Tuesday brings quiet routine back to Koch Arena as coaching searches continue

On Tuesday afternoon, Wichita State basketball player Zach Bush rehabbed his right foot on the Koch Arena floor with trainer Todd Fagan. Teammates Rauno Nurger and Jared Walker performed shooting drills. Tekele Cotton made plans for an early Wednesday flight to Indianapolis for a slam-dunk contest.

In the basketball offices, coach Gregg Marshall and others worked and met.

It looked much like any other day. Perhaps that is good news for Wichita State basketball.

Closed doors, empty offices and hushed tones usually characterized the periods when former coach Mark Turgeon and Marshall pondered a job change. On Tuesday, the mood seemed closer to normal, with slightly elevated levels of optimism.

That mood could change quickly, of course. The level of concern, however, seemed to drop from Monday’s mania while Alabama athletic director Bill Battle spent around eight hours in Wichita wooing Marshall. Marshall didn’t get on the plane and that may turn out to be significant.

“Business as usual,” is how one athletic department employee described Tuesday.

After a busy Sunday and Monday, the cycle of job rumors, news and guesses quieted on Tuesday. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Alabama wants to talk with Minnesota coach Richard Pitino. Several reports focused on VCU’s Shaka Smart at Texas. Former Texas coach Rick Barnes landed at Tennessee — still in orange — two days after the Longhorns fired him.

Until Alabama and Texas are filled by someone other than Marshall, however, WSU fans won’t relax.

Some coaches feel compelled, usually for recruiting purposes or to soothe fans, to announce their return or publicly pull out of a job search. Others prefer not to acknowledge the issue and quietly stay put. Turgeon and Marshall, depending on the circumstance, employed both strategies.

Some signs that likely mean all is clear:

WSU usually won’t schedule its postseason celebration until Marshall’s future is set. Should a recruit commit or a new assistant coach be hired to replace Steve Forbes, consider it a sign of stability.

Tuesday appeared to be a good day for Wichita State basketball fans. Wednesday is up next.

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Tuesday brings quiet routine back to Koch Arena as coaching searches continue."