Wichita State continued its high-level success with this season’s performance

In 2013, Wichita State played in the Final Four for the first time since 1965.

It is hard to top that success. WSU tried by winning 35 straight games, earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a No. 2 ranking in the 2014 final Associated Press poll.

Your move, 2015 Shockers.

And, well done, by defeating Indiana and Kansas in the NCAA Tournament to reach the Sweet 16. Beating the Jayhawks — convincingly — for the first time since 1987 insures your legacy belongs with the two previous teams.

“No one expected us to be where we are right now,” WSU junior Ron Baker said after Thursday’s loss 81-70 to Notre Dame in the Midwest Reigonal semifinals in Cleveland. “When you've got eight, nine new faces coming into your program, a lot of people probably didn't expect us to make it this far.”

Of course, most did expect big things out of WSU. In retrospect, living up to the previous accomplishments created its own burden. The Shockers, led by a rock-solid trio of guards, handled the hype and the status as the big game on every opponent’s schedule.

The Shockers, even after losing NBA Draft pick Cleanthony Early and three other seniors, started the 2014-15 season No. 11 in the AP poll. They lived up to those expectations, even with a bench full of inconsistent newcomers and diminished physical presence in the lane, by finishing 30-5 and winning a third Missouri Valley Conference title in four seasons. They won two NCAA games in a memorable weekend in Omaha to wrap up the state’s bragging rights and set off another round of rushes to the T-shirt stores. WSU was ranked No. 14 in the final AP poll, taken after the MVC Tournament, and should reside comfortably in the top 20 of the USA Today coaches poll, taken after the NCAA Tournament.

“We’ve had an unbelievable season,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said Thursday. “The high of going to the Sweet 16, and beating Kansas and Indiana in one weekend … I’m going to go back (home) and be very proud.”

Offseason change is part of the routine and this spring could be earth-shaking, depending on if Marshall returns for a ninth season and if Baker and guard Fred VanVleet decide to use their final seasons of eligibility instead of turning professional. All three acknowledged the coming decisions after Thursday’s loss and WSU fans and administrators braced for another round of coaching changes that may or may not affect the big office stuffed with trophies, nets and celebratory pictures on the second floor of Koch Arena.

“Our true fans will respect any decision made — if me or Ron decided to leave, if Coach Marshall ends up taking another job,” VanVleet said. “Those are huge ‘ifs.’ If that was happening … I would hope people would do nothing but respect the years and the blood, sweat and tears that have been poured into this program.”

WSU must replace seniors Tekele Cotton and Darius Carter. Assistant coach Steve Forbes, after two seasons, becomes head coach at East Tennessee State on Monday. Marshall, armed with the success of helping Forbes and Chris Jans (Bowling Green) land promotions to the first chair, is looking for an assistant coach for the sixth straight season.

Even in a best-case scenario, more change is guaranteed.

“Any time you lose like this you want to come back and make a run next year,” WSU junior forward Evan Wessel said after Thursday’s loss. “We don’t worry about all that other stuff. It’ll work itself out.”

The Shockers are scheduled to bring in at least four recruits for next season, which means they are currently committed to two scholarships over the NCAA limit of 13, without including walk-on transfer Conner Frankamp. Transfers are part of the spring routine in college basketball and that will be the case again at WSU. The Shockers likely aren’t done recruiting and with a need to shore up their front-court, coaches can be expected to search for help from junior colleges and NCAA Division I transfers with immediate eligibility.

The November signing class includes two players who indicate the prestige bounce from the Final Four. Park Hill (Mo.) guard Landry Shamet is a four-star recruit and ranked No. 89 nationally by Rivals.com. He is one of five finalists for the DiRenna Award, given to the top player in Kansas City. Forward Markis McDuffie, from Saint Anthony (N.J.) is ranked No. 92 nationally in ESPN.com’s rankings and also awarded four stars (on a scale of five).

