Speaker 0 00:00:00 Hello, this is Paul Troop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Before we get rolling with Ron Baker and Zach Bush, a couple notes to help you through some technical difficulties. At one point, we discuss injuries endured by the 2013 shockers. To be clear, Evan, we played in eight games that season before injuries shut him down the rest of the way. And then late in the podcast, we are discussing the aftershocks roster. Uh, we begin talking about as Bjorn MIT guard, and some of that got cut off. He did indeed play three seasons at Wichita State before transferring to Grand Canyon and finishing up there, he will be on the Aftershocks roster. We have some new music as we start the seventh year of the Roundhouse Podcast, anticipating a new school year. Thanks for listening and enjoy.
Speaker 0 00:01:00 Hello and welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sutro of Wichita State University strategic Communication. Thanks for listening. Today's guests are Ron Baker and Zach Bush. We're gonna kick off the 2013 Final four reunion that is coming up and the aftershocks playing in the basketball tournament at Karina. Ron and Zach, of course, both played on the 2013 Shockers who won the West region and advanced to the Final four in Atlanta. Zach is also the coach of the aftershocks. They open play in the T B T on July 20th versus the B one ballers. Ron is working on the alumni reunion portion of the weekend, which is highlighted by a dinner at Mark Arts on July 22nd. And I'll stick the links in the show notes for people who are interested in, in those events. So let's start with a 10 year update. Ron, you live here in Wichita. Tell us what you're doing.
Speaker 2 00:01:50 Thanks for having us, Paul. It's, uh, nice to be back in Wichita post-career. I moved here in 2021 and started my new career with Ascension via Christie Sports Medicine in August. And working with them has been great. We actually have a pretty sweet relationship with Wichita State, Newman University and local high schools here in town. So it's good to be part of the community and be back home.
Speaker 0 00:02:17 And Zach, you are moving to Omaha after a successful stint as assistant coach at Andover High. Tell us about your move to to Nebraska.
Speaker 3 00:02:25 Yeah, my, uh, my fiance's from Wichita, um, Jalen Agnew, and she, uh, after a playing career, she's been in the W N B A and then playing overseas and just decided to hang it up after a couple injuries and, um, has taken a job at, at Creighton, so I know that's, that's dangerous territory for a shocker, but we're headed to, to Omaha and I've, I'm really lucky to have gotten on with a great high school basketball program up there, uh, Bellevue West in, in the building, uh, as a PE teacher as well. So it's been awesome in, in Wichita. It's bittersweet leaving. I love being here, you know, born and raised and this is, you know, home. So it'll be tough being away, but love getting to come back, you know, in the summers and, you know, probably still be doing this.
Speaker 0 00:03:04 All right. Very exciting, both of you moving on with your careers. So let's fast forward to the, to the reunion. When all the guys are getting back together, who has the best memory from that team? Who's the guy that are going to take the lead and telling the stories? Who's gonna do the impression of, uh, of one of the assistant coaches who's, who gets the details mostly correct from that time? <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:03:27 I think it's safe to say majority of the guys that were on that team are really good storytellers. I don't know how good, but I'm sure is heck can tell a story. I would say Clay, Anthony and Fred would probably be my top two to give the best impressions and highlights from that wonderful stint we had in that tournament. I think the coolest thing is there's nine guys coming back, so majority are gonna be here and everyone's gonna get a chance to reminisce.
Speaker 0 00:03:58 Okay. Hit us with a few of the names and then Zach, we'll, we'll get, we'll get to you. Who, who's coming back,
Speaker 2 00:04:02 The people can afford to. Yeah. Looking at the, looking at the roster right now, there's nine of us. Uh, CJ IL will be back. Demetri Williams, who lives here in town. Nick Wiggins, Fred Tekel, myself, and Cle Anthony. So there's the, uh, the eight that I see on this roster. And then Evan Wessel, who was on that roster, but injured Right. Will be here as well.
Speaker 0 00:04:26 Okay, excellent. Okay. Zach, who's gonna be the, who's gonna be the prime storyteller on Saturday night after a few, few adult beverages.
Speaker 3 00:04:34 I think Ron, you're discounting and forgetting how great of an impressionist I am. <laugh>. Um, but that's, your answers are un understandable. So, um, I'm probably gonna go with Clea as well. You know, LEAs got such a great personality and, um, you know, I'm sure he's, he's got it all locked in his memory. Fred's a pretty safe answer as well. That's the interesting part is you don't really know until we get there. And those adult beverages, like you said, you know, you maybe get a few of those, um, in some guys, and I think those stories do just start flowing and especially the impressions. Um, you know, we used to have a dinner every year where we'd have to do an impression out at, uh, Flint Hills. We'd have dinner out there with Tom Devlin and, uh, we'd get put on the spot At the time, I don't know if guys necessarily wanted to do impressions, but I'd like to say that's where my acting career really started. Um, and blossomed, I would say, over the course of my career. Um, so I'm interested to see, you know, what guys bring it.
