LSU coach: Wichita State is a team that ‘can win the whole thing’

LSU coach Will Wade was familiar with Wichita State before the teams reached Hawaii for this week’s Maui Invitational.

Wade has heard plenty about the Shockers since he hired Greg Heiar from Gregg Marshall’s staff last spring. He knows the challenge teams will be up against this week facing WSU.

“They’re just a phenomenal program,” Wade said. “They’re a senior-laden team, tough. They’re efficient on offense and pitbulls on defense.

“They’ve got a chance to win the whole thing in my opinion.”

No. 6 Wichita State (2-0) plays California (2-1) at 4 p.m. Monday at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Wade wasn’t the only coach who had high praise for Marshall and Wichita State. Here’s a roundup of what coaches on the island had to say about the Shockers at Sunday’s press conference:

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey: “Gregg is a good friend of mine and I have the utmost respect for what he’s built out there. I think it’s exciting for Wichita State and their fans and players and coaches to jump into this new league. It’s going to be great for everybody. It’s great for the program and it was needed. It was time to step up and compete at that level and they’re very ready to do that. Anytime you’ve got old guys who have won together like Wichita State, that’s a great formula. We’re old and we’ve won together, but we don’t have as many old guys as Wichita State.”

Michigan coach John Beilein: “The big thing they’ve been able to do is get really good players who know who they are, get better, and stay the full four years. They have a substance about their program and who they are. They’re not dealing with the consistent change over and over and over again with guys going pro or transferring. That’s really given them great stability. That’s why they’re so good. Six seniors? Now that’s something.”

California coach Wyking Jones: “They’re just really, really talented. They’re well-coached. They’re deep. They play as a team and they just have that blueprint for a team that’s going to make a major run in the tournament. We’re a young team and we’re trying to get to that level. Our guys can learn a lot from playing against a team like that.”

VCU coach Mike Rhoades: “Gregg is a good old Macon boy, so I’ve known coach Marshall for a long, long time. What an unbelievable job he’s done with that program. He’s got all of these seniors and he’s got leadership. They’ve been through the battles before and they’re probably the most battle-tested team out of everybody. Those guys have been through big games and they’ve won big games. In that program his players have taken on his personality and you see it on the court and that’s why they’re successful. Playing Wichita State is a tough game no matter where you play them.”

Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski: “They’re extremely well-coached and very, very experienced. They’ve got great toughness and great connectivity on both ends of the floor. They’ve got guys who know who they are as players and they really buy into that identity and really play extremely well together.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 2:55 PM with the headline "LSU coach: Wichita State is a team that ‘can win the whole thing’."