WSU also signed guard Tyrone Taylor, from Grandview, Mo., who is at Hargave (Va.) Military Academy and rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com. Forward Eric Hamilton, from Duluth, Ga., kept his commitment to WSU after spending the year at Sunrise Christian Academy. He signed with WSU in 2013 and agreed to take a year in Sunrise’s post-graduate program, both to develop his game and ease last year’s scholarship crunch.

Also in the picture is Vincennes (Ind.) University guard Mychal Mulder, who, according to his high school coach, wanted to commit to WSU in the fall against his junior-college coach’s policy. Mulder remains uncommitted and is being recruited by other schools, including Creighton and Missouri. Marshall watched Vincennes earlier this month at the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson.

Should things break the way Shocker fans hope, Marshall will start spring workouts soon with a team that should be nationally ranked to start next season and favored to win the MVC in a battle with Illinois State. Frankamp, coaches said, adjusted well to WSU’s style in practices and they are excited about the scoring potential of teaming his outside shot with Baker and VanVleet. Frankamp, a transfer from Kansas, gives the Shockers a third player with point-guard skills and a scorer who will make VanVleet’s drives to the basket more effective because defenses must guard him closely.

The loss of Cotton deprives WSU of the MVC’s two-time Defensive Player of the Year. While Baker, Wessel and VanVleet are above-average defenders, they don’t possess Cotton’s resume of lock-down efforts against top scorers. Cotton improved his ball-handling skills and served as a reliable third point guard. While his outside shooting slumped as a senior, he made 33.8 percent of his threes for his career.

Carter went out with a 22-point, 8-rebound effort against Notre Dame and WSU must replace his inside scoring. He averaged 11.4 points and a team-leading 5.4 rebounds while making 52.3 percent of his shots.

Their replacements may be on the roster.

Freshman forward Zach Brown made big strides as a defender late in the season and produced breakout efforts against Indiana and Kansas. Freshman center Shaq Morris earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman team after rescuing his career with improved effort and focus in MVC games. He scored eight or more points in six of 17 MVC regular-season games, with a high of 17 against Southern Illinois. He scored eight points in seven minutes against Indiana. If he can continue to improve his conditioning and strength and avoid fouls, his potential as a scoring and shot-blocking force is considerable.

“It’s definitely going to leave a bitter taste in your mouth,” Morris said after Thursday’s loss. “But for the most part, we’ll just stay hungry. I still have good guys in front of me. We can still be special in the future.”

Junior center Bush Wamukota, just two years removed from coming off the bench at an NAIA school, carved out a role as a helpful defender late in the season. Freshman forward Rashard Kelly started four games and was the first newcomer to emerge as a contributor, thanks to his rebounding. Both need to make significant improvement on offensive footwork and scoring moves.

“There are lot of bright futures in here,” Baker said Thursday. “A lot of young guys didn’t get the minutes they wanted this year, but they can learn a lot by watching. I went through the same process my freshman year.”

Adding front-court help to make Baker, VanVleet and Frankamp more dangerous looms as the top priority.

Wessel returns as an undersized power forward who will set a physical tone with maximum hustle. His outside shooting improved over the season’s final month and he shot 36 percent (31 of 86) from three-point range. His four three-pointers against Kansas provided one of the season’s signature moments. He is not a threat to score in the post, however, and often gave up three or four inches in height to his opponent.

Beyond Morris, WSU doesn’t appear to have a big man capable of playing major minutes in the post in 2015-16. Freshman center Rauno Nurger must add strength and weight and improve his defense and rebounding before he can grab a larger role and take advantage of his shooting skills.

WSU has won 30 or more games three straight seasons and played in the NCAA Tournament four straight, both unprecedented levels of success. The foundation is set for more success, depending on how the next few weeks play out with the key architects of that success.

Three Shockers honored — Baker and VanVleet were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 16 team.

Cotton received a spot on the second team.

Northern Iowa's Seth Tuttle and D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius were also named to the first team.

UNI's Wes Washpun, Anthony Beane of Southern Illinois, Daishon Knight of Illinois State and Devonte Brown of Indiana State are on the second team.

This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Wichita State continued its high-level success with this season’s performance."