Speaker 1 00:00:15 Hello and welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sutro of Wichita State University Strategic Communication. We are going to continue our 2013 Final four remembrances. Today we have Nick Wiggins and Dimitri Williams. They join us for the, uh, for the reunion celebration. Uh, they, many others are back for that for the aftershocks games in the basketball tournament at Karina. Nick Wiggins was a junior on that 20 12 20 13 team, he averaged 4.9 points, made 41.9% of his three pointers. He had a season high of 18 points and a win at Drake. Had other memorable moments that we will get to. Demetri Williams was a senior on that team. He started 26 games for the shockers, averaged 7.4 points. He had 44 steels second most on that team, and his 87 assists were third. Demetri scored a season high, 18 points, and a win over to Paul, also had 18 and a loss to Creighton. So let's start, gentlemen with a 10 year up update. Demetri, you're the head boys basketball coach at Newton High. Tell fans, uh, how things are going for you.
Speaker 2 00:01:18 Um, yes, that is correct, Paul. Um, I just finished up with my first year at, uh, Newton High School, uh, coaching, uh, head varsity boys basketball coach. Um, it was fun. Um, I learned a lot, uh, hanging around all the guys, the young guys, um, getting to know the community, the culture, uh, trying to instill my culture. Um, it was challenges as well. Um, and just, uh, overall time for me to grow as a coach. First year time head coach, and, uh, learn from all the great coaches I was in the league. Um, they are great mentors, uh, great people to, um, respect and, you know, um, pretty much just emulate and, uh, soak up all the knowledge for my first year. So, um, I enjoyed it. Uh, looking forward to the next season, um, getting my young guys in the gym, uh, working hard, um, ready to take on more responsibilities, things of that nature. Um, but it's very exciting and, um, humbling to be able to have this opportunity.
Speaker 1 00:02:20 Nick, you're playing professionally, update people on, on where you are.
Speaker 3 00:02:24 Uh, last year I played in the Middle East. Um, I was actually in a league that traveled throughout the Middle East who played in Iraq, uh, Lebanon, Syria, places of that nature. Um, but had having a great experience over there. Just, you know, continue to play at a high level. It's a blessing to still be playing basketball, uh, going into my 10th year professionally now. So, um, just, just loving the grind, man. The grind is what keeps me going. Um, and, uh, yeah, just, just the love for the game, man.
Speaker 1 00:02:49 So, out of all your travels, where's the most interesting country? Do you have a favorite city? Favorite place that you've been?
Speaker 3 00:02:56 I like new Taipei. Okay. In Taiwan. It was nice. Um,
Speaker 2 00:03:00 That was quick. That was quick. You know, you've been a lot of places.
Speaker 3 00:03:03 I've been a lot of places. He said, he said a culture shock rule was different. So New Taipei was, was, was definitely different. Just the food and just the way that they embrace you. Um, you know, they loved their basketball over there in Asia. Um, also another place would be Brazil. I had a lot of, I had a great experience in Brazil playing professional basketball out there. Really good league and mbb, um, uh, seven month league. It was a grind. I probably had one of my best pro seasons out there. Um, playing for a ba ru ba ru basket. Um, and yeah, just, uh, just keeping it going, man.
Speaker 1 00:03:37 I always hear crazy stories about the crowds fans. When you play overseas, do you have a crazy crowd, crowd story for us?
Speaker 3 00:03:46 Uh, pretty crazy. Um, I mean, it's kind of crazy in Asia, just a basketball culture, stuff like that. So, uh, you'll see a whole bunch of different stuff over there. Um, just kind of similar to Europe, you know, like fireworks, kind of like fires starting in the crowd and stuff like that. So just different stuff that kind of, like, when you're playing, it'll catch your attention quick, but you just kind of as you as you're playing there over time, you just know that that's just the culture and they just have, you know, they're really fired up during the basketball games and stuff like that. So it was just, it was fun and different to see that, I would say.
