Wichita State notes: Ron Baker’s parents there to see son’s bounceback

It’s a familiar sight at Wichita State home games to see guard Ron Baker’s parents, Neil and Ranae, sitting several rows back from the Shocker bench after making the four-hour drive from Scott City.

They were also in Omaha on Sunday, entrenched in a sea of WSU fans.

And when Baker hit his first three-pointer against Kansas, it turned out he knew exactly where they were, turning at midcourt and making eye contact with his parents.

“I think he was a little nervous from the last game, where he didn’t play great,” Neil Baker said. “He wanted to come out and let everybody know he had it tonight.”

After struggling in the Shockers’ NCAA Tournament opener against Indiana on Friday night, Neil gave his son some typical, western Kansas advice before facing Kansas, the team Baker revered as a child.

“I said, ‘You got another game today, son, so let’s go,’” Neil said.

The stare into the crowd evoked a little more emotion in his mother.

“It was amazing,” Ranae said. “I don’t know how to explain it ... it was just awesome. That’s my son, so I was nervous the whole time, but obviously it was still fun.”

And as far as beating his boyhood team?

“He’s happy they won, but probably mad KU got beat,” Neil said, laughing. “He’s a big fan, he’s always been a big fan of KU.”

Wamukota delivers — WSU junior center Bush Wamukota didn’t score a point in 14 minutes against the Jayhawks, but his value on the court couldn’t be understated.

With the Shockers’ best two post players, Darius Carter and Shaq Morris, in foul trouble and having to sit the last 10 minutes, Wamukota was counted on to fill their role as he matched up with Kansas’ Jamari Traylor and Landen Lucas.

Wamukota (6-foot-11) was more than up to the task, forcing a missed dunk by Traylor, grabbing a pair of rebounds and even starting the second half.

It came after WSU coach Gregg Marshall only played Wamukota three minutes in Friday’s win over Indiana and criticized the junior-college transfer from Kilgore College for missing back-to-back defensive assignments against the Hoosiers.

“I thought Bush Wamukota gave us some quaility minutes today,” Marshall said Sunday. “Defensively, especially around the rim.

“I thought when Bush came in, he played well, and the score started going in a positive direction, the plus/minus deal that we try to keep up with. That’s the most important state of all, how the scoreboard goes in your favor or against you when you’re in the game, are you helping your team be positive or helping your team be negative? So when he was in there, that’s when we took that lead at the end of the first half.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Wichita State notes: Ron Baker’s parents there to see son’s bounceback."