[00:00:15] Speaker A: Hello, this is Paul Sullentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast. Thanks very much for listening. Wichita State is celebrating the 1976, 2006 and 2016 MVC champions this weekend. All three of those teams also played in the NCAA.
We are sitting down with a few of the Shockers from those teams to collect some memories. Our first guest is Ed Southern. Ed in 1976 was a 6 foot 2 junior guard from Wichita, Kansas. He played at Southeast High School.
Ed, tell us how you got to Wichita State to play basketball.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Well, you know, I am from Wichita, have always admired and enjoyed watching the Shockers. I watched guys play that were from here, Terry Benton, some of those guys, Warren Armstrong or Warren Jabali. Now always thought that it would be great to maybe play at Wichita State.
Well, I wasn't recruited out of high school to a D1, but we were playing some pickup games at the old Capon Mount Carmel gym and Harry Miller was the head coach, was bringing some players in. I think he brought Neil Strom and there was two or three other guys that he brought in and wanted to maybe watch those guys play, do, you know, do a little scrimmage. And he watched us play a little while and after we finished, he came over and asked me, he said, where are you going to go to school? I said, well, I've signed at Johnson County Community College. He said, well, would you consider coming to Wichita State? I said, well, nobody ever talked to me about it. I'd be more than happy to. He said, well, I'd be glad to offer you a scholarship. I like the way you played defense here and didn't get out to see you much during your high school years, but I think you could probably help us a little bit. And that's basically kind of where it started. And he offered me a scholarship and I took it.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: So that 1975-76 team went 18, 10, 10, 2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, played in the NCAA tournament where it lost a first round game to Michigan. What made that team successful?
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Well, we were a very competitive team.
You know, we just wanted to win.
We thought we could win. We had a lot of confidence. We had a lot of players that were very confident.
You know, Robert Elmore, Calvin Brewton, Chee Johnson, Doug Yoder. All these guys were, you know, top notch guys that loved playing the game and we had very competitive practices and we really pushed each other.
So I think that's what made us as good as we were.
[00:03:20] Speaker A: What games stand out in your memory from that time well, the game that
[00:03:25] Speaker B: I remember most was against Louisville.
They came in, they were again, one of the top teams in the Missouri Valley.
And they had a big guard, Junior Bridgeman, who was probably their top notch player. And they came in.
I want to. I can't remember exactly what the score was that game, but it was a packed house and Louisville was always one of the top rivals for us.
[00:03:59] Speaker A: And they had won the Missouri Valley Conference the previous year before leaving the conference. Junior Bridgeman, of course, played many years in the NBA.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: So the final score of that game, 78, 74. That was late in the season when Wichita State really went on a hot spot.
The Shockers also beat, notably beat Oklahoma, split playing two games with Memphis and split two games with Louisville. The Missouri Valley, there was some really good talent in those days. Mike Glenn, Roger Fegley at Bradley, Maurice Cheeks, West Texas State, all played in the NBA. What are your memories of playing in the Valley? The toughest opponent was there, a big rival in those days?
[00:04:39] Speaker B: Well, you know, we considered all those teams, you know, teams to beat.
We considered ourselves one of the top notch teams.
Again, you know, Tulsa was a good team to play against. It was a good rivalry because they're close and, you know, fans love to watch us, you know, play against Tulsa.
You know, all the teams are great. You know, they all had, you know, standout players.
You know, we just wanted to play and go as far as we could.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: I think fans will be familiar with Cheese Johnson's name. Certainly Bob Elmer will be another prominent name from those teams. Describe playing with those two.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Well, those guys, of course, from New York.
If you ever talk to those guys from New York, they came here to Kansas. They, you know, thought this was a little bit of a country town.
But when they got here, we all kind of melted together and enjoyed playing with one another. But those two guys were outstanding.
They were guys that got us over the hump most of the time. Of course, Cheese was all American and Robert Elmore was considered a top NBA draft player, you know, during his time. But yeah, those guys were great.
