Fan makes the trek to Canada to watch new-look Shockers

MONTREAL

It is around 1,800 miles — 3,000 kilometers — from Halstead to Montreal, as the WSU fan drives. Steve Kuntz loves to drive his silver 2016 Subaru Legacy and loves Shockers basketball, so that combination proved irresistable.

“I didn’t take the most direct route,” he said.

Kuntz, recently retired after working 46 years for Dillons, visited family in Kansas City, the Field of Dreams baseball field in Iowa and highlighted his trip with a stop at Niagara Falls.

“It’s almost like somebody took the Tower of Babel and shook it up and threw it on the ground right there by Niagara Falls,” he said. “I love the people. There’s no other place I’ve been you that can see a family of Amish people standing next to two women in burqas.”

He arrived in Ottawa for Sunday’s game against Carleton energized by discovering a pub in the ByWard Market, where the waiter recognized the Shocker logo on his shirt and curious about the new-look team.

“He said, ‘Oh, man when it comes to NCAA time, Wichita State is there,’ ” Kuntz said.

Kuntz attended WSU and counts greeting the 1965 Final Four team at the airport and the 2015 NCAA win over Kansas among his top memories. He is also a big WSU volleyball fan and frequently drives to road matches.

“This is a new era, when you figure how long Fred (VanVleet) and Ron (Baker) were around,” he said. “I love basketball, but I hate what’s happened to the sport with one-and-dones. When I see people like Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet that graduate with degrees,and just like with the volleyball players, these aren’t basket-weaving degrees ….”

This story was originally published August 8, 2016 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Fan makes the trek to Canada to watch new-look Shockers."