Speaker 0 00:05:28 Yeah. That's the interesting thing about reunions is people change. So you may have somebody who's been holding something in for 10 years ready to get it out there, and Saturday night may be the time.
Speaker 2 00:05:38 Also, unlike teams now, the transfer portal, yada, yada, yada. Not a lot of guys stay four years outta school. Yeah. So, yeah, we'll talk about this season a lot, but other than Clee, Nick and cj, those guys are two year guys. A lot of these guys were here four years. So something will get brought up and everyone's like, oh man, I kind of forgot about that. And that'll take you down a rabbit hole and definitely lead you to stories that you haven't thought about in five, six years.
Speaker 0 00:06:06 Yeah, that's fascinating. I was gonna ask that later as your fairly recent college student athletes, but so much has changed in the last three or four years, and you brought up something I think about a lot. You two have the four or five year memories, and there are a lot of athletes who are kind of punting on that and maybe, maybe for good reasons. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, how do you think they, what do you think they may miss or regret at their 10 year reunion, their 20 year reunion? Where do they, do they go to those reunions? You know, if they did, if they were at two or three different schools?
Speaker 2 00:06:40 Yeah, I'd say they'd go just depending on their relationships with their teammates. The cool thing about being at a school for four years is there are other players that are there for three and four and not five years. So your relationship gets stronger over time and you become closer with those individuals, and that's what creates a good culture that you wanna come back to.
Speaker 3 00:07:02 For sure. I think time, just, you know, like anything, time is, um, something that builds a relationship. And, um, not to say you can't do that in one or two years, and like you said, there's, you know, plenty of guys who have great reason to, to transfer, but I think there's something special about being in one place for four or five years. Um, like it's hard to replicate building those relationships. It's harder to do it, I think, in a short amount of time, whereas you're, you know, at one place it just becomes a little more special to you. I'm sure you know, for Ron and myself, Evan, Fred, any, you know, tol any guy that was here, you know, four years plus, there's, there's something special about that. And, um, the amount of people and players I think that you're able to interact with.
Speaker 0 00:07:46 It'll be interesting to look back in 10 years and see how this has evolved and how, how some of these athletes from the current time think about all that. It's certainly a big time of change in NCAA basketball and NCAA sports. Let's play some Final Four trivia to get rolling. We'll test your memories. So I will remind people the 2013 shockers went 30 and nine. They finished second in the Missouri Valley conference, one game behind Creighton, they were seated ninth in the NCAA tournament, beat number one Gonzaga in Salt Lake City to advance to the Suite 16, beat Ohio State in Los Angeles to move to the final four before losing to Louisville in the national semi semi-finals, who was the leading scorer for the Pittsburgh Panthers. The first round opponent, mostly guarded by IL Cotton, who shot one for 12 from the field. Remember his name, fine player, like all be biggie's kind of guy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:08:36 Four year player, a senior. No,
Speaker 3 00:08:41 This is tough. Probably should've
Speaker 2 00:08:43 Known a tough one. Should you would bring out something. I do know Steven Adams was on that team. He
Speaker 0 00:08:46 Was Yes.
Speaker 2 00:08:47 Obviously a NBA vet, but Nope. You, you got me there.
Speaker 0 00:08:51 Trey Woodall. Trey
Speaker 3 00:08:52 Woodall. Yes.
Speaker 0 00:08:53 Really good, really good player. And Te Kale was just superb that day to really put his defense on display.
Speaker 3 00:08:59 That was such a fun, I just remember that like the NCAA tournament moment, one of those first media timeouts, um, Fred came running off and in the timeout just said something like, yo, like we are, we are beating these guys. Like, we are so much better than these guys. You never know. Like, you play that team from, you know, dif completely different conference, different part of the country. You have no understanding, you know, really about who they really are on the floor. You've watched film, you know, you look at the numbers and stuff, but like, you get out there and then you get a feel. And it was, it was, I just remember that so vividly. It was cool that that confidence came out of, you know, after, you know, four to eight minutes of the game. Like you could just tell we, we are tougher, we are better coached, we play better together. Like our style. He just fully believed. And that was cool. I just vividly remember that. I don't know if if you remember that at all, but I thought that was pretty,
Speaker 2 00:09:44 All those NCAA games, really every game we ever watched film on, you'd watch film on Woodall and you're like, oh my gosh, we haven't faced a guy like this all year.