[00:06:13] Speaker A: Ed, thank you very much for your time.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: You bet.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Our next guest is Steve Kaliszynski. Steve was a freshman on that 1975-76 team. Six foot six forward from Burnham, Illinois. He was the first person to wear double zero at Wichita State. Steve, tell us how you got to Wichita State from the Chicago area.
[00:06:34] Speaker C: So I played for Thornton, fractional north on the south side of Chicago. And one of the assistant coach, who was the head football coach and he was assistant Basketball coach of our basketball team was Ron Tomczak. Well, Ron Tomczak was a roommate of Ron Heller back in the 60s at Wichita State.
And he called Ron Heller up and says, hey, you need to come look at this kid that we got here.
And so Ron came out and looked at me and the game that I was playing in was AA stag team. And Ron Heller was at the game and he was sitting behind my bench and I blocked a shot up by the square on one of those fan baskets that they had in the Chicago area. We didn't have square backboards there.
And I guess he squeezed the coach's shoulder and the coach shook his head and goes, yeah, he can get up.
So.
And then Ron became. I had a kind of a troubled upbringing, dysfunctional family. My dad was alcoholic and stuff and really kind of an absent father. And Ron took me under his wing as kind of a father figure.
When I came visited Wichita, I just. There was actually an article in the Eagle Beacon that they did back then that one of the things I said is I found the people very friendly and that's what attracted me to come to Wichita. You know, being in the south side Chicago, industrial blue collar, working class, it was kind of rough and you know, we weren't. We didn't have very much. We didn't even own the car.
So Ron became kind of like a father figure to me. And that's how it kind of started.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: From what I know about Ron and I knew him, knew him briefly, that's exactly what I would expect. Ron Hiller, for those who don't remember, played at Wichita State, was a very good basketball player, then was an assistant coach. He's a broadcaster, also coached at Friends University.
And you were his last recruit, is that correct?
[00:08:37] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Okay, very interesting. Tell us about the 76 team. They went 18, 10, 10 and 2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, played in the NCAA tournament. What made that team successful?
[00:08:48] Speaker C: I think it was the kind of combination of players we had. You had Cheese Johnson, that was blue chip recruit, and Bob Trogle that, you know, Harry Miller inserted in there and you know, caused a little dissension.
I think if that dissension didn't happen and Mike Eggert would have stayed on the team and Neil Strom as backup. Because Neil Strom was a phenomenal player in that you can never guess his moves. I mean he was six, eight, he was kind of a big bodied. I mean he wasn't real athletic, but he can twist, turn, fake. About as good as Cheese Johnson. Very hard to block. A shot. You know, you're just always second guessing him.
And you know, we had Robert Almore, Mandingo, strong center, you know, could jump.
We had Cal Bruton, great point guard. I played with him in Australia in 80 and 81.
So we had some success there in Australia. So you had Doug Yoder from, from Newton on that team and Robert Gray, great forwards.
So you have backup forwards. With Cheese Johnson you had, you know, you had just a really, really good combination of guys. And I was talking to Dave Brisblow a couple weeks ago, he was on that team too, out of Schenectady. And he said he talked to Phil Hubbard on the Michigan team that we lost to that year in the opening round of the tournament, NCAA tournament. He says we were lucky to beat you that game. You were the toughest team we played that year. So kudos to that team because we kind of were gritty and we just had a combination of guys that could get it done.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Michigan won that game 74, 73. Ricky Green hit a shot with about four or five seconds.
Certainly a really nice effort from the Shockers and they led for good portions of that game. You mentioned Robert Gray, who was a leading scorer on that team. And I think kind of gets lost. You know, I think people are real familiar with Bob Elmore, Cal Bruton and Cheese Johnson. Describe Robert Gray. What kind of player was he?
[00:11:05] Speaker C: Man, he had a turnaround bank shot that was money.
He just was hard nosed, he could play good defense and he just added to that team, he just added that aspect to the team, that element that gave us that success.
And he was just an all around, just a genuine nice guy.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: The NCAA tournament has turned into just a huge thing, Billion dollar TV property. I think everybody's familiar now that it's a big deal what it's like going to it in 1976. What was it like traveling to Denton, Texas and being a part of it?