Speaker 1 00:04:17 So a lot of your teammates are back in town for the reunion. You'll be introduced, we're recording this Friday afternoon, Friday night, uh, during the Aftershocks game. Got a reunion Saturday night at Mark Arts, which teammate is going to kind of captain the ship, lead the way, telling the funny stories, doing impersonations of the coaching staff. Who's gonna, who's gonna be the ringleader?
Speaker 2 00:04:38 I would say first, who's all coming? Like, do we have the exact,
Speaker 1 00:04:43 I think I've got a pretty good idea, although you Okay. Yeah. Without saying with total confidence. I, I know Ron Baker, Zach Bush. I'm told Fred Van Leet will be here. I know. We're expecting that. Not sure about Teil. I think he's told people. He is. We're planning on hoping him. Il gave, SHA gave his word. He was coming. Teil gave you his word. So I
Speaker 3 00:05:01 Stand on that.
Speaker 1 00:05:02 That be excellent. People would really like to see Teil, uh, Shadrack LA Field. U2. Um, I think when I had Ron on on earlier, he said nine. Okay. Uh, CLE Anthony? Mm,
Speaker 2 00:05:16 Yes.
Speaker 3 00:05:16 Yeah, he gets in later tonight.
Speaker 1 00:05:18 Okay. Yeah, I talked to Heay earlier this week. He's not able to come and I don't think Carl Hall is coming. So it will be a, it'll be a pretty good rep representation, I think at least nine or so. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:05:29 So as far as the seniors, it's just probably Demetri Williams in the house. We might get a unexpected guess out of the other seniors. We might, we gonna hold out just a little bit, but he might show up as well, so. Okay. Fans be ready for that.
Speaker 3 00:05:46 <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:05:47 Uh, so who's gonna lead things? Who's gonna tell the stories
Speaker 2 00:05:51 If I don't have the seniors? Mm.
Speaker 3 00:05:53 I feel like it would be the seniors to tell the stories for sure. Baker, um, Zach Bush. My memory's, my memory's strong. I know a lot of those stories, but I don't, I don't, I don't know if they want me to tell 'em. <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:06:07 I think, I think all, I think 10 years later there is no, there, there are no restrictions anymore. You can tell all those stories.
Speaker 2 00:06:13 And I think, I think Fred, you know, he got some big shoes, Fred.
Speaker 3 00:06:17 He got some stories. Cle definitely got some stories too.
Speaker 2 00:06:19 Yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure.
Speaker 1 00:06:21 Yeah, I've heard Fred is, is pretty good in those circumstances. I'm sure his voice will be heard. Do you ever go back and watch those games, hop on YouTube, watch highlights from the 2013 NCAA tournament?
Speaker 3 00:06:32 All the time, man. Probably did it maybe three or four months ago just to see myself hitting that three in the corner. Pretty dope, man.
Speaker 1 00:06:38 <laugh>, good memory. Demetri, how about you? Do you ever click on for that stuff?
Speaker 2 00:06:43 Um, yes. Um, to answer the question, yes, I definitely, um, not even just the Final Four run, uh, a lot of my years planted with state, um, just being under a great coach, uh, being able to dissect a few things so I can, you know, learn and better myself as a coach at Newton High School. So I definitely do turn back the clock and <laugh> watch
Speaker 3 00:07:06 For sure. And it's fun to do that. I feel like it's, you know, definitely beneficial too, just to go back and kind of see your history, see where you came from, you know what I mean? Just like, you know, how you, your basketball journey is really important to remember, you know what I mean? You can't forget your journey and the steps where you took to where you're going. So
Speaker 1 00:07:21 Sure. Those would be great memories. All right. I've had some success, some fun playing trivia with people during these podcasts to kind of get the memories rolling. So let's, let's go here. Who did the shockers defeat to win the Cancun Challenge? In the, who? Who did Wichita State beat the championship game in Mexico?
Speaker 2 00:07:38 Was it a PAC 10 or PAC 12 team? Can you gimme that? Was
Speaker 3 00:07:42 It, I think it,
Speaker 1 00:07:42 It was not a Pac 10 or APAC 12
Speaker 3 00:07:44 Game, I wanna say it was, um, I wanna say we beat DePaul in the second, the second,
Speaker 2 00:07:48 The second game to go to his finals. I got like, like Iowa or something in
Speaker 1 00:07:55 My head. Ding ding ding. Iowa. Very good. Iowa's Wichita State defeated Iowa 75 63. Who did Wichita State beat in the Sweet 16 game? First game in Los Angeles?
