Wichita State’s Koch Arena voted best game atmosphere by AAC coaches

Wichita State’s men’s basketball crowds at Koch Arena made a strong impression around the American Athletic Conference during the Shockers’ first season.

According to a survey from Stadium’s Jeff Goodman that asked veteran coaches around the AAC, Wichita State has the best game atmosphere in the conference.

“Incredible support, tremendous game-day atmosphere and it’s the only game in town,” is how Goodman describes it in the article.

WSU sold out all nine of its home AAC games last season, averaging 10,506 per game — nearly double the conference average of 5,734 fans and 16 percent higher than second-place Cincinnati.

According to the survey, the Wichita State job is the fourth-best in the conference based on nine categories, which include tradition, resources, recruiting base, facilities and sending players to the pros. Connecticut was voted the best job, followed by Memphis and Cincinnati.

WSU was voted fourth in tradition behind UConn, Cincinnati and Memphis, third in resources behind UConn and Memphis, fifth in facilities behind Memphis, UConn, SMU and Cincinnati, and fourth in selling pros behind UConn, Memphis and Cincinnati.

The main category where the Shockers were docked — recruiting base — is out of their control. WSU was voted ninth out of 12 teams in the category.

“Wichita is one of the worst cities in the league,” an anonymous assistant coach told Goodman. “They could go national when they were in the Missouri Valley, but they can’t do that and win the American.”

Following WSU in fourth for the top job, Houston, SMU, Temple, Central Florida, South Florida, Tulsa, East Carolina and Tulane rounded out the rankings.

This story was originally published September 28, 2018 at 1:10 PM.