Rashard Kelly, Zach Brown grow into Wichita State’s big dogs on defense

The worst part of owning a dog is a road trip.

“Leaving him behind,” Wichita State junior forward Rashard Kelly said. “He’s like a child. I’ve got responsibilities with it. I’m trying to raise him into a little gentleman.”

Tank is a 5-month-old, chocolate-colored, 40-pound bullmastiff. He is part counselor, part friend, part child to Kelly and roommate Zach Brown.

Tank does not care if Kelly makes a shot or misses, or if Wichita State wins or loses. That may be the key to Tank’s value to the Shockers, who open NCAA Tournament play against Dayton on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Kelly and Brown care deeply about making shots and winning games, sometimes to their detriment. If Tank helps ease their mental burdens, credit pet therapy.

“He greets you with a smile,” Kelly said. “A dog, they don’t have good or bad days. They’re hungry and they use the bathroom. Tank just likes to lay around, chew on things.”

A college basketball player can use an influence like that to soften the hectic practices, the yelling coaches, the expectations and the hype from fans and social media.

Kelly got Tank in January, over the objections of his mother, Tammy, who worried a dog added too much to his list of school and basketball responsibilities. Even Brown, who loves dogs, wasn’t sure. He gave up Marco, his German Shepherd, when it became apparent he lacked the time to care for an animal.

“Now I’m starting to really like him,” Brown said. “That’s my little man.”

The Shockers started to play great basketball around the time of Tank’s arrival in January, kicking off a 15-game win streak on Jan. 17 that carried them into the NCAA Tournament. Kelly and Brown, both junior forwards, played leading roles in that progress.

Locking in Landry Shamet and Conner Frankamp as WSU’s guard combination gave the Shockers structure and scoring. The rise of Brown and Kelly provided defense, leadership and hustle in the style of former Shocker Evan Wessel, and with more dunks.

“Both of those guys took off,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “Brown became our defensive stopper. Rashard Kelly became an energy guy. Both of them are more athletic than Evan (Wessel), but Evan just knew how to play so well and so hard. Evan set the tone and those guys finally assumed that same role.”

Brown, a 6-foot-6 forward from Houston, takes the opposing team’s top scorer. Kelly, a 6-6 froward from Fredricksburg, Va., shows off an expanding offensive game to pair with his rebounding and defense. Both grew as leaders.

“Those are the first people you hear in the locker room at halftime,” freshman guard Austin Reaves said.

Maybe Tank helped.

Kelly is tough on himself, worrying over the criticism of his scoring ability early in the season. Brown is even more of a perfectionist and more prone to beat himself up after a tough game. Both juniors began the season as starters. By early December, both came off the bench.

Slumps at the foul line and three-point arc enveloped Brown, who went 2 for 18 from three-point range over a five-game stretch. Kelly’s playing time slipped.

“At first I felt like I was real critical of myself,” Brown said. “Worried too much about the wrong things or the big picture. You hit your junior and senior season and all you’re thinking about is ‘I’ve got to do this, look at my numbers type deal.’ You want to get to where you want to get to.”

Brown moved back into the starting lineup and earned Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive team honors. Kelly is a member of the MVC’s All-Bench team.

Tank doesn’t care about beating Illinois State, a three-point slump or professional basketball.

Kelly, his friends and teammates say, is more grown up now that he has Tank to care for. He plans for his departure. He trains the dog to be well-behaved. He worries about the dog when he’s gone.

“He’s a lot more responsible,” WSU junior Shaq Morris said. “It’s like he literally has a son.”

Kelly is like any proud dog owner who loves to share pictures of Tank. He sends a photo or video to his mother almost daily.

“(Tuesday) morning, the picture was Tank asleep with his feet in Rashard’s face,” she said. “That dog has really, really changed his life. He just seems like much more of a happier person.”

With Brown and Kelly confident and comfortable in their roles, they grew into examples for younger Shockers. Everybody wants to score. Marshall demands players do other jobs. Brown and Kelly show how to play and contribute to a winner without scoring big.

“It’s seeing how Zach Brown competes on the defensive end,” Shocker freshman C.J. Keyser said. “He’s a defensive player and it helps our team. It shows we need to buy into the system.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Rashard Kelly, Zach Brown grow into Wichita State’s big dogs on defense."