Speaker 2 00:08:07 Oh, first game LaSalle. Right?
Speaker 3 00:08:10 First game LaSalle.
Speaker 1 00:08:11 Very good. All right. Sometimes that's a game that gets, gets overlooked in that run. Played
Speaker 3 00:08:15 Against my boy Ramon
Speaker 2 00:08:16 <laugh>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1 00:08:18 How many shots did Aime Arupe block against Southern Illinois at Coka during the regular season?
Speaker 2 00:08:26 Do we, we won that game, right? Yes.
Speaker 3 00:08:27 Yeah. We ain't losing home. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:08:29 Yeah, yeah. We ain't losing home.
Speaker 1 00:08:30 Lost the game at Carbondale on that. Uh, on the goal tending call.
Speaker 2 00:08:35 That was at home?
Speaker 1 00:08:36 No, that was on the road At Carbondale. At Siu at home. He had a big game with block shots. Do you remember how many he blocked?
Speaker 3 00:08:42 I'm went to go with, I'm gonna go with with with five. Ooh.
Speaker 2 00:08:46 Oh,
Speaker 1 00:08:47 Higher.
Speaker 2 00:08:49 He almost had 10, probably I'd say nine. Nine.
Speaker 1 00:08:52 Dmitri I think is three for three on this.
Speaker 3 00:08:55 Wow.
Speaker 1 00:08:55 Okay. Let's go back to the staple center. Least
Speaker 2 00:08:58 That game. That's different blocks. He played up to his potential for sure.
Speaker 1 00:09:03 Back to Los Angeles Staples Center, which NBA team's locker room was assigned to the shockers. This was a thing, maybe not with YouTube, but among certain members of the team. This, this mattered.
Speaker 2 00:09:15 I mean, I'm from Las Vegas. We was talking about being in the Lakers locker room and I know we didn't get that one. I know we didn't get that one. And that was a big talk, just cuz the Staples Center, you want to be in the Lakers locker room. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but, um,
Speaker 3 00:09:29 <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:09:30 Right? You got the Clippers? Yeah. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:09:31 Oh, the Clippers. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:09:32 Clipper's locker room. And I'm told people were disappointed. People wanted to be, they wanted to, they wanted to be in Kobe Bryant's locker room and, and they were not mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Okay. Who was coach Greg Marshall describing which of which, shocker. Who was coach Greg Marshall describing when he said he parachuted out out of the upper concourse for that dunk
Speaker 3 00:09:56 To kill cotton
Speaker 1 00:09:58 Close?
Speaker 2 00:10:02 Was it a away team or
Speaker 1 00:10:04 It was a shocker. He was describing one of the shockers Who dunked impressively.
Speaker 2 00:10:08 I only
Speaker 3 00:10:09 In game
Speaker 1 00:10:09 Dunk in game dunk follow shot. It
Speaker 2 00:10:11 Ain't, it gotta be cl and it's not cl.
Speaker 1 00:10:15 Nick Wiggins. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:10:16 Oh, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 1 00:10:17 The Nick Wiggin follow dunk against Southern Mississippi
Speaker 3 00:10:21 At the entrance. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:10:25 Okay.
Speaker 3 00:10:25 He put back dunk. I remember
Speaker 1 00:10:26 That. That's what he said. Nick parachuted out of the upper concourse for that dunk. Okay. Followed dunk against Southern Mississippi downtown where going back Big Basket basket gave the shockers a 53 51 lead in a game. They won 59 to 51. So that was one of those, one of those highlights of the season. Alright. Big picture. Describe that team. The 2013 shocks. What made that group go, Nick?
Speaker 2 00:10:48 Grit.
