Markis McDuffie on WSU’s team chemistry: ‘We’re already like brothers’
Summer has never been as important to the Shockers men’s basketball team, with nine of 13 scholarship players and two of three assistants new to the program.
Gregg Marshall will have just 11.2 percent of last season’s minutes returning for the 2018-19 season and while the coach has stockpiled his new roster with talent, length and athleticism, there’s no denying it will take time for all of the new pieces to jell.
Building team chemistry is always an emphasis during the summer months, but even more so at this time. That’s why Marshall and his staff try to organize at least one team-building activity per week. Whether that’s a day at the pool, taking turns trying to return the serve of Katie Swan or going to dinner, WSU wants its players together.
According to senior team leader Markis McDuffie, the process of acclimating six freshmen and three transfers to the program’s ways has been smoother than he expected.
“The team is jelling great right now,” McDuffie said. “We’re already like brothers. We’re all understanding each other, how to deal with each other. They just have to figure out how to make their way here and figure out how we do things around here. They’re getting better every single day, and I’m doing my best to lead them.”
J.R. Simon, who has been with the program for the last six seasons as a player and currently as a graduate manager, said this year’s team-bonding has a different feel because of sheer numbers.
But that has made the experience of watching the camaraderie form even more fulfilling for him.
“It’s a little surprising, but not really when you think about it,” Simon said. “That’s always been something we’ve done a really good job of here, trying to learn everyone’s stories. We have so many guys from different parts of the country. Everyone has a different background, a different culture, a different upbringing. So we just want to learn everyone’s story.”
A quick glance at the team’s roster and the players’ hometowns backs up Simon’s point.
WSU has two international players in Asbjorn Midtgaard (Denmark) and Jaime Echenique (Colombia). It has players from major metropolitan areas such as Houston (Morris Udeze), Louisville, Ky., (Chance Moore), Charlotte, N.C., (Jamarius Burton) and Memphis, Tenn. (Rod Brown) and ones from smaller cities as far away as Washington (Erik Stevenson). It even has small-town Kansas represented in preferred walk-on Tate Busse from St. Francis, population 1,294.
And in charge of them all, at least as the peer-to-peer leader, is McDuffie, who carries with him the boisterous swagger from Paterson, N.J.
“It’s a huge change for me, but it’s maturing me as a person to always be on my 10 toes and be on my P’s and Q’s,” McDuffie said. “These guys look up to me and I’m kind of the leader, so they follow what I do. I have to make sure I’m going hard every possession, giving it my all and working hard and communicating.”
The NCAA recently allowed teams to practice two more hours per week during the off-season, which could not have come at a better time for a WSU team needing as much time on the court together as possible.
Even outside of practices, the players regularly get together to play pick-up ball during the evenings at Koch Arena. There’s still approximately a little less than a week before official practices begin on September 25, but McDuffie said the team bonding already in the bank will pay dividends for WSU later this season.
“It really matters right now what you’re doing as a team,” McDuffie said. “What we did this summer, you want to get all of that done so everyone knows everyone and they know what they’re doing. By the time the season comes, we want to be ahead of the game with these new guys, and I think we’re on our way to doing that.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2018 at 3:52 PM.