An American love story: How a conference can push WSU to new heights

The expectations were always going to be high for Wichita State this basketball season.

American Athletic Conference or Missouri Valley Conference, it didn’t matter where the Shockers were playing, this team was primed to be the most experienced and touted team in the Gregg Marshall era.

Six seniors and a pair of NBA prospects — the top eight scorers on last season’s 31-win team — paired with Marshall’s record of success are enough to make the Shockers a consensus top-10 team in the country this preseason. A top point guard, a lights-out shooter, versatile wing defenders, experienced big men — sound like a familiar recipe Shocker fans?

“You don’t step in between the lines thinking we just want to make it to the Sweet 16 or the Final 4,” senior Shaquille Morris said. “What you want to do is hang up big banners. I’ve been a part of teams that have done that before and this team has the ability to do those type of things and even more.”

The step up to the AAC heightens awareness and expectations.

Wichita State has played in the NCAA Tournament six consecutive seasons, and this senior class has won at least one game in March Madness the past three seasons. But the Shockers haven’t advanced past the Sweet 16 during that span, in part because they were never higher than a No. 7 seed.

The path was made tougher playing in the Valley, where WSU had too much to lose and too little to gain. The Shockers won 68 of their final 72 regular-season games in the Valley, receiving little credit for doing so because it was expected, while the four losses became a blemish on their resume.

Life in the American will be a welcome change. Now two-thirds of its schedule will come against top-100 RPI opponents, according to Ken Pomeroy’s preseason ratings, compared to just eight such games last season. A better resume will lead to a better postseason seed, which should make for an easier path to deeper runs in the NCAA Tournament.

If Wichita State is trying to accomplish something it’s never accomplished before, then it will have to venture into the unknown to do it.

“I’m excited, I’m anxious, I’m nervous, I’m scared, I’m all of those things,” Marshall said. “Fear is a great motivator.”

The players have received an earful from the coaching staff all summer warning that the days of playing average basketball and winning comfortably are over. When programs like Connecticut and Memphis, traditional powers whose rosters are still dotted with top recruits, are expected to be in the middle of the pack, it’s clear life will be different in the American.

Wichita State will be playing in bigger cities and venues against better talent and a coaching roster which has combined for two national championships, three Final Fours and seven Elite Eights.

“When you know you’re working toward a higher standard, everything you value as a man increases,” senior Rashard Kelly said. “Some programs probably settle for being No. 8 in the country, but that’s not who we are. We know what we’re capable of and we know we have the potential to do it this year.”

Advanced statistics suggest Wichita State is more than capable of translating its success to a new conference. According to Pomeroy’s metrics, which rates a team’s efficiency, Wichita State was the 13th best offensive and defensive team in college basketball last season. As a whole, the Shockers were ranked No. 8 in the country.

But that level of efficiency came against a strength of schedule that ranked No. 102. It will be a challenge to replicate those numbers against better competition, but one Wichita State believes is possible.

“We know now we can’t just have an OK night or not play well on the defensive end because we could get beat by anyone in (the AAC),” senior Conner Frankamp said. “There’s a lot of expectations going into that new conference, but we’re not sure how it’s going to be. We feel like we have a really good team if everybody buys in and plays their role.”

Unlike other teams being floated this preseason as national title contenders, Wichita State does not have a one-and-done talent or a surefire NBA lottery pick. Instead, Marshall uses a deep rotation that last season saw 10 players average between 11 to 27 minutes per game with the team’s leading scorer (Markis McDuffie) averaging 11.5 points.

The good news: The roles remain the same. Landry Shamet is the team’s playmaker at point guard, Frankamp is the sniper and reliable ball handler on the outside, Zach Brown and McDuffie are athletic wings who can score and defend, while Kelly, Darral Willis, Morris, and Rauno Nurger make up a deep frontcourt.

Now for the bad news: foot injuries to Shamet (out until mid-November) and McDuffie (out until mid-to-late December) have put those plans on hold.

This team might have the highest ceiling of any team Marshall has coached, but he doesn’t have his full arsenal.

“I think that will be determined by how we play and how healthy we become and once we become healthy, if we can remain healthy,” Marshall said. “But right now, it’s a far cry from where we hope it will end up because of the injuries we’re dealing with right now.”

For now, this team can rely on the veteran leadership of Frankamp, Brown, Kelly, Willis, Morris, and Nurger. Those six seniors know Marshall’s expectations and have experience playing together.

“In college basketball, more seniors usually means more wins, more experience, a better chance at executing,” Brown said.

“We know everybody’s tendencies now,” Kelly added. “We know where Conner likes to shoot it. We know when Shaq is on the block to feed him. We know me, Rauno, Zach, Darral are going to go hard every single play. We just know how to play off each other.”

The biggest difference this season might be adjusting to the external pressures of the program’s highest preseason ranking in 36 years – The USA Today Coaches Poll tabbed the Shockers No. 8 in 1981.

“We have the target on our back, it’s been the same thing every single year I’ve been here,” Morris said.

Marshall has never put much stock into preseason rankings and has made sure his team is aware of how little he cares.

“It’s all conjecture,” Marshall said. “That’s nothing that has been proven, so I tell our guys to not believe the hype. We have to get ready to get people’s best shot.”

Shamet and McDuffie, two underclassmen, may be the Shockers’ two best players. But if they are going to achieve what they want to achieve, and they’ve made it clear that it’s a national championship, then the six seniors will be the ones that will need to deliver.

“These six seniors will be known for their careers, but the most important year that they’ll be known for is their senior year,” Marshall said. “Your legacy is your senior year. They’ve already got some deposits they’ve made to the bank, but this will be their biggest one.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "An American love story: How a conference can push WSU to new heights."