Speaker 3 00:10:48 Grit. Uh, we wanted it, man. And, uh, you know, we're all, we're unselfish. That's probably the main thing about that team that I tell all my friends, tell a lot of family that, you know, ev all guys wanted the better for each guy. Um, and, you know, we're just all working together. One common goal, which was to win, um, still sucks that we didn't win the whole thing. Believe we had the team to do it.
Speaker 1 00:11:09 Had Louisville on the ropes. Demetri, how do you describe that team? What made it, what made it successful?
Speaker 2 00:11:15 I feel like it's hard to, like, really just, just describe it real quick. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:11:20 It's not
Speaker 2 00:11:21 One thing. I mean, that season, I mean, you, you covered us when we came off of Joe Raglin, re Murray, David Cows, Gary studs, Ben Smith, um, Gabe Blair, like all like that generation before, like putting the work, the grind and that season, me being a returner starter, Carl playing good mini spining with, um, Garrett and stuff, not really getting what he deserves, but wait his turn. Um, and we didn't have many players that played in a program that you can just be like, oh, that team's gonna be first in the Missouri Valley. And I think we was what picked forth or six?
Speaker 1 00:12:02 Something like that. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:12:04 So, um, when I described that season, um, to people, um, I pretty much explained to them that it was a lot of like sacrifice. Like to me, sacrifice is the, the described from the beginning to the end. Because coming into the season, injuries was already piling up off of the previous season of making it finally to the NCAA tournament. So soon as we came into the season, like, are we gonna have him? I was down. Like, it was just a lot of stuff and being like, oh, everybody's new. So we was able to overcome that real quick, start the season off being undefeated, um, winning that first preseason, um, and kind of just like solidified us as like, okay, they gonna be able to keep up with what we already built, right. The years before. So, and then, you know, during the season, more people got hurt.
Speaker 2 00:13:01 So then at one period of time, coach had a brand new team, <laugh>. We started the season out knowing what the personnel was gonna be, knowing how the rotation was gonna be, and coach had to adjust mid-season with different people in the starting lineup. Uh, people with different roles as far as more responsibilities. And we had a hiccup in the middle of the season, had a hiccup, and it was a lot of coming to Jesus meetings and a lot of just, you know, showing us that we are capable of coming out of this struggle that we are currently in. And, um, just empowering and, and inspiring to, you know, us, my teammates, um, that anything is possible pretty much. Like it's not over. Definitely. And, uh, I think he may set it a pre, um, previous podcast before our interview that Coach, coach Marshalls always said the cavalry's coming. So like, as soon as you know, um, we get closer to the Missouri Valley conference, more people are gonna come off of injury reserve and it's just gonna be just a big old, just, you know, a tsunami coming your way with people that don't a lot of ups
Speaker 3 00:14:11 And downs. You gotta deal with it. So guys gotta step up and, you know, just like kind of next guy, next guy up kind of mentality.
Speaker 1 00:14:17 So to refresh people's memories, Evan Wessel played eight games and then got hurt. He was out. Yeah. Ron Baker missed, uh, I think 18 games, big chunk of the regular season, significant amount of games. Carl Hall missed several games that he may missed a few, few games,
Speaker 3 00:14:29 Bone moves that Ron had right in
Speaker 1 00:14:30 His foot. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. So the injuries were definitely a, a, a part of that season. Yeah. So Demitri you played a pivotal role in what I think people will say was maybe the, was was the wackiest game of the season 68 67 win at Illinois State. So in your foul with 40 seconds to play started the crazy sequence that ultimately saw the shockers rally from down 67 60. So during that play, Illinois states, Jackie Carmile kicked to Kale Cotton during a rebound. Shockers got two free throws that started their eight Oh run. And then Dmitri, you made a three pointer with 28 seconds to play to cut the lead to 67, 65 memories of that, of that game.
Speaker 2 00:15:13 That was what gonna be the fourth loss in a row because that was, that was the time. It was a three game losing.
Speaker 3 00:15:22 That's when we were streak kind of going through our ups and downs. You had
Speaker 1 00:15:25 Played two, you had lost three in a row and then one, two. Okay. Okay. So the, the the three game losing streak was definitely fresh in the memory at that point.