Speaker 3 00:09:54 Yeah. You look
Speaker 2 00:09:55 Unbelievable. Every highlight is him giving some dude buckets and scoring 30 it looks like in every game. And then you get out there on the floor and you're like, these guys are just like us. Or if not, we're better.
Speaker 0 00:10:08 So, so tell me if this was your experience, because I always enjoyed covering Wichita State in those days for the Eagle going to the holiday tournaments because I got to sit court side and you would always go into those and you would think, well they're, you know, LSU or Iowa, these guys are gonna be really athletic and really big. And then when you got a close look at 'em, I almost always walked outta those tournaments going, boy, Wichita State is just better coached mm-hmm. <affirmative> and a better team unit than a lot of these Yeah. Prominent schools they're playing. Did you feel the same way?
Speaker 2 00:10:38 I always felt like we were so more tight-knit than mm-hmm. <affirmative> any team in out of conference. I felt like our conference in the valley was always tight-knit, more structured. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> more well-rounded, more well coached, did all the little things. And then when you got out there, you would think that they were better athletes than what we had. But, and there was times like, man, like this guy's guard so-and-so from LSU or Iowa and you're like, we're, we're, we're the same. We're, I mean, we're all competitive just like them and just as athletic at, at some of those events. I
Speaker 3 00:11:14 Think there were so many times too that it showed like we got out there and you could just tell, like you said, we were more tight-knit, but the style of basketball we played was so much different than some of these Power five schools because, you know, they're so much more dependent on their athleticism and their skills solely, it's less system oriented. Um, and it just felt like we could pick that apart and exploit that by the way we defended and, um, guys' mentalities going into the game. It was always kind of unique to see that.
Speaker 2 00:11:41 Yeah, I could only, I could only feel us being just as talented or just as athletic once you got out on the court for the game. Mm-hmm. Like every time leading up to a game, you're just like, oh my
Speaker 3 00:11:54 Goodness, A little nervous. These guys
Speaker 2 00:11:55 Are yeah, freaks, like seven foot here touching the top of the backboard there. Like, but once you got out there playing, like they have five guys, we have five guys. The ultimate goal is to score more than them. And you just, your mindset is just to simplify the game. And by the time the first TV time I came, those nerves are gone. You're like, these guys are just like us. Like why
Speaker 3 00:12:17 Just playing ball
Speaker 2 00:12:17 Now. Why did I stress myself about so much prior to this game?
Speaker 0 00:12:21 And I would agree, it always made me think more highly of Missouri Valley conference teams after watching those tournaments that, you know, Ben Jacobson or, or Marty Simmons or whoever, Greg McDermott, some of the better coaches in the Valley, that you really had a sense for the, uh, for the differences in how those programs were run. How many three pointers did the shockers make against Gonzaga?
Speaker 3 00:12:42 It's like, is it like 19
Speaker 2 00:12:45 To kill had three or four? I had four. I think
Speaker 3 00:12:49 You got high. The Fred had one. Fred had the big one at in Stockton, right in front of the,
Speaker 2 00:12:54 I would guess high teens. Probably
Speaker 0 00:12:57 14. Oh, 14 of 28
Speaker 3 00:13:00 50% Kind of felt like more. It did.
Speaker 2 00:13:02 They all came in a spurt.
Speaker 3 00:13:04 Right? It was 90, I swear that last like eight minutes of the game. It felt like boom, boom, boom.
Speaker 2 00:13:08 Was it like six or seven the last
Speaker 0 00:13:10 Something there was, yeah. Like seven or eight offensive possessions that were just about, just about perfect. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, who did Wichita State beat in the first game in Los Angeles? The Sweet 16 game?
Speaker 3 00:13:22 LaSalle. LaSalle. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:13:23 Very good. A lot of, they seemed to be the overlooked, forgotten team. Yes. Everyone, uh, everyone remembers the other games.
Speaker 2 00:13:29 I, I remember, remember that obviously cuz we played 'em. But I also remember that, uh, foursome of teams played in Kansas City prior to us. Mm. And it was I Marshall Henderson at Ole Miss. Ole Miss. Yeah. I forget who they knocked off. I think it was K State or LaSalle be K State
Speaker 0 00:13:45 Las Beat K
Speaker 2 00:13:46 State. Okay. So I don't know who the three or four was, but looking at that side of the bracket, it almost, if you could do it all over again, you I wish we would've played K State just being from Kansas and Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:13:58 We had the
Speaker 2 00:13:58 Chance. I always reminisce about that in the back of my head. Like how cool would've been to play mcgruder and Yeah. Those guys from K State in
Speaker 3 00:14:05 14 too, we'd had the chance, but yeah. Kentucky beats him, right? Correct. Right.
