After year without fans, TBT AfterShocks ready to ‘feel the atmosphere’ at Koch Arena
For almost all of the AfterShocks, Friday night’s opener in The Basketball Tournament at Koch Arena will be their first game played in front of fans in nearly two years.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many professional basketball leagues overseas restricted fans from coming to games. Playing an entire season in empty arenas was a strange feeling, players said.
“It was just like open gym, like pickup every time,” Markis McDuffie said. “You could hear everything.”
“It was definitely an adjustment at first, but you got used to it,” Rashard Kelly added. “You just have a natural ability to lock in when you don’t have the outside noise.”
That’s why players are so excited about the potential of this weekend. Not only will they hear the roar of a crowd again, but they are hoping for a similar atmosphere from Wichita State fans who helped shatter the TBT attendance record at Koch Arena in 2019.
The AfterShocks play their first TBT game at 8 p.m. Friday against Ex-Pats, a Patriot League all-star alumni team. Single-session tickets (the WSU team plays in Session 2) are still available through GoShockers.com.
“We think it’s going to be a really special atmosphere,” AfterShocks coach Zach Bush said. “I’d like to think our fans are really excited to see basketball again in a full-capacity environment. They know how much they can impact the game for us with just the energy in the arena. So we’re really hoping it will be a great crowd.”
Former Shockers like McDuffie and Kelly said there’s no other feeling like being introduced at Koch Arena and hearing the roar from WSU fans in the stands.
“It’s going to be crazy,” said McDuffie, already smiling. “We’re going to have to get the jitters out of the way early and go out and do our thing. We’re here to win $1 million.”
“We’re very excited to get back in here and feel the atmosphere again,” Kelly said. “To have the opportunity to play here again is something I plan to take full advantage of.”
For Samajae Haynes-Jones, whose first pro season came entirely without fans, he’s looking forward to the adrenaline rush of hearing the crowd “ooh” and “aah” when he has the ball in his hands.
“It’s going to be super exciting to be playing in front of them again,” Haynes-Jones said. “At the end of the day, we’re blessed to have fans who will come out and support us.”
Roster update — The injury bug struck again this week, as the team formally announced that Tekele Cotton will be unable to play for the AfterShocks due to injury. Cotton joins Toure’ Murry and Jaime Echenique on the injured list who had to drop out of the event.
Right after announcing Cotton would not be playing, the team also announced it has filled his spot with former Shocker Clevin Hannah, who is living in Wichita and was already in training as a practice player with the team.
As of Tuesday, nine of the 10 players on the roster were in Wichita for practice. Zach Brown, another former Shocker, is the only player missing and will arrive in Wichita later this week in time for the game, as he currently home in Houston pursuing an opportunity to advance his professional career.
This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 12:06 PM.
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