Wichita State basketball newcomers must learn the price of success

The players who remember what adversity feels like are few on the Wichita State men’s basketball team. The newcomers know about the Final Four and the No. 1 seed and 35 straight wins.

While life has been pretty good around Koch Arena for many years, it wasn’t always full of championship rings and magazine covers.

The newcomers don’t remember a disappointing loss to VCU in the NCAA Tournament in 2012. They don’t remember the injuries that sidelined four starters for parts of the 2013 season. They likely can’t conceive of losing three straight games, a slump that almost ruined that season.

So as the Shockers (35-1 in 2014) approach their season opener, it is up to the old guys to remind people that things didn’t come easily. While the veterans didn’t endure a losing season, they know what it feels like before the national spotlight found the Shockers. WSU, which held its media day Thursday, plays an exhibition game against NAIA Northwood (Fla.) on Nov. 8 and opens the season against New Mexico State on Nov. 14.

A team that went to the Final Four in 2013 and earned a No. 2 national ranking last season isn’t going to expect anything less than a deep run into March. WSU’s inclusion in the top 10 of many preseason rankings paints it as a Final Four contender.

“Last year is done,” WSU coach Gregg Marshall said. “What our task is now is to continue to play at a very high level. We’ll try to remain, not only relevant, but prevalent in folks’ minds.”

Senior Tekele Cotton watched that 2012 NCAA Tournament game, when the fifth-seeded Shockers lost in Portland, Ore. Juniors Ron Baker, Evan Wessel and Fred VanVleet and sophomore Zach Bush lived through a home loss to Evansville in 2013 that cost the Shockers a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title.

Their job is to remind the newcomers that the banners, trophies and publicity didn’t come without hard work and sacrifice.

“We didn’t get here just by showing up to play,” VanVleet said. “We got here by putting the work in. Fighting through things. Freshman year was the injuries, Losing three games. We can tell them, but we can’t really show them.”

Assistant coach Steve Forbes, the players say, tells the newcomers they need to hang their own banner. WSU’s roster includes seven freshmen and two junior transfers, most recruited in the glow of the Final Four.

“They’ve actually made history working with each other,” freshman forward Zach Brown said. “They tell us we haven’t done a thing yet. We have to make sure we’re learning from these guys, so one day when they’re gone … we’ll be able to continue on this legacy.”

Blending two distinct groups is a challenge for coaches. The upperclassmen, including senior Darius Carter, know the pace and effort required in practice. The newcomers are learning how to give that effort every day, while picking up WSU’s complex offensive system. There is no middle class of reserves with a season or two of experience. Marshall called practices more of a slow progression than a year ago.

“The newcomers, most of us don’t go as hard as the old ones,” redshirt freshman Ria’n Holland said. “You can tell the difference a lot.”

VanVleet looks forward to Saturday’s closed scrimmage against TCU. Playing another opponent will remove the differences between the old and the new.

“There is no time for new guys anymore, once we throw the ball up,” he said. “At some point it has to come together and just be one team. They’re freshmen, but at the same time, we’re going to need those guys to play, so they can’t act like freshmen.”

▪  Marshall said he has four starters locked in — VanVleet, Cotton, Carter and Baker — and a group of three or four more who might move up in the rotation. Wessel is certainly in that group and junior center Bush Wamukota and freshman forward Rashard Kelly are on most days.

“More important for me is whoever those eight or nine guys are going to be,” Marshall said.

▪  Baker will start the season as the backup point guard to VanVleet. Freshman Corey Henderson Jr. is on call behind Baker, as is Cotton. Holland is playing more at shooting guard.

“He’s improving his handle, but he’s more of an off-guard,” Marshall said.

▪  Marshall called WSU’s non-conference schedule the toughest of his career. Games against Memphis, Utah, New Mexico State and Tulsa stand out as difficult tests.

He also expects MVC schools to show more resistance than last season, when WSU went 18-0 in the regular season with an average scoring margin of 15.6 points. The Shockers enter the season winners of 21 straight games against MVC opponents.

“There’s been an influx of junior-college talent to some of these schools,” he said. “It’s always to difficult to win, especially on the road, in the Valley.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Wichita State basketball newcomers must learn the price of success."