Darius Carter will sign Wednesday

April 16, 201311:26 a.m.

Vincennes (Ind.) University forward Darius Carter will sign a letter of intent on Wednesday with Wichita State, he confirmed with a text message.

Carter, 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, averaged 15.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks for the Trailblazers. He made 54.4 percent of his shots and 59.6 percent of his foul shots. He orally committed to WSU during the Final Four earlier this month.

Carter made his official visit last weekend. He got an earlier look at WSU during the NJCAA Tournament when Vincennes practiced at Koch Arena on its way to Hutchinson.

As a freshman, Carter averaged 11.6 points,8.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
Carter, from Akron, Ohio, averaged 19.5 points in four games in the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Vincennes (33-4) finished fourth.
You can check out Carter’s game in this video.

Wednesday is the first day of the spring signing period.

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments

Wichita State, ORU and the MVC

April 15, 201310:19 a.m.

From a Wichita State perspective, the empty spot in the Missouri Valley Conference offered a chance for geographic relief.

Shocker teams suffer the biggest travel disadvantage in the MVC and it gets worse with Creighton’s departure. WSU will have seven trips of 500 miles or more with the addition of Loyola. It is a competitive and budget hit that the Shockers deal with well enough to field the MVC’s strongest athletic program.

So did WSU push for Oral Roberts and the comfy-sounding road road trip of 177 miles to Tulsa? Read More »

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Baseball, Basketball, MVC | Comments

Loyola’s track record

April 14, 20133:06 p.m.

Cross country fans, this is your day.

What kind of all-sports addition is the Missouri Valley Conference getting in Loyola?

Its athletic program is characterized by  average results in the Horizon League and little impact nationally. The clue that things might be changing is in the coaching roster.  In men’s basketball, volleyball, women’s basketball Read More »

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments

Loyola’s history with Wichita State

April 14, 201312:56 a.m.

Loyola coach George Ireland led the Ramblers to the 1963 NCAA title.

Wichita State and Loyola share a basketball history from the 1960s, when both ran as national powers. From 1963 to 1969, the schools met 13 times, playing at Chicago Stadium for Loyola’s home games.

Most times, they met as two of college basketball’s best.

Loyola won the NCAA title in 1963.  The Shockers played in the 1965 Final Four. The Ramblers also played in the NCAA Tournament in 1964, 1965 and 1968. The Shockers played in the 1964 NCAA Tournament and the NIT in 1962, 1963 and 1966.

Seven times one of the teams was ranked when they met during the 1960s. In 1963 and 1964, they met three times with both teams in the top 10. In 1963, the eighth-ranked Shockers defeated the eventual national champions 73-72 in Chicago Stadium, Loyola’s only loss in Chicago and one of two that season.

While both teams slid from prominence in the 1970s, the series continued. Loyola served as de facto member of the MVC for  the Shockers. They played twice, usually during January and February, from 1964-1974, even adding a tournament matchup in 1970. The series continued with single games in 1974-75 and 1975-76 before slipping away. They last met in 1989 in an Indianapolis tournament. Read More »

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball, MVC | Comments

Reports: Loyola replaces Creighton

April 13, 201311:06 p.m.

Any school that produced Bob Newhart should be welcomed.

According to the Chicago Tribune, among others, Loyola (Ill.) will join the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2013-14 school year.

The exercise of replacing Creighton was, from the start, a losing proposition. No school interested in the MVC can replace Creighton, at least in the short term. No school appeared to be a great addition in men’s basketball. No school presented a no-risk scenario (which is why adding three of that ilk makes no sense).

Apparently, the MVC presidents (who vote on the addition) are betting that Loyola possesses resources and will devote additional resources to escape years of men’s basketball mediocrity. Loyola athletic director M. Grace Calhoun was hired in 2011. Her top priority should be reviving Read More »

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball, MVC | Comments

What might have been

April 12, 20138:42 a.m.

Wichita State championship merchandise you won’t get a chance to buy. You can look here.

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

Post-Atlanta catchup

April 10, 201310:42 p.m.
  • Florida Gulf Coast will be one of the hottest job openings, because of its NCAA Tournament performance, and Wichita State associate head coach Chris Jans is interested, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. Jans makes sense for several reasons. He coached at Chipola (Fla.) College. FGCU athletic director Ken Kavanagh is a former Bradley AD, so he is familiar with Jans. Jans has head coaching experience. WSU coach Gregg Marshall will presumably throw his full support behind his top assistant, as he Read More »
By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments

Day After: Final Four

April 7, 20137:46 a.m.

