‘No place like home’: Campus star Sterling Chapman commits to Wichita State basketball
.JPG "Campus’ Kaleb Selenke, Sterling Chapman and Jayden Hall")
Sterling Chapman grew up attending basketball games at Koch Arena, admiring coach Gregg Marshall on the sidelines and cheering on the Shockers.
Now the Wichita native will have the opportunity to experience Shocker game days in a Wichita State uniform playing for Marshall in front of 10,502 fans at Koch Arena. Chapman, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard rated a 3-star prospect in the class of 2021, announced Tuesday afternoon he has committed to WSU.
The senior-to-be at Campus is the first homegrown player to commit to the Shockers out of high school since Evan Wessel (Heights) in 2011. Chapman, who picked WSU over offers from AAC rivals SMU and Tulsa, said he couldn’t resist playing for the Shockers after seeing the outpouring of support from fans to Wichita-bred players in recent years like Conner Frankamp (2016-18) and Samajae Haynes-Jones (2017-19).
“I’ve seen it and I’ve witnessed it first-hand with Samajae coming out how the arena shakes and how they yell and how they chant for him because he was a hometown kid,” Chapman said. “I know what it means to put on that jersey and I know it means the world to the community. I can’t wait to get there and be on that stage and be the best Shocker that I can be. I’m ready to feel that love.”
‘A kid in the candy store’
Another homegrown Shocker actually helped Chapman through his recruiting process: WSU legend Antoine Carr.
Carr, a McDonald’s All-American at Heights in 1979, went through his own recruiting process and decided to stay home and play for the Shockers. He played one some of WSU’s best teams and finished with one of the most decorated four-year careers in program history, which led to a 16-year career in the NBA.
When he heard another Wichita kid was considering the Shockers, Carr reached out to Chapman. The conversations, which spanned everything from the mental side of basketball to what it means to play for the Shockers when you’re a Wichita kid, were particularly illuminating to Chapman.
“I was like a kid in the candy store just trying to soak in all of the knowledge he was dropping on me,” Chapman said. “I mean he played not only at the Division I level, but at the highest level that everyone is trying to make it to.”
Little did Carr know before he reached out, but the two actually had shared history. Chapman had enrolled in a basketball camp in Wichita led by Carr back when he was in the fourth grade.
Chapman still loves telling the story about how Carr called on his 9-year-old self to shoot a free throw in front of all the campers.
“I still remember this like it was yesterday,” Chapman said. “He put me on the free throw and told us that when we get older, there’s going to be crowds trying to distract you and you have to overcome those distractions. So he gives me the ball to shoot and then bends over and starts blowing in my ear.
“I made the shot and was so excited. It was amazing to be able to have an NBA star give me an experience like that.”
‘The values of Play Angry and MTXE’
Les Chapman grew up in Wichita as a Shocker fan, cheering on the likes of Carr, Xavier McDaniel, Aubrey Sherrod and Cliff Levingston.
It was right around the time when Gregg Marshall was hired by WSU in 2007 that he began taking his two boys, Steele and Sterling, to WSU basketball games. They saw the Shockers win the NIT championship. They witnessed the Final Four run. They experienced the 35-1 season.
“I’ve always given Sterling the history of Wichita State,” Les Chapman said. “He understands it and he grew up with it, so I think he understands what it means to be a Shocker. I’ve always tried to instill the values of Play Angry and MTXE.”
From an early age, Les Chapman pushed his youngest son on the basketball court. Drills weren’t complete until they were done perfectly. At the time, Sterling didn’t understand why his father was so tough on him.
Years later, he gives him the credit for building the foundation of what became a Division I basketball player. He also received encouragement from family friends Shaun Smith and Ronnie Robinson.
“When I was younger, I would always ask, ‘Why me? Why are my coaches always on my head?’” Sterling Chapman said. “But that’s what made me into a better basketball player and a better man.
“I didn’t want to play for a coach who was going to tell me it was alright if I made a mistake. I want a coach who is going to say, ‘No, you need to do this the right way.’ My father instilled that in me. It’s not, ‘Oh, my bad.’ It’s, ‘I need to do this the right way.’”
‘There’s no place like home’
It didn’t take long for Sterling Chapman to become impressed by Gregg Marshall.
Although WSU offered after SMU and Tulsa, the Shockers quickly made up ground when Marshall put on the full-court press to make sure Chapman stayed in Wichita. Marshall made it a priority to get to know Chapman as a basketball player and as a person, something that stuck with the high school senior.
“It basically just came down to the feeling that coach Marshall gave me,” Chapman said. “He basically took it beyond just being a coach on the court. I talked with him on a regular basis and our bond has gotten stronger. I’ve never had a college head coach ask me how my day was going. Usually it’s just basketball. So I started to feel the love and I knew that there’s no place like home.”
WSU assistant coach Lou Gudino was the first point of contact for Chapman. The WSU coaching staff fell in love with Chapman’s versatility in a 6-5 frame. He’s a dogged defender and savvy when it comes to making plays on the offensive end of the court.
Chapman led Campus to a perfect 23-0 record before the coronavirus pandemic stopped their season in the semifinals of the Class 6A tournament. It was the first win at state for Campus since 1989, as Chapman averaged 17.7 points and 6.5 rebounds to earn all-state and all-Metro honors.
“I knew this kid was something special since I saw him play in middle school,” Campus coach Chris Davis said. “I’ve been around long enough to know there’s just something about him. He’s got the ‘it’ factor. Some people just have it and he has it.
“The best thing about Sterling is he’s so competitive. He’s not going to go down without a fight. For a young kid to be that competitive, it just blows me away sometimes. It’s every drill, every shooting game, whatever the case may be, he wants to win it. He’s a winner and that’s the ultimate compliment I can give him.”
Perhaps the trait that Marshall cherishes the most about Chapman is that he plays the game with a chip on his shoulder. That’s been a common trait that has excelled under Marshall over the years.
Chapman wants to be the next success story.
“I always felt like I was overlooked and underrecruited,” Chapman said. “I always felt like nobody was looking at me and that created a monster inside of me. I don’t care if you have five stars, four stars, you can have a million stars. At the end of the day, you’re still going to have to play me. You’re still going to have to deal with me. That’s how I carry myself and that’s how I’m always going to approach the game.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 12:00 PM.
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