Speaker 2 00:15:33 Okay. Okay. Okay. So we was
Speaker 3 00:15:35 On, and that was our rival too. Yes, Illinois State. Yeah. I remember it was a coaching rivalry, player's rivalry. It was everything. It was like was when they come here, when we go there and this
Speaker 2 00:15:44 Is, uh, like exclusive,
Speaker 3 00:15:46 Like right
Speaker 2 00:15:47 Locker room, like hallway scene, man, we can't get, I
Speaker 3 00:15:51 Don't know if everybody, I know if everybody knows about that Wichita State, Illinois state,
Speaker 2 00:15:56 But the crowd, it is fun though. I will say that as a player, being in those type of environments, um, obviously everything, you know, stayed professional. We didn't have to do certain things to, you know, make a bad name a bad rap. But, um, the intensity, the fineness, um, I think every fan player loves those type of rivalries, loves those type of like, energy knowing that the players are playing hard for their love of the game. Yeah. Um, so I, for me, as a former player, I love those type of environments. So even though the crowd, everything's against us, but I love those type of scenes, those type of atmospheres. And
Speaker 3 00:16:37 They called, they called us the road wars for a reason, man, <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:16:42 So that game was tough. We had to make big shots down the stretch. One from, uh, probably two from cle, one from me, one from IL or Malcolm Free throw, something like that. Um, and it was like we had to make 'em, if we would've missed any shot, um, turned the ball over, allowed them to score, we would've lost that game. But, um, you know, the experience, the basketball cue, that's one thing I would say about that team. Um, it was a lot of smart basketball players. Yeah. Like we had, you know, athleticism and speed and things of that nature. Um, obviously when we got to the bigger conferences, they just had God given ability. But, um, we held our own against a lot of teams, but we were very smart. Like we had, you know, the fundamentals, um, just everything down pat to be able to be successful. And obviously it started from the head macho. So
Speaker 1 00:17:38 <laugh> CLE made the three-pointer, I believe, from the top of the key that that ended up winning that game. The shockers eight points in 40 seconds to, to pull off one of the season's most important victories. And the locker room scene that I, I think you're referencing, and we talked about it on previous podcasts with, uh, Mike Kennedy, uh, Dan Mueller and Greg Marshall had, uh, they had a rivalry as as you said, and they exchanged some, uh, they disagreed about something, exchanged some withering glances. And it was one of the, one of the memorable scenes from from that rivalry. Uh, we mentioned the, uh, the ups and downs, the injuries. And that's one of the reasons why this team is interesting because it did go through some low points. Uh, finished second in the Missouri Valley conference behind Creighton. Lost a couple games late in the season. What turned things around in March. Nick, what's your remember re memory about what things got going once term?
Speaker 3 00:18:25 Play rallying behind each other man, rallying behind each other, believing in one another. Um, and just not letting the season kind of go to waste. I feel like, you know, from the day we all stepped together on this campus, the day I stepped here, cause I was joining what they had already kind of built, right. Uh, WSU has been a, a tournament team team that competes well in the NCAA tournament. So just with us stepping in the new guys or the juniors that came in me, CJ cle, we were just trying to, you know, give what we could to the team, whatever we could, as much as we can. Um,
Speaker 2 00:18:58 And did that, we, you guys did that.
Speaker 3 00:19:01 We a really deep team man. We were a really deep team. Um, everybody contribute and we had a great coach, man. Um, we had a great coach. I don't feel like, you know, we turned that season around, not saying that we were headed down a bad hill. Like, like you said, the season was a bunch of ups and downs. That's how the season is. Injuries and stuff like that. But, you know, without Coach Marshall, I don't think we, uh, I don't think we're at we're that team. Um, he gave us our mindset. Um, you know, just our attitude on the road at home, protecting home court. Um, uh, I don't think another coach would've, like I said, I don't think another coach would've helped us get to that point. So he was definitely a huge part of our success. Several
Speaker 1 00:19:38 Of your teammates have mentioned a video session late in the season when things maybe weren't going great. Uh, Chris Jans they in, in one telling of it, put it together, video clips of the team when, when you were playing really well to show you what you were doing, body language, all that kind of stuff. And they've mentioned that as being really helpful. Do either of you recall this? Yeah. Recall this video? I recall that.
