Lomax, ranked No. 122 nationally in the class of 2018 by Rivals.com, St. Petersburg, Fla., guard Serrel Smith and Northwest Florida State college big Andrew Gordon are scheduled to check out Wichita State’s basketball program.
Gordon (6-foot-9) is enrolled at Northwest. He won’t play this season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament early this summer. That will leave him three seasons of eligibility at an NCAA Division I school, adding to his appeal.
Northwest coach Steve DeMeo says Gordon, from Clearwater, Fla., can play center and power forward. According to this story from the Tampa Bay Times, Gordon is somewhat of a newcomer to basketball after a strong football career.
“He's a guy whose best basketball is ahead of him,” DeMeo said. “With the right type of coach … he's going to blossom into something very special.”
Gordon played a reserve role as a freshman for the Raiders last season, averaging 10.9 minutes, 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds. He made 52 of 69 shots (75.4 percent) and didn’t attempt a three-pointer. DeMeo said Gordon improved late in the season.
The Raiders lost to Hutchinson Community College in the NJCAA semifinals in March and finished 29-5.
“He was getting in better shape, and that’s typical for most big men,” DeMeo said. “He's powerful and he's explosive. He’s a competitor and he’s got a great work ethic.”
Wichita State is his first visit. Schools such as South Florida, Houston, Baylor and Florida Gulf Course are interested.
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"169409937","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/l4et08/picture169409937","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"standing koch arena","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1503693848,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1503693493,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/l4et08/picture169409937/alternates/FREE_1140/standing%20koch%20arena","href":"/web/v1/content/169409937","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"The Wichita Eagle","dateline":"","caption":"Wichita State’s Koch Arena","photographer":"Fernando Salazar","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/l4et08/picture169409937/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/standing%20koch%20arena"},{"id":"169328957","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article169328957.html","asset_type":"blogpost","state":"published","title":"An early look at Wichita State’s prototype for the Dave Stallworth statue","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1503678731,"published_date":1503677257,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/ph0gv0/picture169328952/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/stallworth%20statue%203%20face","authors":[{"name":"Paul Suellentrop","email":"psuellentrop@wichitaeagle.com"}],"keywords":"wichita state shockers, basketball, dave stallworth, new york knicks","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Sculptor Ann LaRose is working on a statue memorializing Shocker basketball great Dave Stallworth.","content":"
The Dave Stallworth statue is in its clay form.
Members of the 1965 Final Four team, along with others, are raising $250,000 to erect a life-size statue of Stallworth at Koch Arena. Sculptor Ann LaRose has the clay prototype (approximately three feet) ready for inspection and the reviews are positive, said Bob Powers, one of the organizers.
“When I look at that proto and I approve it and all of its details … it needs to have more muscle in the legs, say … she'll go to Colorado,” Powers said. “When I give her the word, she is going to go the kiln and she'll do the casting.”
Formal fund-raising will start in September with a kickoff celebration at WSU with president John Bardo, Powers said. The committee will give LaRose the go-ahead when it reaches $150,000. Informal efforts raised around $20,000, Powers said.
“All of that money that’s in there is from what people have read (about the project),” he said. “We haven’t asked anybody for anything yet.”
Casting of the statue takes from eight to 12 months, Powers said. LaRose works in Tucson, Ariz., and does her casting at a foundry in Loveland, Colo.
The committee plans a fund-raising letter with signatures from Shocker All-Americans Cleo Littleton, Antoine Carr, Cliff Levingston, Xavier McDaniel, Cleanthony Early, Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker.
“We know you get many other fund-raising letters from many other worthy causes, including from WSU,” fund-raising materials read. “But we believe this one is special because we know how much the Shockers mean to you and our city. Please join us so that all future generations will know as soon as they walk into Koch Arena that this is the House that Dave Built, and this program would not be what it is today without his remarkable years as a Shocker.”
The WSU Foundation is handling donations. Checks should be made out to the WSU Foundation, 1845 Fairmount St., Wichita, 67260.
The project sprang from a conversation among members of the 1964-65 team following Stallworth’s death in March. Teammates Melvin Reed and Mohammed Sharif talked to Powers after the memorial service at Koch Arena to discuss ways to honor Stallworth.
Stallworth ranks third on Wichita State’s career scoring list. He totaled 1,936 points, averaging 24.2 a season. He also averaged 10.5 rebounds and made 53 percent of his shots.
His No. 42 jersey is one of five retired at WSU, and he was in the Missouri Valley’s inaugural Hall of Fame class in 1997 — alongside Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, Wes Unseld, Ed Macauley, Hersey Hawkins and coach Henry Iba.
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"169328952","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/ph0gv0/picture169328952","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"stallworth statue 3 face","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1503678591,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1503677257,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/ph0gv0/picture169328952/alternates/FREE_1140/stallworth%20statue%203%20face","href":"/web/v1/content/169328952","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"Courtesy photo","dateline":"","caption":"Clay prototype for a Dave Stallworth statue.","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/ph0gv0/picture169328952/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/stallworth%20statue%203%20face"},{"id":"168369267","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article168369267.html","asset_type":"blogpost","state":"published","title":"Baseball America ranks Shockers among Cape Cod’s top prospects","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1503333033,"published_date":1503332629,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/uq727i/picture168369257/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/1K3H0212","keywords":"wichita state baseball, shockers, cape cod league","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3362"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Wichita State’s Greyson Jenista, Alec Bohm enjoyed success with the bat this summer.","content":"
It’s no surprise Wichita State’s Greyson Jenista and Alec Bohm grabbed the attention of professional scouts. They hit many baseballs hard this summer in the Cape Cod League, generally regarded as the top league in the nation.
