Bob Lutz: After more than 50 years, a Shocker changing of the guard looms

In Gregg Marshall’s nine seasons as Wichita State’s basketball coach, no player has flummoxed him more than J.T. Durley.

A soft-spoken, slow-speaking kid from rural Texas, the 6-foot-8 Durley took his own sweet time developing into the player Marshall thought he could be and pushed him excruciatingly hard toward being.

Marshall inherited Durley, a Mark Turgeon recruit, in his first season on the job in 2007-08. And their relationship was at times difficult to watch.

But both stuck with it, through thick and a lot of thin. And Durley would become a standout, the Shockers’ player of the year as a senior in 2010-11.

Marshall had succeeded in helping Durley succeed.

“Coach Marshall helped instill a work ethic in me I didn’t know I had,” Durley wrote in an e-mail this week from Uruguay, where he is playing professional basketball. “At one point, I believe he wanted to give up on me but my eyes opened and realized that he was really trying to make a success out of me whether it be at WSU or later in life. And I will always be grateful to him for not giving up on me.”

Those words may bring tears to Marshall’s eyes. There cannot be a greater tribute from a former player.

I’m sure Ralph Miller’s eyes became misty a few times during his 14-season run at the Univerity of Wichita, from 1951-64.

Since he left for Iowa following the 1963-64 season, one of the best in Shocker history, Miller has been the Shockers’ winningest coach with 220 victories.

Ten coaches later, Marshall is on the cusp of passing one of the all-time coaching legends who went on to have tremendous success at Iowa and Oregon State.

A win Sunday at Evansville will push Marshall to 220 wins, against only 81 losses. He could then pass Miller on Wednesday at Koch Arena if the Shockers can take care of Southern Illinois.

When Marshall decided to leave Winthrop for WSU in 2007, he was unaware that Miller had coached the Shockers.

“Or Iowa,” Marshall said. “That was before my time. But I do remember Coach Miller at Oregon State and recall them being No. 1 in the country (in 1981).

“To pass him in wins would be wonderful. It would be an honor because I know how well thought of he is. He’s the only non-player who is hanging from the rafters (at Koch Arena).”

Miller coached during an era in which the Missouri Valley Conference was at its height as a power league. Often referred to as the Valley of Death, he butted heads with some great teams and great coaches.

Miller’s Shocker teams played 55 games against ranked teams, and 30 against top 10 teams, during his 14 seasons. WSU played 35 games against ranked MVC teams during Miller’s reign.

Marshall has had an easier Valley to navigate, although the Shockers’ recent postseason success has made the level of competition in conference play irrelevant.

WSU has played 21 games against ranked teams under Marshall, five vs. Top 10 teams and eight against MVC ranked teams.

Having listened to stories about both coaches from their players over the years, it’s obvious they share similarities. But one similarity, perhaps, stands out from the rest.

D-E-F-E-N-S-E.

Miller preached it and Marshall has taken his spot at the bully pulpit.

“Ralph was a defensive specialist, a team defensive specialist,” said former Shocker guard Mohamed Sharif (Kelly Pete). “His basic concepts were about the conversion from defense to offense. We got a lot of points that way, by keeping up a lot of pressure.”

The Shockers used full-court pressure almost always under Miller with the intent to force turnovers that would result in easy baskets.

“We had to be in excellent shape because we played 90 feet just about all the time,” Sharif said.

Fast forward more than 40 years.

Marshall’s teams don’t press as often as Miller’s did — Marshall’s presses are more strategic than encompassing. But the Shockers’ half-court defense and all it entails is one of the biggest keys to Marshall’s success.

If you don’t play the kind of defense Marshall demands, you don’t play. That simple.

“The biggest thing is the preparation he puts into defense and boxing out,” former Marshall player Ben Smith said. “And turnovers. Those are the things he really keys on.”

Smith said he was not a good defensive player when he arrived from Northern Oklahoma Community College in 2010.

“That’s why I wasn’t really playing a lot the first part of my junior season,” Smith said. “As practice went on, Coach Marshall really put it on me to play defense and move my feet.”

As a senior, Smith was named to the Valley’s all-defense team. Chalk it down as another Marshall success story.

“He’s just a special individual, a winner,” senior Shocker point guard Fred VanVleet said. “Competitive, outspoken, high energy. He’s always revved up and ready to go.”

Confidence has never been lacking in Marshall. He has a coaching philosophy and style that works and it hasn’t varied.

The same was true of Miller, even though he had never coached in college when he got the Shocker job in 1951. He had previously been at Wichita East.

“That first year we only won 11 games and two of them were against Southwestern,” said Dick Sanders, a junior reserve guard on Miller’s first team. “But Ralph was just so sure of himself. I’ve never seen a coach who was so positive that he knew what he was doing. When he yelled at you, you took it to heart in a hurry. Because of him, you were afraid to fail.”

Sounds like another coach we all know. Marshall.

Durley, who survived the fiercest of Marshall’s storminess, says it best.

“He’s relentless at what he does and it shows because wherever he goes, success follows,” Durley said. “He doesn’t shy away from anything and attacks everything head on.

“Let’s just say I pray that no other player/team meets the Marshall I had to deal with from 2007-09 and I’m pretty sure he would say the same thing about me from a coach’s view. He’s a great man and leader and I’m honored to say I played for a future hall of famer.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Bob Lutz: After more than 50 years, a Shocker changing of the guard looms."