[00:11:44] Speaker C: Well, the Shockers, we, they chartered a 747 Braniff and they made a plaque for us when we came back from that game. I can imagine which thought had been crazy if we'd have won that game, I think we would have been playing Notre Dame next at the, in Kansas City at the, at the new arena there. What was Kemper Arena? Arena, yeah. So I mean it was, it was, it was crazy. We flew down there, we had the Shocker band on the plane and it was packed.
It was just electric. And that was a heartbreaking game.
You know, we had, we were up by 12 points with like three something to go. And I think Coach Miller made a. Made an error and spread. He went into a spread offense to try to kill more time on the clock. And that just took our momentum away because we definitely were dominating that game. And the fact that Cal Bruton, I think, held Ricky Green to four points up to the point when he hit that bank shot from the deep corner where it skidded off the side of the backboard and went in. And that was the game winning basket. We only had four seconds to go full length of the court. And Robert Gray tried on the other side of the half court and hit the backboard but didn't go in.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: And that Michigan team ended up losing in the championship game to the unbeaten Indiana team that people are very familiar with.
[00:13:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Steve Kaliszynski, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
[00:13:17] Speaker C: You're very welcome. It's a pleasure talking to you.
[00:13:20] Speaker A: Okay. We are moving to the 2005, 2006 Shockers. They went 26, 9, 14, 4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Shockers defeated Seton hall and Tennessee before losing to George Mason in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C. our guest is Ryan Martin. Ryan, from Kansas City, Kansas, was a 6 foot 5 junior forward on the 2006 Shockers. Ryan, how did you get to Wichita State?
[00:13:45] Speaker D: Went to Coffeeville Community College for two years and then coach Tad Boyle came and started recruiting me and I came on my visit.
They played.
I think it was Worcester, Kentucky in the nit and I just felt like it was home. So I decided to commit to Wichita State.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: What made that 2016 successful?
[00:14:09] Speaker D: I think the thing that made us so successful was just our ability to just play like a team, like it was. We didn't have a true superstar on that team. Obviously, Paul was probably our best player, but we just played for each other and we just played as a team.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Yeah, great defense and great chemistry, I think, are the two things that popped to my mind. How was Mark Turgeon able to get such a good defensive effort out of that group?
[00:14:32] Speaker D: Cause he just preached it from day one. I mean, we had so many new faces. I mean, we really just didn't know.
We didn't know any different. You know, Kayron was new, I was new, Kyle was somewhat new. So, like, we just had to come in and like, figure out what our roles are and just play them to the best of our ability.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a good point because Wichita State had been building up to that point with a really good group of seniors. Rob Campman, Jamar Howard Randy Burns from the previous year. So there was. I think Wichita State was picked fifth in the Missouri Valley starting the 0506 season.
When did that team really gain some confidence? Was there a light bulb game, a turning point that you look back on?
[00:15:14] Speaker D: I think us losing to Illinois and Sal Padre kind of opened up all of our eyes as a team to like say we might be able to do something special this year. And, you know, we lost that game and then we lost to Michigan State, State and non conference. And then, you know, we played. I think we played pretty well.
I think the turning point of that year was our game at Missouri State, though, on the road. We didn't play very well in the first half and we had to come back in the second half. Nick Rogers played really well in the second half of that game, if I remember correctly.
You know, and it was just like we just took off after that. I think we lost like one or two more conference games after that.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: That was 68, 62 win in Springfield. So you're remembering that? Well, you had the dunk. I believe that kind of finished off the Tennessee game in Greensboro, North Carolina. What do you remember about that game?
[00:16:10] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh, I just remember going into that game, everybody thought that we were going to lose.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: They were the second seed, Tennessee was.
[00:16:18] Speaker D: And I remember everybody just asking us if we were scared, if we were ready for the moment and, you know, we would. We just went to the game with nothing to lose and just.