Speaker 0 00:14:09 Sometimes the bracket unfolds in, in strange ways. Right? Yep. Uh, staples Center in Los Angeles, which NBA team's locker room to the Chas Occupy. I remember this being a thing. We,
Speaker 2 00:14:19 I do, we were pretty disappointed that we got the,
Speaker 3 00:14:21 Uh, were Yeah, we got the Clippers. Either
Speaker 2 00:14:23 The Clippers or the hockey team. I can't
Speaker 3 00:14:25 Remember. I think it was the, it was
Speaker 0 00:14:26 The team. I think it was the Clippers. Was it? Okay.
Speaker 3 00:14:27 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:14:28 I just know it wasn't the Lakers cuz Clay Anthony was complaining all week
Speaker 3 00:14:32 Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 00:14:33 About not being able to sit in Kobe's locker.
Speaker 3 00:14:35 I think Fred was a little disappointed too. I was just pumped. I wanna see Chris Paul's locker. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:14:40 That was, uh, yeah, that was an item of conversation. How many games did Ron Baker play in that season?
Speaker 2 00:14:46 I got hurt in Game 10 and then played all the games in the valley
Speaker 3 00:14:50 Dang boy
Speaker 2 00:14:51 Tournament. So 10 plus three plus five I believe 18.
Speaker 0 00:14:57 18 very good. 15 starts. Yeah. That's perhaps an item of that season. Yeah. You got hurt in Tennessee, right? Remembering
Speaker 2 00:15:04 That, right. Yeah. Game it was game 10 cause it was close to the medical red shirt number, which is 10 games. So I coulda medical that year. Wow. I never
Speaker 3 00:15:13 Knew. Did you even think about it?
Speaker 2 00:15:15 Uh, how it unfolded was I was in a boot for six weeks. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and Rehab was gonna be six weeks and that would've got us to the first round of the N NCAA tournament. Mm. And Todd Fagan, our athletic trainer, rehabbed me for five to get me ready for mm-hmm. <affirmative> the Valley tournament the week before.
Speaker 0 00:15:34 So yeah. Rolled into the valley tournament against Missouri State, five of seven from the field. Say you played 15, 15 points, that was a good, good return. That was a big, big part of that team. Uh, that perhaps has been lost to the memories a little bit. Who grabbed what I would consider the biggest offensive rebound of the NCAA tournament. Shockers up 65 61 against Ohio State with 1 34 to play. Fred Van Vallee misses a shot. Who got that rebound is on a free throw. No jumper.
Speaker 2 00:16:01 I as a jumper was Dekel Cotton.
Speaker 0 00:16:03 Very good. Right at
Speaker 3 00:16:05 Of course it was. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. It's to
Speaker 0 00:16:07 Kill in my memory. That was pretty close to where we were sitting on press row and I thought he just, he was kind. I didn't think he was right. Yeah. I don't, well maybe that's my memory. Yeah, yeah. Uh, I didn't think he was gonna get it. It was a couple big guys from Ohio State and he, well
Speaker 2 00:16:20 He could jump Yeah. Up really high. I don't know if you're
Speaker 0 00:16:23 <laugh>. I had seen him jump a few times, but
Speaker 3 00:16:26 No, he is not known for that, but yeah.
Speaker 0 00:16:27 Right. Another, another little known thing. Kale Cotton could really jump. Uh, how do you think the Final four changed? Shocker basketball, you both stuck around you, you involved with the program. What, how did it change things? Wichita State,
Speaker 2 00:16:44 Obviously any team that makes the Final Four, it brings a spotlight to 'em. Us being the ones that got bounced in the Final Four, everybody knew we were bringing back pretty much everybody other than a few key big guys. So I think the spotlight becomes, well, what are these guys gonna do now? Uh, are guys gonna transfer? They gonna stay tight-knit. So the, I think the focus shifted really quickly after that loss to, wow, this future's pert bright here, so the spotlight's bigger. How are these guys gonna, I guess, turn the corner from such a great run? So I think the national spotlight becomes bigger and people wanna see how players respond when they're the highlight of a college basketball season.
