Shockers basketball: Has Gregg Marshall ever faced a more challenging reloading year?

As Wichita State basketball heads into a crucial stretch of recruiting to fill out its 2018-19 roster, I thought it would be a good time to stop and take some questions from WSU fans on Twitter.

In this mailbag, I discuss what WSU's options at point guard could look like next season, if Gregg Marshall has ever faced a reloading job like this before, and what Asbjorn Midtgaard could be in the near future.

If you have a question that didn't get asked, then feel free to send a question my way at my Twitter account.

Let's get right to the questions.

The 2018-19 Shockers will be the most inexperienced team in Gregg Marshall's 12 seasons, as Wichita State will return just 21.8 percent of its minutes from last season. For comparison, the next-lowest marks were 32 percent in Marshall's first two seasons at WSU -- 10 percent higher than what it will be this coming season.

While there's no exact parallel, Marshall has excelled turning over a roster before. Take the 2012-13 season for example. WSU was coming off a 27-win campaign and its first NCAA Tournament bid in six years. Marshall had to replace five graduated seniors: Toure' Murray, Garrett Stutz, Joe Ragland, Ben Smith, and David Kyles. Only Carl Hall and Demetric Williams had sizable roles on that team with Tekele Cotton, Ehimen Orukpe, and Jake White seeing some action.

All Marshall did was pluck Cleanthony Early from the junior-college ranks, scoop up Malcolm Armstead for his senior season, and add a pair of freshmen named Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet. It didn't matter WSU only returned less than 35 percent of last season's minutes because it had such an infusion of talent, which ultimately led the Shockers to a 30-win season and run to the Final Four.

This isn't to say something similar should be expected for this coming season. But Marshall has guided the Shockers to seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances for a reason. He has staying power. WSU has established a culture at this point and that doesn't graduate. While WSU will certainly not spend all season ranked in the top-25 like it did this past season, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Shockers enter the rankings at one point next season.

That's the question of the spring after Landry Shamet made his intentions clear he was headed to the NBA draft and Alex Lomax asked for and was granted a release from his letter of intent. But it's important to remember that the Shockers do have Samajae Haynes-Jones back in the fold for next season. I understand why some fans have forgotten about the Wichita native since he fell out of the rotation and did not play in eight of the final nine games of the season.

From talking to the WSU staff, it's clear they have high hopes for Haynes-Jones in his senior year. The potential is there. We've seen it come in flashes, most notably in games where he scored 31 and 27 points against outmatched competition. He shot an excellent 43.8 percent on 32 three-point attempts and showed he can be a devastating force when he's in transition. But he must improve his finishing in the lane, as too many times his shots were swatted away around the rim.

Expect the Shockers to add at least one more point guard this spring through recruiting, and that player will have every chance to earn major minutes right away. It's also reasonable to expect the two guard to handle the ball more, meaning Austin Reaves, Erik Stevenson, and Chance Moore could all provide relief minutes at the point guard in a pinch.

But who the starting point guard will be next season is one of the more intriguing questions of the offseason for the Shockers.

I think the obvious one would be Markis McDuffie, who clearly never recovered from missing nearly half of the season due to a stress fracture in his foot suffered last September. McDuffie led WSU in scoring (11.5) and rebounding (5.7) as a sophomore, but finished fifth in scoring (8.5) and fifth in rebounding (3.1) as a junior. He did show a flash of that form with 26 points to lead WSU to a road win at SMU, but McDuffie scored 32 combined points in five March games.

To reach its potential, WSU needed McDuffie in top form. Unfortunately due to the injury, he was never able to get to that level. I think a full offseason will do wonders for McDuffie, and he will have a bounce-back senior season.

Another player Marshall had pointed out during the season was Zach Brown, who Marshall said he saw a slip in defense his senior season compared to last season. After averaging 14 minutes per game and playing a key role last season, Rauno Nurger played 11 minutes or less in the final nine games of the season. He could be another player Marshall was alluding to.