Speaker 3 00:20:00 I recall that,
Speaker 2 00:20:00 Yes, for sure. Yes. I would say that played a big part as well. Definitely being able to see how we was, you know, gelling, um, the chemistry, the toughness. Yeah. We were just playing a high level of basketball at that time, so it was great to look at that.
Speaker 1 00:20:14 Yeah, so those shockers, they went 11 and one in the non-conference and then some of the injuries hit a little bit. And then you're, you know, you're reordering on the fly. Chakras went 12 and six in the Missouri Valley conference, but then once tournament play started, went six and two to, to finish things out. So that speaks to the, speaks to the up and downs and then really hitting their stride in, uh, in March. Uh, so this is my, the third podcast I've done talking about the final four. Then you start worrying about, well, did we talk about this person enough? And one guy that I'm not sure we've talked about enough is Carl Hall. So I will give you to the floor to describe Carl Hall. He was a six foot seven, six foot eight, just a beast on the backboards, uh, played center, played forward for the shockers. Tell us about Carl Hall's contribution to this team to make sure we're not overlooking him.
Speaker 3 00:20:58 I'll, I'll go first cause I know you got a little more. Yeah, that's, that's your guy. So, uh, man, my experience with Carl, um, played with him for one season, uh, animal dog, um, beast. Those are three words that you could just describe him by. Uh, one of the best bigs I've ever played with. He's the best sit-in big I've ever played with in my life. Um, if you know basketball terminology, you know, you know what that is. Um, man, just a hard worker man sets the example every day as a senior. Him and Demetri, me coming as a junior, um, coming from junior college, you know, it was important for me to see, you know, older guys or just seniors, you know, doing things the right way, carrying themselves by example. Um, you know, Carl was definitely one of those guys. And, uh, you know, always try to, whenever I see him, whenever I talk to him, it's always a good vibe. He is always like my big vet, you know what I mean? He was, he'll always be that to me. And, uh, yeah man, he was a great player for us, man. Great player for us.
Speaker 1 00:21:59 Demetri, memories of Carl Hall and what he contributed.
Speaker 2 00:22:03 Um, Carl is, Carl already had the like battle with heart issues. Remember that? Like, he's a warrior, right? Like he's a warrior man. Things didn't come easy for him. So I mean, he worked his tail off. Um, he gave it his all, literally his all, he would give his heart for it. So I just, I just know, like you said, a dog. Um, you know, and Coach Marshall had a thing called Junkyard Dog, like you could give it to him probably every time. <laugh>, like he's a Dennis Robling getting the boards and when you need it, he gonna get you a bunch. Doesn't
Speaker 3 00:22:42 Need touch, doesn't need a play call. He gonna meet. He'll go and get it off the glass. Um, dirty play, diving on the floor, like you said, six eight, probably one of the biggest guys on the floor both nights doesn't care to get his hands dirty. Um,
Speaker 2 00:22:55 Well send the example
Speaker 3 00:22:57 Communicator, big communicator. Um, you know, and he also went to junior college too, so I looked up to him for that too.
Speaker 1 00:23:03 Seemed to save some of his best efforts for Creighton. He really played well against, uh, really played well against the Blue
Speaker 3 00:23:08 Jays. They used to juice him up for that. What? Blame coach
Speaker 2 00:23:11 Jans for that
Speaker 1 00:23:12 Coach. Dans was in his ear for that game. Oh
Speaker 2 00:23:14 Man, you got a handful over there. McDermot is gonna, you know, these dude gonna step up to the plate, uh, accept the challenge or
Speaker 3 00:23:21 You gonna lay down.
Speaker 2 00:23:22 We all in here telling you, you gonna get cooked tonight. <laugh>, he didn't want that.
Speaker 3 00:23:27 Basically he was up, he was up to the challenge. Every, every, every
Speaker 2 00:23:29 Time he got us, he got us. Yeah, he got us once. Yep. He got,
Speaker 3 00:23:33 He get the ball every damn time. You <laugh> better do something.