PJ played out of his mind that day and, you know, we just figured out how to run secondary break better than anybody else in the country. You know, we just executed down the stretch and that's how we won the game.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: That was a great P.J. cusnard game. I have that box score up here on my wall in case he ever comes by. 20 points, five assists, nine rebounds.
He had four turnovers. He blames those on his teammates, but excellent all rounder.
[00:16:53] Speaker D: He literally said something to me today about one of those.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: Yes, yes. That was a fine, fine, fine game by PJ Kuznard. Definitely great season for the MVC. Four teams in the NCAA. The Shockers and Bradley both went to the Sweet 16. Who was the toughest opponent in the Valley that year?
[00:17:11] Speaker D: I would probably say Bradley.
You know, they had Patrick o', Brien, future lottery pick.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:17:18] Speaker D: Marcellus Somerville was a nightmare 3 and the 4.
Tony Bennett was a really good guard.
God, Daniel.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Oh, Daniel Ruffin.
[00:17:28] Speaker D: Daniel Ruffin was on that team too.
You know, they were just really tough. They were physical, you know, you had to bring your hard hat when you played them, every time you played them.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: That was a very good team. They played a great game against the Shockers early and may have been the opener of the Valley schedule. Let's see. I've got it right here is the second game of the Valley schedule. And Shockers won 69, 67 in overtime.
[00:17:49] Speaker D: Yeah, that was the game PJ blocked. He blocked a shot to win the game.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: Indeed, he did a fine defensive play. We're talking more about PJ Kuznar than I anticipated here. And then Bradley went on to beat Pittsburgh and Kansas in the. In the NCAA tournament, I believe.
What was it like going to the NCAA tournament in 2006? What was the atmosphere?
[00:18:13] Speaker D: I think because it hadn't been done in so long, I think we were all just excited to be there and just figure out what we could do in the tournament once we got there.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: Yeah, and that's a great way to look at it. Wichita State had not been to the NCAA tournament since 1988, so they kind of missed this whole period where the NCAA Tournament turned into this huge thing. And there was some frustration in the previous years of not quite getting to the NCAA tournament. And that 2006 team turned it around in a big way. Ryan Martin, thank you very much for your time.
[00:18:43] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:18:44] Speaker A: Our next guest from the 2006 team is Kyle Wilson. Kyle was a 6 foot 8 junior forward from Plano, Texas, on that team. Kyle, how did you end up at Wichita State? Tell us that story.
[00:18:56] Speaker E: Oh, man, that's a good one. So I was at the University of Illinois and spent my freshman year there playing for Coach Self. Coach Self had made the announcement that he was going to be going to Kansas after my freshman year. And I was already looking for a change and started looking around at where I may transfer to. You know, the interesting part of that is I had an aunt and uncle that lived in Wichita in their backyard, butted up against Coach Turgens.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:19:32] Speaker E: So there was some communication between them that, hey, Kyle may be looking to transfer.
And I don't remember the timeline nowadays, but pretty quickly thereafter, I got a phone call from Coach Turgeon.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: How nice that Mark Turgeon bought a house next door to someone with a six foot eight nephew.
[00:19:52] Speaker E: Right, exactly. So anyway, over the course of the couple months there, I had a lot of conversation with, with Coach Turgeon, ended up making a visit here to Wichita after the season finished at Illinois and just was really excited about what he had started building here and wanted to be a part of it. And that's really, you know, how that happened. So ended up making the decision to transfer. Had to sit out that year, first year, but it was beneficial. It was a, it was a good move.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: Now, looking back on it, what made that team successful?
[00:20:38] Speaker E: I mean, I think it, it starts with coach Turgeon. I think he, you know, had a vision of, of, of, you know, what, what he expected out of his team and, you know, what we could accomplish. And I think that confidence that he had kind of rolled downhill. And I mean, we had a lot of really good players and I think nobody was overtly confident or cocky.
We all knew that it was going to take all of us to be successful, but at the core of it, there was a lot of talent on that team and we figured out how to play well together as well.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: Where were you when Matt Breyer hit the shot to beat Creighton on Valentine's Day in 2006?
