WSU notes: Shockers sell tickets around Missouri Valley Conference

The Wichita State basketball attendance bump returns to Ford Center on Sunday.

Evansville’s downtown arena is sold out, 8,930 tickets, to start the second half of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule. It is the third straight season the Shockers will attract the largest crowd to Ford Center, continuing a conference-wide trend.

In its past 13 MVC road games, WSU’s appearance attracted the season’s largest crowd in seven arenas and surpassed the average attendance in all 13. Sunday’s crowd will be Evansville’s largest since 2011, when games against Butler (9,454) and Indiana (9,640) opened the Ford Center for Aces basketball.

The Shockers long ago adapted to their status as the big ticket on every MVC team’s schedule.

“It’s a party atmosphere and we’ve got to be the one to crash the party … not allow the party to get out of hand,” coach Gregg Marshall said.

Since going 5-4 in MVC road games during the 2012-13 season, the Shockers are 21-1 in MVC road games with an average margin of victory of 15.1 points. This season, they won at Bradley by 27 and crushed Southern Illinois’ first soldout crowd since 2014 with a 25-point win. They cruised to a 16-point margin at Missouri State and handed Northern Iowa its largest defeat at the McLeod Center, a 19-point margin.

“It’s a burden,” Marshall said. “I think our guys have gotten to the point where they relish that challenge.”

The Aces are the only MVC team to come within 15 points of the Shockers this season. WSU’s 67-64 win in Koch Arena on Jan. 6 will ensure that the Aces receive WSU’s full attention. This is the scenario that the Shockers thrive on. Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis picks Evansville to win. There is a thought that the Aces can win on their home floor after pushing the Shockers in Koch Arena.

The Shockers love batting back those kind of doubts.

“Right now, there are a couple of teams at that top that you focus on,” WSU guard Fred VanVleet said. “Evansville is one of those teams, and they happen to be our next opponent, so they get all our focus and attention.”

Change of direction — Leavenworth’s Jared Belardo made his final track and field recruiting trip to Wichita State with no expectations. Missouri, he felt sure, would be his college choice, in part because he wanted to compete in the SEC. While he competed in the state meet at Cessna Stadium, he knew little about the school or track program.

“(Missouri) was already set,” Belardo said. “I visited (WSU) just to keep my options open. Might as well give it a try.”

Belardo watched the Shockers practice and changed his mind. Assistant coach Heidi Yost’s instruction and rapport with the jumpers convinced him to see WSU in a new light.

“I believed that she could make me a much better athlete than what I am, take me to the next level,” he said. “I liked how she was talking to everyone, how she was giving them feedback, how she knew what she was talking about.”

The returns on Belardo’s indoor freshman season indicate he made the right choice.

His triple jump of 51 feet, 11 3/4 inches ranks No. 13 nationally and second on WSU’s career list. His long jump of 24-7 is tied for No. 21 nationally and seventh at WSU. At Leavenworth, he won Class 5A titles in the triple jump (twice) and in the long jump, with personal-bests of 49-7 3/4 and 24-2 1/2.

“I knew it was going to go pretty well, but I didn’t think it was going to take off like it did,” he said. “On Aug. 1, I was aiming for 50-foot mid, maybe 51-feet, triple jump. Second meet of the year, I went 51-11, and I don’t think I’m done yet. So I shattered my expectations.”

Belardo is stronger and faster than on Aug. 1. His speed intrigues coaches, who expect him to run sprints as the season progresses. He is more patiently moving through the three phases of the triple jump, no longer rushing quite as much through the jumps. On the runway, Yost said, he still pushes too hard and fast.

“Technically, he’s got a ways to go, but he’s made improvement,” Yost said. “Because he’s stronger, he can overcome some bad positions that he has.”

Belardo’s recruiting story is a familiar one to WSU coaches, especially with athletes from northeast Kansas. Many grow up with no exposure to WSU and Wichita.

“Generally, what we find at Wichita State is that once we can get student-athletes here to make a visit, it usually ends up changing their mind and their perspective,” Yost said.

Worth noting — WSU athletes compiled a 3.14 grade-point average in the fall semester, with 186 earning the 3.0 necessary to land on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll. Twenty-five had a 4.0 GPA, including men’s basketball player Anton Grady and women’s basketball players Ellie Lehne and Diamond Lockhart.… WSU sophomore sprinter Deja Young was named to the 2016 U.S. Paralympics Track and Field team. She will compete in team trials in Charlotte, N.C. beginning June 30. The 2016 Paralympics are in September in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Last fall, she won the 100 meters and finished second in the 200 at 2015 International Paralympic World Championships in Qatar.… Golfweek.com picked Wichita State as the favorites in the men’s MVC race. For the women, Missouri State is the favorite, followed by WSU. The WSU men open their spring schedule on Feb. 8 in San Antonio. The women open on Feb. 26 in Rio Verde, Ariz.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 2:16 PM with the headline "WSU notes: Shockers sell tickets around Missouri Valley Conference."