Gregg Marshall reveals Wichita State’s ‘watershed moment’ during Monday’s practice
Gregg Marshall didn’t sleep much on Sunday night.
Earlier that day, he had endured the most embarrassing performance by his team in 13 years at Wichita State, a 76-43 evisceration by Houston. But what kept the coach up all night was worrying about what came next.
After a 15-1 start to the season, WSU had lost three in a row and five of its last seven games. Was this rock bottom? Or could WSU sink deeper?
“I knew (Monday) was a very, very, very important day,” Marshall said Monday night on his coaches show.
Monday was originally scheduled as an off-day for the team, but that didn’t sit right with Marshall after Sunday’s game. He knew that the team had to clear the air and do it right away, so he scheduled a practice.
Marshall was astonished to watch players file into the gym and without speaking head straight to the baseline instead of the ball rack.
“I probably tipped them off at the end of the bus ride (Sunday) about what was coming more than likely,” Marshall said. “But in my 35 years, I’ve never seen a group of guys come into the gym and line up on the baseline. And some of them were in there for 15 minutes just waiting for their teammates.”
When the full team was finally assembled, Marshall blew the whistle for an up-and-down sprint. After the players were finished, he asked if anyone wanted to say anything. No one did. So they ran again. After the second time, senior Jaime Echenique made a passionate plea to his teammates. Marshall asked if anyone wanted to add on. No one did. So they ran again.
“We’re going to run until we get this out,” Marshall said, repeating his message in practice. “There’s something going on that you guys need to address and it needs to come out. So stop beating around the bush. We can sprint or we can talk about this.”
Finally, the rest of the Shockers joined in on the conversation. What followed next Marshall described as “very powerful,” “beneficial” and a potential “watershed moment” for the team.
“We got out some pent-up anger, jealousy, selfishness, guys called each other out,” Marshall said.
“Just the raw emotion that they spoke with, they were pointing out things that they didn’t like. There was a tear or two shed and some very, very pointed comments. Guys are angry at how they’re playing and then they’re angry at me because they’re not playing more because of how they’re playing. And they’re angry at their teammates that they think they should be playing in front of.”
Those thoughts had gone unspoken and festered in recent weeks. By finally saying them aloud, Marshall believes the conversations were cathartic for the players. No longer were the criticisms one-sided, coming solely from Marshall. This time the players were given a forum to express their frustrations, both with the coaches and their teammates.
That sparked some very honest conversations between teammates and from Marshall to his team.
“You have to play for the front of the jersey and not the back. We’ve got one pro on our team next year and that’s Jaime,” Marshall said, repeating his message to the team. “Now some of the rest of you will eventually be pros, but not next year. So here’s the deal: you’re either going to be here the rest of the year and into the future, or you’re going to be somewhere else, but you’re not a pro yet. So if you want to be a pro, we can help you. We’ve done that.”
That concern about their future prospects led some players to express their frustrations about playing time and their starting role on the team, according to Marshall.
“It’s just a matter of being a young team and having some thoughts of selfishness, honestly, that’s what it is,” Marshall said. “The 16 young men in our program, you would be happy to have them in your home for a meal. They are fantastic young people, but like so many young people right now, they’re just conflicted in the ‘me, me, me’ thing opposed to ‘us.’
“I think they figured that out today because their colleagues, their brothers were the ones calling them out, not me. So I hope there’s a quick turnaround and you’ll see a whole different, the passion that you normally see from one of our teams on Thursday (at Central Florida).”
Marshall said he used Fred VanVleet as the example for WSU’s young guards with professional aspirations. VanVleet averaged 10.2 points per game for his career, yet won two Missouri Valley Conference player of the year awards and led WSU to a Final Four, Sweet 16 and a 35-1 season. VanVleet is now a burgeoning star in the NBA for the Toronto Raptors set to make millions of dollars after this season.
“He wasn’t worried about his shots or his minutes,” Marshall said. “He was just worried about performing and when he performed well, he played more and we won. And that’s what’s important.
“The phrase our staff has used for awhile now is you’ve got to get beyond your personal feelings and play for the group.”
Marshall was uneasy before Monday, but the coach said he felt much better about the team following the meeting.
“Maybe it was overdue, maybe I should have done it before this,” Marshall said. “But I think in the end, after a very difficult two hours, we all came out of it feeling cleansed. So I hope that it’s done.
“Now it could be we go down and do it again at Central Florida on Thursday. I can’t predict that, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think (Monday) was a step in the right direction, maybe two or three steps in the right direction.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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