[00:21:26] Speaker E: Oh, man, you know what? So crazy I couldn't even tell you.
I think I was sitting on the sideline, to be honest with you. I don't think I was in the game when that shot was made.
But you know, talk about a shot that goes down in history. I mean, that we kind of knew we were a team of destiny at that point.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: Other memorable games. What stands out from that season in your mind, making you go back 20 years.
[00:21:54] Speaker E: I know, but yeah, yeah, you know, I think a couple things. I mean, I think the last game of the season when we clinched the conference season title outright, you know, I remember that. And all the fans, you know, kind of coming down on the court and cutting the nets down, you know, that was amazing.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Shockers beat Illinois State that day on senior day, 64, 57 and take down the nets.
[00:22:25] Speaker E: Yes, I remember. And then obviously the NCAA tournament run, I remember all three of those games pretty well.
But that experience was incredible. And again, like for a team that as a group we hadn't experienced, that we hadn't been to the tournament, and for us to show up and have the confidence that we can play there and prove it out over the course of a couple games and have the opportunity to make it to the Sweet 16 is pretty special and something I'll remember forever.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: Kyle Wilson, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
[00:23:02] Speaker E: Thank you.
[00:23:03] Speaker A: We are moving to the 2015-2016 Shockers. They went 26, 9 16, 2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Wichita State defeated Vanderbilt and Arizona before losing to Miami in Providence. Our guest is J.R. simon. J.R. was a student, six foot junior guard on that team from Oklahoma City. J.R. let's start by giving people the background. How did you get to Wichita State to play basketball?
[00:23:26] Speaker F: Yeah, so mine was a little unique. I came as a walk on preferred walk on if you will. I had an opportunity to come, grew up playing basketball with Shaquille Morris and got connected. He ended up committing here and got connected with some of the coaches and my family's around here so they've obviously been big fans of Wichita State. So some communication and you know, with coach and some of the other staff.
Got an opportunity to come be a part of the team and ended up working out really well.
[00:24:00] Speaker A: And I think you and Zach Bush, who is also a walk on on that team, would be regarded as two of the two of the best walk ons in a range of, you know, from being practicing well, responsible weight room, grades, I think grades, all that kind of stuff and also playing some, you played some significant minutes for those teams over the years.
How did you regard your job as a walk on?
[00:24:24] Speaker F: I appreciate that.
You know, we took a lot of pride in that. And I think one thing with Coach Marshall and the whole staff and the team, we understood when we got here we weren't just viewed as GPA boosters, we were viewed as integral parts of the team. And you know, if we're going to be out there, if we're going to be a part of practice and doing things, we're going to be expected the same as Ron, Fred Takel, you know, any of those guys. And so I think with that, obviously it's extremely challenging because we're not as talented as those guys. But it also is rewarding to know like one, it's going to push us and two, that we have the same expectation as those guys that, you know, we're going to get in trouble the same we're going to if we make a turnover, if we do things. But they want us involved in practice, they want us communicating, creating that role that, you know, we may not necessarily be playing a bunch of minutes but we can create a role to help lead the team in a different way.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: And to be clear, I'm sure your grades were excellent. I've heard a couple stories about Zach Bush and he's not here to defend himself, so we won't really dwell on that. What made that Shocker team so successful?
[00:25:34] Speaker F: You know, obviously all four years of me being here, we had a variety of success.
Specifically the 1516 team, we were led by an unbelievable senior class, as you know, with five seniors, Tom Bush, Wamakota, Antoine Grady, Evan, Ron, Fred.
And when you have those guys as your senior class who have had a ton of experience, a ton of success that, you know, gives you and the team, you know, a lot of opportunity and chances to do well. And unfortunately we battled some injuries early in the year which made it challenging at times and we didn't start out the way we wanted, but you know, thankfully people got healthy and ended up rolling at the right time.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: So much defense on that team. They finished first in Kim Pomeroy defensive statistics. Why was that team such great on the defensive end?