Speaker 2 00:23:37 Yeah. Cuz I was at home. Right? He was, it was at, uh, their place where he got us for like 40 or
Speaker 1 00:23:43 Last game of the regular season. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Those were talented Creighton teams and that was, that was a big part of the shockers back then the rivalry with for sure Wichita State.
Speaker 2 00:23:51 And they was leaving the next year, right? Yes. So they like it, it stung That did sting. Cause it was like, okay, they left the conference after beating us, like Right. That was, uh, that's a hard one to get over.
Speaker 1 00:24:03 Uh, highlight of the 2013 season. Is there one that, that sticks out, flashes into your mind when people bring that up?
Speaker 2 00:24:15 Do, do you have like a beginning, middle, and end or is it just like one memory you
Speaker 3 00:24:23 Have? I'm here. Trying to think of, of the, the memory mm-hmm. <affirmative> like uh hmm because
Speaker 2 00:24:30 It's, it's a couple for me. Okay. Because the, the, the start of the season, um, we had where
Speaker 2 00:24:38 We pretty much had to figure out and gel and, and and build the chemistry from the summer. And we had situations happen during our workouts to test our like togetherness And that I think that like made our season like start off faster as far as building the chemistry, the trust and not waiting until the season start and figuring out how people play. We more so do dove into people's personality and character. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So we did that from the beginning and I think that was the, the song, the like tone setter Yeah. For the season. And then, you know, we had the other stuff after. So I will always just bring up the beginning just because we was like diving into like people character
Speaker 3 00:25:27 And
Speaker 2 00:25:27 Right. You know, really understanding who I'm like going
Speaker 3 00:25:30 With, who we playing with. With. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:25:32 Exactly.
Speaker 3 00:25:32 For me, for me, we already spoke about it too. The highlight in the moment of the season for me was when we lost that third game in the row bro. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, that, that, that was the highlight for me. That's kind of what stands out the most. Cuz um, that was where our turnaround point, that's kind of where everybody's, our whole team mindset shifted. You know,
Speaker 2 00:25:53 Like being tested and seeing how you
Speaker 3 00:25:56 Bounced back, you know, cause it was everything. It was refs, it was, you know what I mean? Like, you know, I don't, I'm not the type of player to blame refs. Um, but you know, it was kind of the thing where, where Marshall was sending clips in of certain referees not giving us certain calls. Well when it was rolling in, shit just wasn't rolling in our
Speaker 2 00:26:11 Favor bro. It was not
Speaker 3 00:26:12 Rolling in our career. Oh. So
Speaker 2 00:26:14 Basketball got into
Speaker 3 00:26:15 My life. Yeah, man. Definitely just that moment during the season when we were kind of on edge, um, I feel like that showed our true character man. And uh, without that moment happening, I don't feel like we get to where we got. Which was, which was the final four.
Speaker 1 00:26:27 So that was late January, early February. Lost at home to Indiana State, lost at Thero on the road to Northern Iowa. And then the goal tending game lost 64 62 at Southern Illinois. On
Speaker 3 00:26:40 Southern Illinois. Yep. I remember that.
