The Wichita State Shockers are seeking their 10th NCAA tournament appearance in 2012 – 2013. The Shockers are the defending Missouri Valley Champions, and are on a mission to repeat in a very competitive playing field. The Shockers won the regular season title with a 16-2 record; finishing two games ahead of Creighton. Overall, the Shockers won 27 of 33
games. Wichita State was unable to escape “Arch Madness” without getting upset. Illinois
State knocked off the Shockers 65-64 in the semi-finals. Despite that loss, the Shockers were invited to the NCAA tournament, and got the Rams of VCU in the first round. Wichita State was unable to pull off the win; and lost 62-59.
Gregg Marshall, the head coach of the Shockers is one of the hot names in the world of college basketball. Marshall has been a head coach for 14 season, and has reached the NCAA tournament in 8 of those years. Before coming to Wichita State, Marshall was the all time winning coach at Winthrop. The Eagles even made it to as high as #22 in the Associated Press poll. Marshall was hired at Wichita State before the 2007-2008 season, and now has 303 career wins. In March of 2011, the Shockers were the NIT champions.
The Shockers will have their work cut out for them to win the Missouri Valley Conference title this season. Wichita State has five senior’s on their roster; but their top five scorers from a season ago are gone. The Shockers lost nearly 39 points per game from the trio of Joe Ragland, Garrett Stutz and Torre’ Murry. Wichita State will look for the young guys like Fred Van Fleet, Derail Green and Zach Bush to have an immediate impact as freshman. The coaches are excited for Van Fleet, who comes from Rockford Auburn, out of suburban Chicago.
Carl Hall is the most experienced player that returns for the Shockers. Hall played 22.3 minutes per game last season, scoring just shy of 9 points per game. Demetric Williams, out of Las Vegas is entering his senior season, and is the second leading scorer returning. Williams played just under 25 minutes per game.
While there is not a ton of experience, look for the Shockers to be solid by the time the Missouri Valley Conference season begins. It will not be easy battling with the McDermott duo of Creighton, but the Wichita State Shockers cannot be counted out this season. Gregg Marshall will get the best out of his crew, and they will once again be knocking on the NCAA tournament
door come March.