[00:26:32] Speaker F: Well, I think it started with our guards all four years, you know, Fred, Ron, Evan. But all of our guards defended so well. It was such an important thing in our system and it was from when they got here to even when they were all Americans and junior senior year when they had all the notoriety and playing well on offense, they still played, took pride in playing hard nosed defense. And so I think that trickled down to everyone else too. When they show that example, it allows everyone else to understand like, oh, this is important, like if these guys are doing it, we all better lock in. And it's an important part of our system and why we've been so successful.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: What games stand out in your memory?
[00:27:20] Speaker F: You know, it's hard to pick out.
You spoke on it in the NCAA tournament. That year was incredible. We made the first four that year. We ended up beating.
Was it Providence that first game?
[00:27:36] Speaker A: Beat Vanderbilt.
[00:27:37] Speaker F: Vanderbilt. I'm sorry. Yeah, we went to Providence, beat Vanderbilt, which was a great game. And then we go in and just beat the crap out of Arizona. And I think that, you know, we had a lot of games that solidified. Like, you know, we may be in the Missouri Valley, but like we've got dudes that can compete with anyone in the country. And when you have a game like that with Arizona had some big names too at the time and we went and truly dominated them from start to finish.
And that I think stuck out a lot just knowing like man, our guys. And the Miami game went back and forth and unfortunately it didn't pan out how we wanted but we were right in it at the end to, you know, hopefully make some noise. To go again to the second weekend.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: Shockers defeated Arizona 65, 55 in that game and I was looking at the box score earlier today, caused 19 turnovers and allowed 20 baskets. So that's an indication of the kind of defense that.
[00:28:35] Speaker F: That it was havoc.
[00:28:37] Speaker A: Definitely. Definitely. Illinois State was a big rival in those days and the Red Birds beat Wichita State early In the February of that season. 58, 53 rematch on Senior Day. The Shockers won 74, 58. What made that rivalry so heated?
[00:28:51] Speaker F: I think it's a lot of history just obviously having both fiery coaches, very intense. They've had some really good players in the past.
They had some really good guards, especially during that time. Paris Lee, some other guys that were very talented and gave our guys, you know, a run for their money all the time. And so I think that brought out a lot of competitive juices.
They would have our number at times in the, you know, the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and or just regular season games. And I think just the back and forth, you know, it always, we always had good battles for sure.
[00:29:30] Speaker A: J.R. simon, thank you very much for your time.
[00:29:32] Speaker F: Thank you, Paul. Good to see you.
[00:29:34] Speaker A: Our final guest is Evan Wessel. Evan was a 6 foot 4 forward, a senior from Wichita Heights on that 2015-2016 team.
Evan, tell us how you got to Wichita State.
Yeah, thanks Paul.
[00:29:50] Speaker G: I was born and raised in Wichita, went to Wichita Heights and Coach Marshall and Coach Jans recruited me during high school and offered me a scholarship. And then just getting the chance to stay home and play for a great team that they are developing, it was a no brainer for me to stay here and come to Wichita State.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: And your grandfather Ev played basketball for the Shockers and your father Todd played football, am I remembering that correctly?
[00:30:15] Speaker G: Yep, that's correct. Grandfather back in the 50s, my dad in the 80s when we had the football team there.
And so kind of that family ties to Wichita State to begin with. So grew up being a Shocker fan and then being able to come here and play was kind of a dream come true.
[00:30:29] Speaker A: So 2015-16 shockers, what made that team so successful?
[00:30:35] Speaker G: This is a great group of guys.
It kind of started out where we're battling through adversity as far as we had three or four major players get injured at the first part of the season. I think we went to their tournament down in Florida and lost three in a row, which was uncommon for us. And then being able to regroup and you know, win Missouri Valley tournament and so just kind of the things went along with that. And a lot of guys on the team too were there for four and five years that had been there. And so just the ties, growing up together and then being able to kind of fight through, make the tournament.
And then, you know, that didn't end how we wanted to, but we won a couple games in the tournament and then just to kind of see us all finish our careers to was a special year.
