Markis McDuffie will make season debut tonight, per report

Wichita State’s Markis McDuffie will make his season debut Friday night against Florida Gulf Coast, according to a report by Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports.

Citing a text message from Gregg Marshall, Rothstein reported McDuffie will play “limited minutes” Friday as No. 11 WSU (9-2) wraps up its non-conference slate 6 p.m. at Koch Arena on CBS Sports Network. McDuffie missed the first 11 games of the season recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot.

McDuffie, who led WSU in points, rebounds, and steals last season, returned to practice on Wednesday and told the Wichita Eagle after Thursday’s practice that he hadn’t made a decision yet on if he was going to play against Florida Gulf Coast.

“I wasn’t as slow as I thought I was going to be,” McDuffie said. “I was able to move laterally. I just got to get my wind back and get my groove back offensively. That’s really it. Defensively, I’ve been fine. I can move my feet. It felt pretty good (Thursday).”

WSU senior guard Conner Frankamp, who missed Tuesday’s 89-80 win over Arkansas State due to a migraine, practiced on Wednesday and Thursday and is expected to return to the starting lineup for Friday’s game. Frankamp is averaging 12 points and has 28 assists to just four turnovers this season.

This story was originally published December 22, 2017 at 10:10 AM with the headline "Markis McDuffie will make season debut tonight, per report."