No practice, no problem for grateful Shockers team with NIT chance at Oklahoma State
He figured his college basketball career was finished, so Wichita State senior Ronnie DeGray III was checking flight prices for a spring break trip to St. Louis on Sunday night.
And then the Shocker basketball group chat started blowing up.
Wichita State had a game. In less than 48 hours. On the road.
“It’s kind of a crazy turn of events,” DeGray said. “All of the sadness about the season being over and the seniors being done and then all of a sudden we’ve got another chance to play. It’s really cool actually.”
After being eliminated in the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth this past Friday, WSU hopped on a bus and drove back that same night. Players had exit meetings on Saturday and many actually left Wichita for spring break on Sunday.
But when the Shockers were a surprise inclusion in the 32-team field of the National Invitation Tournament, every player was on board for at least one more game together.
So with no practice but all players back in the fold, the Shockers (19-14) will take on Oklahoma State (15-17) at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater for an 8 p.m. game on Tuesday (ESPN2).
“When you walk out of a game that doesn’t go your way, I think any competitor in the world says, ‘When can we tip it up again?’” WSU head coach Paul Mills said. “This is like another opportunity. If you like basketball, you want to play more basketball. And we have guys who like basketball.”
It’s also an opportunity for WSU to notch its first 20-win season in five years in the program’s first postseason tournament play since 2021.
The question is how will WSU respond playing in a game on such short notice? Starting center Quincy Ballard had remained in Fort Worth with his family following the tournament and had to drive back. Walk-on Henry Thengvall had already taken a flight to join his family on a vacation, but found a return flight on Monday.
Freshman guard Zion Pipkin was almost to the Oklahoma border on I-35 on his way back home to Houston when he had to turn around following the news.
The majority of players were still in Wichita, but there were a few that had to make the trek back on Monday. The team reassembled at Koch Arena, then hopped on a bus for a 2-hour ride to Stillwater where it then conducted its first film study. WSU will go through its normal routine on Tuesday, another film session followed by a shootaround and then one more film study before the late tip.
“I don’t think there needs to be a great deal of practice,” Mills said. “Let’s say if we would have practiced today, it would be practice 97, so this isn’t like practice 9. We would have taken two days off regardless after Friday, but there is a mental framework that you’ve got to put yourself in. I think once we get around (Tuesday) and get up and down, I think we’ll be fine.”
Still, it’s quite the difference compared to WSU’s opponent, Oklahoma State, who had a good sense that it would be playing in the NIT. Cowboys coach Steve Lutz told local media on Monday that his team will have three practices under its belt before Tuesday’s game.
DeGray also mentioned that the biggest challenge might be on the mental side, especially for the seniors.
“It’s kind of weird for me because I thought college basketball for me was over with,” DeGray said. “But the competitor in me, I’m fine to go out and go play against Oklahoma State and go compete in the NIT. We’ve only been off for a few days, it’s not like it’s been a long time. So I’ll be fine. I think it’s just a switch to turn back on.”
WSU’s last two appearances in the NIT have proven fruitful.
The Shockers most notably used the 2011 NIT championship run as a springboard for seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances under coach Gregg Marshall, then a Markis McDuffie-led team in 2019 rattled off three straight road wins to reach the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
“I’ve been around here long enough for people to tell me about the (2004 NIT) Florida State game and how it was as loud as Koch Arena has ever been,” Mills said. “And I realize what a catalyst it was for coach Marshall’s teams with that NIT championship and how it really buoyed the program. So we’re excited to be a part of it and anxious to play (Tuesday).”
As for the task at hand, Oklahoma State finished with a 7-13 mark in the Big 12 under first-year coach Steve Lutz, although all seven wins came at home with the Cowboys posting a 7-3 record at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Big 12 play.
WSU did win a scrimmage against OSU at Koch Arena back in October, but Mills isn’t putting any stock into what happened five months ago.
“What they showed in that scrimmage five months ago, which seems like an eternity ago, will be different than (Tuesday),” Mills said. “They are really, really comfortable at home, so this is going to be a heck of a challenge for us.”
With no practice and limited preparation, the players are looking forward to another chance for 40 minutes together on the court. No one is more excited than senior point guard Bijan Cortes, who grew up an hour away from Stillwater in Kingfisher and is expected to have a large cheering section at Tuesday’s game.
“We have nothing to lose, so you might as well go out swinging,” DeGray said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 10:16 AM.
.jpg)