Wichita State fab freshman Markis McDuffie finds way to tournament (+video)

Prepare for Markis McDuffie’s first NCAA Tournament memory to make you feel old.

“It’s crazy, but I’ve been watching since the J.J. Redick days,” McDuffie said. “And I’ve watched it since. It’s a dream to be in this position. I’m surprised, blessed, very anxious, very nervous ... just need to stay focused now and be the best player I can be.”

McDuffie, who was 5 when Redick began playing for Duke in 2002, now finds himself in the position he set his sights on growing up in Paterson, N.J., as the 6-foot-8 freshman forward for Wichita State and Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and his teammates take on Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in the First Four.

McDuffie cooled off after a January tear that saw him score in double digits five times during the Shockers’ 12-game, midseason winning streak, only hitting double digits once since then, in an 84-51 win at Indiana State on Feb. 21. Call it hitting the freshman wall for the youngest player in the MVC and one of the youngest players in the nation — the St. Anthony High product didn’t even turn 18 years old until the first week of September.

“I’ve had some ups and downs, some shooting slumps and some tough days,” McDuffie said. “I’ve been tired, dealt with some exhaustion here and there ... but I’ve kept fighting, and I’m finally blessed to be in the NCAA Tournament.”

A solid contribution from McDuffie off the bench — he averages 7.3 points in 18.1 minutes —could go a long way toward making sure his team stays in that tournament. One thing McDuffie still has is the confidence of his teammates, who have seen him put in the hard work to get better.

“He’s improved so much just since he’s got here, just in that short amount of time since the fall,” WSU guard Conner Frankamp said. “He helps us so much when he’s on the court ... he’s so long and he can do a lot. He can handle the ball, shoot it and defend it. And he’s very receptive. He wants to learn. He wants to get better.”

WSU first came on McDuffie’s radar during their run to the Final Four in 2013. The then-high school sophomore had never heard of the Shockers before then.

“I was just like, ‘Who are these dudes?’ ” McDuffie said. “And now I’m here, which is a crazy thing. I just saw them and didn’t really pay attention because I thought they would lose to the bigger schools, but then they just kept winning. Then I watched them in the Final Four, like everybody else ... it’s crazy I’m here now.”

And it was another WSU player from the east coast who made his name during that NCAA Tournament and the one the year after — former All-American and New York Knicks forward Cleanthony Early — who McDuffie is probably compared to the most.

Just don’t try to get McDuffie to buy into that particular comparison — no offense to Early, of course.

“I just want to be myself,” McDuffie said. “It’s great to be compared to (Early) because he’s an NBA player and he was a great player (at WSU), but I just want to be myself, not just be compared to other people. I want to be the best player Markis McDuffie can be.”

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Wichita State fab freshman Markis McDuffie finds way to tournament (+video)."