‘We have one shot’: The inside story of how WSU’s coaching staff kept their jobs
They were sure there was no way they were coming back.
In exclusive interviews with The Eagle, each member of the Wichita State men’s basketball coaching staff said they felt the same way back on Nov. 17 when Gregg Marshall, the program’s all-time winningest coach and the one who had hired every one of them, turned in his resignation.
Sure, the current coaches were being kept in place for this season, but if they were being honest with themselves, they were sure their days in Wichita were numbered.
“We knew it was a long shot,” WSU assistant Lou Gudino said.
“Honestly, I would be lying to you if I told you I didn’t think it was over for us in Wichita,” WSU assistant Tyson Waterman said.
They could have felt sorry for themselves. They could have worked this season with one foot out the door looking for their next job. The seemingly hopeless situation could have splintered them, instead it united them together and created a yearning desire to prove themselves within every single member of the staff, from interim head coach Isaac Brown all the way down to the graduate assistants.
It turns out there are some things in life you can’t go through together and not feel more connected than ever. And coaching for your livelihood is one of them.
The WSU coaches brought that rabid tenacity to their jobs every day this season, which explains how the Shockers, picked to finish seventh in the AAC by league coaches before the season, enter March in sole possession of first place in the American Athletic Conference and on the cusp of returning to the NCAA Tournament.
And in a truly improbable twist last Friday, Brown verbally agreed on a five-year contract expected to be worth six times his annual salary to become the permanent head coach at WSU. The coaches who once thought they had no chance to survive will now be staying in Wichita for the foreseeable future.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think I was going to get the job when I first took over,” Brown said. “It was one of the most exciting moments of my life. In this coaching business, there’s guys who have been coaching 20, 30 years and have never got the opportunity to be a head coach. We only have 351 of them.”
‘We have one shot’
It may be hard to remember now, but back in November, the Wichita State men’s basketball program was in turmoil.
The offseason began with six scholarship players, many key contributors, transferring from the program. At the start of fall, allegations emerged of physical and verbal abuse against Marshall. WSU launched an internal investigation, which concluded with Marshall — never admitting fault — handing in his resignation on Nov. 17 and agreeing to a buyout, a little more than a week before the start of the season.
Brown was tabbed the interim coach amid the chaos, which was either the best or worst thing that could have happened for his coaching career depending on who you asked at the time.
“To IB’s credit, that man pulled us together,” Waterman said. “I know a lot of people at the start of the season said, ‘Oh my God, there’s no way.’ I know the expectations from a lot of people probably weren’t too good for us.”
How Brown responded and handled those first hours in the aftermath of Marshall’s resignation would prove critical. The first thing Brown did was call a staff meeting. He wasn’t panicked. He didn’t seem overwhelmed. In true Brown fashion, he was straight-forward and honest about the situation.
Leaving that meeting, the staff members felt a little better knowing that Brown was their leader through the madness.
“He told us, ‘We have one shot, so we’ve got to bring it each and every day,’” WSU player development coach Nick Jones recalled.
That message resonated with the staff. From the three assistant coaches to director of operations Dominic Okon to player development coach Nick Jones to video coordinator Jeff Chapman, they all can honestly say this season’s challenges and their camaraderie with each other have brought out the best in each one of them.
“We knew what we signed up for. We chose this profession, it didn’t choose us,” Gudino said. “You know the risk and the reward and it helps when you’ve got a good staff comprised of good-character people.
“This could have gone a lot of different ways. People could have been trying to find their next job. That’s just human nature, but everybody came into that office and pulled in the same direction and just tried to get one percent better every day.”
‘Stress like that can change a personality’
It’s hard to comprehend the added level of stress being on an interim coaching staff brings until you find yourself in the situation.
“Let’s put it this way,” Waterman said the day Brown agreed to the contract, “we can all finally get a good night’s rest.”
Those in the program again point to Brown’s demeanor as the glue that held things together. Never was Brown’s happy-go-lucky personality needed more than when things were at their most tense. In the way only he can, Brown put everyone around him at ease.
Even when COVID-19 issues played a role in the team’s 1-2 start to the season, Brown stayed calm, cool and collected. The situation was less than perfect, but Brown was perfect for the situation.
“Added stress like that can change a personality, but not him,” Jones said. “He’s the same old IB, the process hasn’t changed him at all. I think the players really responded to that because they knew what they were getting from him. He didn’t try to come in and change everything up. He took things day by day. He wasn’t thinking long-term of, ‘What do we have to do to secure the job?’ Obviously that’s what you want to do, but he always tried to just take things day by day with how we practiced and how we scout. Even when we started to win, he just tried to focus on winning each day.”
Brown said he was so immersed in the job that sometimes he forgot he was an interim head coach at all.
“When you start working during the season and you’re watching film and organizing practice, you kind of forget about that stuff,” Brown said. “I know that sounds crazy, but you’re so focused on winning and the next game. I don’t really remember it until you guys ask me questions about it after games.”