[00:31:20] Speaker A: That was an excellent defensive team. Finished first in Ken Pomeroy's defensive efficiency rankings. Why was that team so good at defense?
[00:31:28] Speaker G: This thing is what we prided ourselves on. Defense and rebounding first. And then we knew the offense would come and obviously had great players on there. But, you know, that's what we pride ourselves on being is, you know, trying to limit teams to scoring. And obviously, obviously, Coach Marshall instilled that in us. And, you know, if you didn't play defense or rebound or if you turned the ball over, you weren't going to play. So we knew how to get on the court.
We knew that's how you're successful.
[00:31:54] Speaker A: So you mentioned the injuries, and it was a challenging start to the season. Fred Van Vliet missed several games with a hamstring injury. Landry Shamut, I think a lot of people forget, played in the first two or three games and then had a stress fracture. Anton Grady had the spinal concussion, which was kind of a new injury, I think, to everybody. While you were down in Florida. Fred comes back in early December versus St. Louis. Anton Grady was playing.
When did it feel like the Shockers were kind of whole again and ready to really get playing well in that season?
[00:32:23] Speaker G: Yeah, I think once we got into conference, so probably first part of January, you know, we had our full team back.
You know, obviously Landry going out early, you know, he could have been a key piece for us the rest of the season. But really part of that stride into the Missouri Valley Conference at that time, mid part of January, we felt like, okay, we got our team back as a whole and could really then learn how to play together with all the people that should be on the court and being healthy.
[00:32:51] Speaker A: I've had people go back 50 years and 20 years in their memory. You only have to go back 10 years. So I'm expecting big things. What games stand out from that season
[00:33:01] Speaker G: so specifically, you know, obviously, you know, the conference plays were great, but just because we made the tournament every year that we were there, and for me and Ron, it was our fifth year. And so kind of just the way the tournament played out, we were in the playing game, which we'd never been before, playing Vandy. Then our travel schedule as far as getting to Providence and getting in at 5am and having to wake up and to go to practice and play the next day against Arizona, which is top school.
So that game and then really ran into a great Miami team, tons of athletes, and then just came up a little short but just kind of, those three tournament games kind of stand out for me as far as just kind of. I think it summed up our season. We fought through, made the tournament play in game and finished strong and then just came up a little short.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: And two great defensive efforts held Vanderbilt to 50 points, beat Arizona 60, 65 to 55. I was looking at the box score. Arizona scored 20 baskets and committed 19 turnovers. So that was a good example of the kind of defense the Shockers played. What did you enjoy about the NCAA tournament experience off the court? The hoopla, the travel? What was that like as a young person?
[00:34:12] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean, it's a really cool experience and, you know, you don't really know what's going on while you're in it because you're focused on getting to the next game and the round of preparing. But looking back, just, just having all the fans and then most importantly, your family there and getting, seeing them enjoy it and spending time with them in between games and traveling different places and then obviously just the expectations is raised when you get to the NCAA Tournament and the attention, which you know when you're competing is where you want to be. So just the game and the level of play is raised when you get in the NCAA Tournament.
[00:34:44] Speaker A: Evan Wessel, thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it.
[00:34:46] Speaker G: Yeah, thank you, Paul.
[00:35:02] Speaker A: Hi, this is Rick Muema, president of Wichita State University.
[00:35:06] Speaker G: Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast.
[00:35:09] Speaker C: Each episode I sit down with different guests from Shocker Nation to celebrate the
[00:35:13] Speaker G: vision and mission of Wichita State University.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:35:33] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications.
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[email protected] Bradshaw into Wingate.
[00:35:50] Speaker G: Wingate's going to dribble it a couple
[00:35:51] Speaker A: of times and throws it in the hands of Kuznard. Threw it away. Kuzner to Ryan Martin for the dunk. The Shockers are going to the Sweet sixteen.
It's all over.
[00:36:00] Speaker G: The Shocker's up seven, three seconds, two.
[00:36:03] Speaker A: Jeopard by Smith is no good. Wichita State to the sweet 16.