There's not much on-court evidence, as Asbjorn Midtgaard only appeared in nine games and a total of 49 minutes. Some have wondered if his freshman season of eligibility was wasted since he played so little, but Midtgaard, his teammates and the coaching staff all seemed confident he had made significant strides by the end of the season.

He looked overwhelmed at times by the speed of the game this season, but I believe the skill set is there for the 7-footer to become a force for Wichita State. It's pretty evident Midtgaard's size will make him a plus rebounder from the start, as he sucked up 31.5 percent of defensive rebounds (for comparison's sake, Darral Willis finished No. 33 in the nation by grabbing 25.7 percent in an expanded role). But Midtgaard hardly grabbed any offensive rebounds, so generating second-chance opportunities will be the next step for him.

Midtgaard's height should also make him a shot-blocking threat and deter opponents from driving when he's camped out in the lane. But will he have the mobility to stay on the court against big men who can shoot? Is Midtgaard a threat from outside five feet? Can you put him in the pick-and-roll? Does he have the endurance to play more than 20 minutes per game? These are all unanswered questions going into a crucial offseason for the Shockers and Midtgaard.

There is a vacancy at center, and Midtgaard will get the first chance to replace Shaquille Morris in the starting lineup. Talking with Morris near the end of the season, he was adamant that Midtgaard would be a star sooner rather than later. The same sentiment was echoed by WSU's strength and conditioning coach Kerry Rosenboom, who said Midtgaard is the most likely player to surprise Shocker fans next season.

So if you take the word of those who work with Midtgaard every day, then it sounds like you should expect him to be the team's starting center next fall.

It's obvious following the departure of Landry Shamet to the NBA Draft and top recruit Alex Lomax being released from his letter of intent that Gregg Marshall's No. 1 priority this spring is to find a point guard. Whether that's through a junior-college transfer, a graduate transfer or signing a high school senior remains to be seen. But I know WSU will be actively exploring all three routes in bringing in a point guard (or two) with its remaining three scholarships.

WSU showed early interest to four-star point guard James Akinjo following his release from Connecticut, but his recruiting has blown up and he'll be one of the nation's most coveted recruits for the spring signing period. WSU would likely need to get a visit to be in contention for him, and Akinjo has only scheduled visits to Arizona and Tennessee so far. He'll be one to monitor closely. Neftali Alvarez is a three-star point guard who took a visit to Wichita back in October and still has it pinned to the top of his Twitter profile. He's likely going to be a target this spring if WSU is going to bring in a high school point guard.

Another target to watch from the junior-college ranks is Tyler Cheese, a 6-foot-4 combo guard from Florida Southwestern State. He's reportedly visiting WSU this weekend and could be a nice fit to provide immediate help to the Shockers' backcourt. He averaged 15.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game for one of the best junior-college teams in the country.

Gregg Marshall was in Florida on Thursday checking out wings Berrick JeanLouis, a three-star shooting guard,and Keyshawn Bryant, a four-star small forward. Bryant would give the Shockers another athlete out on the perimeter and could compete with redshirt freshman Rod Brown for early minutes.

Having the most experience on the team, I think it's easy to say Markis McDuffie will be the leader for WSU in his senior season. This will be his team if he wants it to be, and I think he could be in store for a big senior year. I think another candidate would be junior Austin Reaves, who seems to be well-regarded by everyone in the locker room. Those two seem to be the early candidates for a main leadership role with the team.

I think it's a stretch to point to the recent transfers as a sign of anything deeper going on at Wichita State. For C.J. Keyser, it was simply about fit. He hadn't made the impact he was hoping to make at this point and after meeting with the coaching staff last week, he decided the best fit for him would be somewhere else. As for the two walk-ons, I think it was a case for Kaelen Malone and Brett Barney being ready to go somewhere where they could play. One transfer is about par for the course these days in Division I, so I wouldn't think much about it.

This story was originally published April 6, 2018 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Shockers basketball: Has Gregg Marshall ever faced a more challenging reloading year?."