After 18 seasons as a Division I assistant, the 51-year-old Brown was now a head coach for the first time in his life and leading a big-time college basketball program. After toiling away all those years in relative anonymity, he was finally receiving some of the recognition he deserved.
But Brown has no interest in the spotlight. The modesty that comes across in every one of his interviews is not an act for the public; it’s a genuine glimpse at Brown’s authentic self. Brown never once made this season about himself, which may seem like a small deal to the outside, but his humility is a big reason why he has been able to rally WSU’s players and coaches alike.
“Every day was like an interview for us this season,” Waterman said. “There was a lot of pressure, but everybody on our staff worked together. Even the players became more tight-knit and it was an amazing thing to watch play out this season how everyone helped each other to make things better. It was a total team effort and it’s all because IB was the perfect person to be at the head of it all. He’s just a magnet for people. He has a special way of getting people to believe.”
‘None of this is possible without Gregg Marshall’
There of course is a Gregg Marshall part in all of this.
While that may be awkward for WSU’s administration considering how things ended and what he was accused of, the current coaching staff has no problem giving credit to their former boss.
“Bottom line, none of this is possible without Gregg Marshall,” Waterman said. “At the end of the day, these players all came here to play for him. He gave all of us our jobs. It’s very unfortunate what happened to him, but at the end of the day it’s because of Gregg Marshall that we’re even in this position.”
Marshall has remained in Wichita and, still emotionally invested in the program, has been supportive to the players and coaches from afar. He doesn’t try to overstep his bounds and inject himself into the day-to-day operations, but he does remain in contact with the coaches and offers them encouragement and support.
“Coach Marshall has been supportive through all of this,” Gudino said. “We’ve all stayed in contact with him. He’s been checking up on us and he’s just been a great person to have trying to help.”
Every person on WSU’s staff had only known one way their entire time in Wichita — the Marshall way. From the way practices were run to film sessions, every last detail had been carefully curated by Marshall.
Not having his presence moving forward was daunting. After all, he was the man in charge when the Shockers made the Final Four, finished 35-1 and went to seven straight NCAA Tournaments.
Instead of trying to overhaul what was in place, Brown made the decision early on that WSU was going to keep the same system that Marshall installed more than a decade ago. It proved to be a wise decision given WSU’s success this season.
“Coach Marshall put this all together,” Gudino said. “But we’re competitive people and we knew that we had to put our best foot forward.”
“We truly believed in ourselves because we felt like Marshall had us here for a reason,” Waterman said. “We know what we’re capable of doing as a staff, we know the system and we just all had to step up and do our jobs at the highest level we could.”
Brown said he didn’t feel any pressure when he had the interim label. That all changed once he knew he would be the full-time coach to follow Marshall.
“Now that’s pressure right there, trying to follow a Hall of Fame coach” Brown said. “I’ve been here for seven years and we’ve had some great runs. I remember when I first got here with Fred (VanVleet) and Ron (Baker) and we went to that Sweet 16. We want to continue to compete for championships with good student-athletes and try to get back to this NCAA Tournament.”
‘It was his time to harvest’
You’ve probably seen the video clip by now of when WSU’s players found out before Friday’s practice that Brown had been elevated to the team’s full-time coach.
The reaction is pure joy, as the players immediately mob Brown, jumping up and down in celebration, and Waterman even shoots off a confetti gun. It was a genuine reaction that matched how genuine Brown is as a person, the reason why every single person in the program loves and respects him.
“This is truly an amazing story,” Waterman said. “I’m so happy for IB to be on the receiving end of something so very positive. I really do believe it was his time to harvest. That’s why I think you saw such an euphoric reaction from everyone. We’re all just so happy for him.”
“It’s always good to see good things happen to good people,” Gudino said. “IB deserves this.”
Brown possesses that rare ability to make people feel like they’ve known him their whole lives when they meet him. He’ll put his hand on your shoulder, talk in his comforting Mississippi drawl and tell you a story like you’ve been his friend for 20 years. After one meeting, people have a hard time not rooting for him.
That’s why he’s found so much support from all over the country. And not just from the program’s most famous alumni, like Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker, but from random coaches like Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton and Texas’ Shaka Smart, who have been texting Brown all season offering their encouragement and support.
Current coaches and players say it’s impossible not to like Brown because of his complete lack of ego, which is rare to find in a Division I head coach. To this day, Brown stays after practices to rebound with the team’s managers for the players putting up extra shots. He also is involved in watching and cutting up clips for scouting reports, a menial job usually reserved for a low-ranking graduate assistant.
“A lot of head coaches don’t want to take the time to do the dirty work stuff like that,” Jones said. “To me, that’s pretty cool to see from a head coach. He really invests in the players. He takes the time to talk to them and get to know them. He makes sure to put the players first and always make it about them. He really is a player’s coach.”
When Brown took the interim job, he was never concerned about the opportunity he had for himself. His only concern was about the players.
By putting the players first, Brown found the formula for what would ultimately earn him the job.
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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