Wichita State junior Cleanthony Early.

Score: Louisville 72, Wichita State 68

Key stats: Louisville scored 47 second-half points, making 5 of 12 three-pointers. It outscored WSU 37-21 in the final 13 minutes of the game.

How the game turned: Louisville’s Luke Hancock made a three-pointer with 2:06 to play for a 65-60 lead, its largest of the game. Hancock then responded to a Shocker basket with a layup for a 67-62 lead with 1:16 to play.

Records: WSU 30-9, Louisville 34-5

Stories, photos from The Wichita Eagle/Kansas.com

  • Over and over again, opponents called Wichita State the best team they faced all season, the toughest team, the most physical team. Some of that is standard post-game graciousness. At some point, it Read More »
By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments

Final Four: Wichita State vs. Louisville

April 6, 20132:47 p.m.

Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet during Friday’s practice.

  • I expect Louisville to try to get the ball out of Malcolm Armstead’s hands and make other Shockers beat their pressure. Players such as Tekele Cotton and Ron Baker are going to need to make good decisions and not play too fast against the pressure. Carl Hall and Cleanthony Early are probably going to serve as pressure-release outlets. Ohio State tried to fluster Fred VanVleet, with no success. The Cardinals will likely target the freshman, as well.
  • The Shockers will need to make Louisville jump shooters, much as they did with Ohio State guard Aaron Craft in the Elite Eight. I expect the Shockers to go under screens and live with a few made three-pointers. If that keeps Louisville guards out of the lane, they will live with that.
  • WSU coach Gregg Marshall has cut down his rotation in the tournament. Will he give Jake White, Nick Wiggins or Chadrack Lufile an early look and how will they respond to the pace and the stage? The Shockers could use a bonus boost from the bench.  I thought WSU tired a  bit near the end of the Ohio State game and Louisville’s press could do the same thing.
  • WSU has started each game with stretches of light’s out basketball. That would be important again tonight. The Shockers need to reach the 5- and 10-minute marks in good shape with some momentum working for them.
  • WSU had three sessions to get used to the Dome.
  • Cotton’s defense, rebounding symbolizes Wichita State’s march to Atlanta.
  • Louisville walk-on may play larger role.
  • More WSU-Louisville coverage from Kansas.com
  • Louisville coverage from The Louisville Courier-Journal
By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments

Shocker assistant coaches and the moment

April 6, 20131:19 p.m.

Wichita State assistant coaches Greg Heiar, Chris Jans and K.T. Turner prepare before an NCAA Tournament game with Ohio State.

Wichita State assistant coach K.T. Turner had tickets to the Final Four in previous seasons, at least four or five times. Each time he declined to attend the games.

“I always said that I’m not going to go to the game until I’m coaching in one,” Turner said. “I said that and it really came true. It’s the craziest thing ever.”

Months ago, Turner decided this Final Four was the one to watch. He will, from the sidelines with the Shockers. Coaches flock to the Final Four each year for meetings, reunions and clinics. They search for jobs and search for coaches to hire. Saturday is their big day. Most of them attend the semifinals.They watch their peers on the court and wonder if they will get that chance. For any coach, that moment before the game is a special one, a time to savor.

“It’s going to be unbelievable, walking in and seeing that atmosphere,” Turner said. “I’ll probably find where my wife and my son are at. Once the ball goes up, I think it will be all business.”

Assistant coach Greg Heiar will think about his career path, playing and coaching at small schools and junior colleges. Larry Eustachy, Heiar’s boss at Southern Mississippi, told him that all those experiences prepared him for this moment.

“We’re going to walk out there like ‘Hey, this is what we do. We win and we do it together,’” Heiar said. “There will be tingles, sure. I’ll think back to when I was a graduate assistant at Loras. When I was a student assistant at Mount St. Clare, where I played. When I was an assistant at Chipola, making nothing. Those are the things you thing about when you step on the court, because it’s been a long grind and a long journey. At the end of the day, we belong here.”

Dominic Okon, WSU’s director basketball operations, sat up in the rafters at the Georgia Dome in 2007, when Florida defeated Ohio State.

“I’m sure I will have goosebumps when I go up on the floor, the opposite of ’07,” he said. “I’m going to look around, take it in for a few seconds. I’m looking forward to that.”

Okon and associate head coach Chris Jans came to Wichita State with Gregg Marshall in 2007 and are the only staff members still with the Shockers.

“I’ve thought about it and I don’t think I can even imagine what it’s going to feel like,” Jans said. “It will be a neat moment.”

 

By Paul Suellentrop | Filed under Basketball | Comments