Speaker 1 00:26:41 And then bounce back from that to win five in a row. Uh, so you got things righted to a pretty good degree then before a loss. Evansville at home and at Crate. It's so interesting. Senior
Speaker 2 00:26:53 Night hurt. Senior night hurt. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But it meant a lot. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> to us and seniors. You got, he may coming from overseas. Yeah, no, for sure. Making it to the, you know what I mean For sure. Like the pinnacle to the top. That's tough. That was tough. Graduating and doing stuff. So that's a lot of emotion from being proud of himself in fact. Right. Carl Hall, all the stuff he had to go through, like you said Juco, um, hard not even knowing if he gonna still play basketball. Like Yeah bro, it was a lot. It meant a lot to him to get to Lee
Speaker 3 00:27:20 Wore his heart on his sleeve on the court. Carl
Speaker 2 00:27:22 Left it out there. Most definitely. Most definitely. Then Malcolm, he was what? Uncle Drew? Like Kyrie, like he's that old <laugh>. That's how he felt like he was the oldest one. Matures one. I mean like he was our point guard. He was the one that set the tone. Most definitely. And his struggle meant a lot getting to the, cuz he went to what, two Jucos? I think he went to two. Yeah. Our prep school and ju like, yeah, it was a long road and then, you know, me last senior just, you know, making it out, being the first, you know, kid in my family to go to college and you know, it was just a proud moment for us as all seniors and I think it was just a lot of emotions that game. And I think after that didn't they start doing it like after the game? Yeah. Like Marshall switched it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:28:08 You're exactly right. Yeah. He never, he was
Speaker 2 00:28:10 Like, yeah, we can't
Speaker 1 00:28:11 Do that. Yeah, he didn't recover from, he didn not recover from that. So Senior night ceremonies went to after the game after the 2013. Yeah. You switched it up game. Let's do it. Let's wrap it up with the final four. And the moment I'm interested in is that practice, open practice session walking out into the Georgia Dome. There's thousands of fans there. What was that experience like?
Speaker 3 00:28:34 Great experience, man. You're on the top basketball stage in the world. Um, the top to me tournament style stage of basketball in the world. Um, you know, the tournaments, there's nothing like it. Um, you know, it's memories forever and uh, you just, you know, you feel accomplished when you've made it to that point. Obviously there's still more work to do, but, uh, just to get there being one of the last four teams standing, it was, it was a special moment that, you know, you carry with you for the rest of your life.
Speaker 1 00:29:00 Sure. Dmitri, how about you? What do you remember about that weekend in Atlanta?
Speaker 2 00:29:04 Um, man, a lot of, uh, what family in town Try to figure out tickets. Tickets. It was kind of stressful at first. Like, God,
Speaker 3 00:29:15 I wasn't worried about none
Speaker 2 00:29:16 Of that though. Look. I know like, put it Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:29:19 Here, y'all here, right?
Speaker 2 00:29:21 No, we had coaches to help us too. But yeah, I mean just I would say everything, um, from, you know, seeing all the celebrities there, people good role models, mentors, um, that you probably wouldn't be able to see in your life cuz you won't be in the same room as them, but Right. Being able to experience the dinners that we had, the big dinner with all the coaches. All the teams. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like the speakers they had. Um, just the whole, the whole thing. Um, getting escorted <laugh> to the games of the whole hotel. Hotel we were, we was like, we were the show man. You know? Yeah. I mean that's just a great feeling to have, uh, knowing that you, you know, put a lot of work in, a lot of dedication, um, motivation, um, discipline to get to that point and then to see how you was treated and, um, celebrated in a sense like yeah, it was good. It was, it was a great memory that I'll probably never, never forget at all. And that's why I love that we doing this, everybody, you know, coming back kind of reuniting and, um, you know, good to see all the guys and how they're moving forward as well. So yeah,
Speaker 1 00:30:33 That's a great one. Definitely an experience. You should be happy to, happy to reunite and talk about as often as possible. Nick Wiggins and Demetri Williams, two members of the 2013 Final Four shockers. Thanks for your time guys, man. Appreciate
Speaker 2 00:30:45 You having us, man. Thank you, Paul. You keep up the great work. Um, you know, you, you basically, you with us the whole ride, right? So, you know, you got great stories too from behind the scenes and, you know, being able to, you know, see that journey and that ride go. So we, we thank you for your stories and putting it out there for us as well, man. So much respect. It was
Speaker 1 00:31:08 A, it was a lot of fun. Yeah. Everybody's happy to, happy to have the shockers back. Thank you.
Speaker 5 00:31:28 Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected].
Speaker 6 00:31:43 It's over. It's over. Ladies and gentlemen. Say it slowly and savor it. Wichita State is going to the final four for the first time in 48 years.
Speaker 7 00:31:58 Unbelievable. What a scene folks. The shocker fans are just going crazy in the stands.
Speaker 6 00:32:04 Just maybe the greatest win in the history of Wichita State Basketball.