Baseball America ranks Jenista, a first baseman/outfielder from Eudora, the top prospect in the Cape. Bohm, a third baseman from Omaha, is No. 7.
“(Jenista’s) athleticism, feel for the barrel and emerging power give him the look of a top half of the first round pick,” Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill wrote.
Jenista hit .310 with three home runs and four doubles and a .401 slugging percentage.
Bohm hit .351, second in the Cape, wtih five home runs and 10 doubles and a .513 slugging percentage.
You can read BA’s evaluation here, although a subscription is necessary to read the entire article.
More about Jenista’s summer here.
More about Bohm’s summer here.
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"168369257","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/uq727i/picture168369257","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"1K3H0212","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1503333033,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1503332629,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/uq727i/picture168369257/alternates/FREE_1140/1K3H0212","href":"/web/v1/content/168369257","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"","dateline":"","caption":"Baseball America named Wichita State’s Greyson Jenista the top prospect in the Cape Cod League.","photographer":"Courtesy of Rick Heath","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/uq727i/picture168369257/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/1K3H0212"},{"id":"166898362","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/article166898362.html","asset_type":"blogpost","state":"published","title":"Boston’s Dimon Carrigan is a late-blooming shot-blocker","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"none","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","home_section":{"name":"Shockwaves","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/"},"modified_date":1502557380,"published_date":1502557047,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/erxmzn/picture166898357/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/dimon%20carrigan","keywords":"wichita state shockers, ncaa basketball, american athletic conference","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350","3360","3315"],"credit":"","dateline":"","summary":"Wichita State makes the cut to eight schools for Dimon Carrigan, who will take a post-graduate year at Woodstock Academy.","content":"
Wichita State assistant coach Donnie Jones recruited shot-blockers Hassan Whiteside (Marshall) and Tacko Fall (Central Florida) during his previous stops.
Boston’s Dimon Carrigan seems to fit into that line.
Carrigan, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound center, lists Wichita State in his pool of eight schools he is considering. He played this summer for Boston Amateur Basketball Club, which won the 19-under AAU title at Disney's Wide World of Sports near Orlando in July.
Carrigan’s strong summer turned him into a popular recruit. He will take a post-graduate year at Woodstock (Conn.) Academy after his senior season at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High. Carrigan decided last year that he needed to get stronger, leading him to choose prep school.
In March, Carrigan scored 21 points and blocked eight shots to help Rindge and Latin to its second straight Massachusetts Division 1 title.
“He’s a classic late-bloomer,” said BABC coach Leo Papile. “He was a borderline JV player as a 10th grader. The best is yet to come with him.”
Rivals.com ranks him No. 145 in the class of 2018.
Papile said he has known Jones for a long time. WSU started recruiting Carrigan in April and that may help when Carrigan decides which schools to visit. He will likely wait until September to set up visits.
“They’ve given him the full (coaching) staff service,” Papile said. “They got on him early. He’s not in a rush. He wants to go through the process and get a good feel for schools.”
BABC produced prominent shot-blockers Patrick Ewing (who also attended Rindge and Latin) and Nerlens Noel and Papile mentions them as role models on defense for Carrigan. Papile said Carrigan’s 7-foot-3 wingspan helps.
“He makes full use of it,” he said. “He reads the action. He’s got great timing.”
Carrigan, Papile said, scores on jump hooks and dunks and can make mid-range jump shots. He can catch passes, which is a sometimes overlooked asset for big men.
“If you have good hands in the post, you can have a career,” Papile said.
Carrigan is also considering Connecticut, Houston, Syracuse, Texas, Georgia Tech, Miami and Clemson.
Paul Suellentrop: 316-269-6760, @paulsuellentrop
","template_type":"","story_teaser":"","lead_media":{"id":"166898357","url":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/erxmzn/picture166898357","asset_type":"picture","state":"published","title":"dimon carrigan","publication":"kansas","layout_option":"","home":"/web/v1/sections/3350","modified_date":1502557380,"allow_comments":false,"published_date":1502557047,"thumbnail":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/erxmzn/picture166898357/alternates/FREE_1140/dimon%20carrigan","href":"/web/v1/content/166898357","access_tags":["matbasic"],"additional_sections":["3350"],"credit":"","dateline":"","is_mugshot":false,"text_alignment":"Default","summary":"","byline":"","kicker":""},"owner":"Wichita","allow_comments":true,"image":"https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/shockwaves/erxmzn/picture166898357/alternates/LANDSCAPE_768/dimon%20carrigan"}],"showSummary":false,"initialQuantity":0,"isLoading":true,"isVisible":false,"areMoreResults":false,"page":0,"offset":0},"sectionConfig":{"lang":"en","pubTimeZone":"America/Chicago"}}