‘I couldn’t miss this game’: McDuffie’s cross-country return lifts AfterShocks
The most important sprint Markis McDuffie made Tuesday wasn’t on the court.
It was through the Chicago O’Hare, a frantic dash to catch a connecting flight back to Wichita and rejoin the AfterShocks just in time for their regional championship game in The Basketball Tournament.
Roughly five hours before he was chasing Marcus Keene around Devlin Court in celebration of a dramatic 66-63 win over Forever Coogs, the 2019 Wichita State graduate was sprinting through a crowded terminal, racing to make it to a game he refused to miss.
Two days earlier, after helping the AfterShocks secure a second-round victory, McDuffie had flown home to Paterson, N.J. to attend to a family emergency. With the AfterShocks set to play again Tuesday, McDuffie and his family agreed: he had to find a way back.
“I knew I couldn’t miss this game,” McDuffie said.
His travel day started with a 2:30 p.m. departure and a razor-thin connection window in Chicago. How tight? He landed at O’Hare at 4:15 p.m. — with just 30 minutes before his flight to Wichita left at 4:45.
No time to think. No time to walk.
“Thank God the gate wasn’t too far,” McDuffie said, laughing. “It was a little distance, but I put on my sprints and made it. I was the last one on that plane.”
He touched down in Wichita at 6:45 p.m., where longtime WSU supporter Jon Markwell was waiting curbside. The two sped across town and pulled up to Koch Arena with less than an hour to spare before tip.
And then, just like that, McDuffie was back in uniform.
He didn’t hit a field goal, but he made three free throws — including two critical ones just before the Elam Ending began to put the AfterShocks up by one — and added two offensive rebounds in 18 gritty minutes off the bench. His presence helped steady the AfterShocks as they punched their ticket to the TB Elite 8 for the fourth time in five years.
“It’s very tough,” McDuffie said of playing on travel legs. “But considering the team we have this year, I know I don’t have to do too much. I can watch other guys do their thing. I just tried to find a little bit of rhythm. I still had those plane legs, but I just wanted to do whatever I could for the team to win.”
It wasn’t the first time an AfterShock pulled off a last-second return. Last summer, Rashard Kelly went through his own travel gauntlet just to make it back for one more game in Wichita.
So when Kelly saw McDuffie walk into the locker room Tuesday night, he understood what it meant.
“He could’ve sat back at home and waited to see if there was a next game,” Kelly said. “But he didn’t want to leave us. He came in, got some big rebounds, made some big free throws, got some big defensive stops. He’s a presence out there for us. And that meant a lot to us that he came back.”
AfterShocks coach Zach Bush felt the same way.
“It’s just so special, the love he has for this program, the love he has for these guys and the love he has for basketball.” Bush said. “A lot of guys would’ve been like, ‘Man, I can’t make it.’ But he loves Wichita State so much. I have immense respect and gratitude for him doing that because he didn’t have to.”
For McDuffie, the decision wasn’t hard. He wanted to be there for his teammates.
“I wanted to be here so bad because, honestly, the guys on this team are such good dudes, man,” he said. “Shoutout to Zach Bush for recruiting an amazing team. We have a legit shot at winning this thing.”
They’re one step closer now.
With Tuesday’s win, the AfterShocks advance to the TBT quarterfinals and will face Heartfire, the Kansas City regional champion and only remaining No. 1 seed, at 8 p.m. Sunday at Koch Arena. The other Elite 8 matchup in Wichita, between We Are D3 and Fail Harder, tips at 6 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on FS1.
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 6:02 AM.
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