Speaker 3 00:17:41 Yeah. Shoot. I can just, you know, remember
Speaker 2 00:17:45 It changed
Speaker 3 00:17:46 Things like you guys really became like celebrities, um, you know, not even just within the state, but you know, nationally, like national radio shows and you know, ESPN Love it was no longer, you know, like I remember growing up here how, how it was, we had, you know, good teams I can remember, you know, pretty well the Sweet Sweet 16, um, with Turgen and those guys. But this was, I dunno, this was different like within the community even you were, there was a glow, you know, I, you know, that was my, you know, red shirt ear. So I'd get here and you know, it was Oh, like Wichita State basketball. Yeah. Like yeah. You know, solid program. And then everything became like, you guys, we, we go to the mall and we almost couldn't like you guys get stopped or we got out to dinner and everybody wants a picture, wants an autograph. And, um, it just, I think from a local perspective, we weren't just that, you know. Wow. That's a, you know, mid-major program together. Pretty good. Like, you know, it's, it's still KU case thing.
Speaker 2 00:18:41 Exactly what I was about to say is nationally, I recall prior to us making the Final four, the mid-major term mm-hmm. <affirmative> was always used mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then when some of these smaller schools were making runs in the tournament, I remember, uh, Greenberg and Jay Billis, like they stopped using the mid
Speaker 3 00:19:02 Major term. So this doesn't apply to them really.
Speaker 2 00:19:03 It doesn't apply to Gonzaga, it doesn't apply to us. They stopped using that, that term. And it was no, it was just, there was no low major. There was no mid-major. It was just col. I just remember it kind of becoming one college basketball. Yeah. We fit into that. College basketball talk
Speaker 3 00:19:20 Had credibility, I think just gave you a lot of credibility.
Speaker 0 00:19:23 Lemme go back to that Quele Cotton offensive rebound. I kind of cut, cut off before I explained the significance of it. So Wichita State was up 65, 61 when Fred missed a three. Tikao got the rebound and then Fred made a jumper after that with a minute to go. So that put the shocks up six and they ended up, uh, ended up winning that game. So a huge possession, uh, chakras ended up winning 70 66 to go to the Final Four. Was there a national media member that you really enjoyed being around that you thought really got the chakras that was really effective at his or her job at that, at that point?
Speaker 3 00:19:57 You're not national, but obviously you, I mean,
Speaker 0 00:20:00 Besides me,
Speaker 2 00:20:01 <laugh>, there was a obvious, like Zach hit the nail on the head. There was just a ton of media always around once we got to LA and then the following year, even getting to St. Louis on the undefeated season, there was always media wanting into the locker room. It felt like I, I don't know if there was like a favorite, but one of my favorite memories of talking to the media was after we beat Ohio State, it just so happened to be my birthday and Chris Weber and the t n t crew were courtey and it's just a pinch you moment. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> ex NBA player. Great. All Star is asking you the questions. Yeah. Whereas as a kid, deep down, you wanted to be the one asking him all these questions about his career and the script kind of flipped and that was a, a moment that I'll always cherish.
Speaker 3 00:20:58 Yeah. I don't know so much in like media in terms of, you know, sports writers and stuff. It, it is hard to remember cuz you know, when you're the vcu, the George Mason, you know of, you know, that just happened. There's so much and so it all kind of runs together. But it did feel like we suddenly had, like I said, I used the word credibility, but we kind of were in, and that was, that was cool to see. And even, you know, going into the, the next season, I remember Myron Medcalf I felt like really liked us. Um, just thinking back, but
Speaker 0 00:21:27 Espn Right, right.
Speaker 3 00:21:28 Yeah. Yeah. I think he, you know, was kind of, you still did have doubters that are, you know, like, ah, they had a great run, but you know, they're, they're not on the level of some of these other programs. And we still heard that. And that I think absolutely fed us and you know, for lack of a better word, kind of pissed us off. Like we, we wanted that full credibility. Like, even if you're not gonna call us mid major, you still look at us. Maybe like, yeah, that was, that was a cute run. You know, anybody can get lucky in the tournament type thing. Um, but like you said, Chris Weber was sweet. I remember meeting Reggie Miller and I did like the little choke thing, like he did, he didn't think that was as funny as I did. Um, that kind of hurt.
Speaker 3 00:22:03 But <laugh>, yeah. And then seeing, like seeing Jim dance, like that was surreal. That was one of those for me, like pinch me moments. And you know how it is bake. Like we grew up watching the tournament and it, for me, that was one of the best weeks of the year. Like, you sit down and you watch every single game and it's just, you'd like have to really look around. You know, we play in Salt Lake first that year, and I had to immediately go to the spot where MJ hit the, the shot in 98 and just all those little cool things. It was, you know, getting off on a tangent here. Sorry Paul, but it was surreal.
Speaker 0 00:22:34 Have you watched any of those games recently? You were cue him up on the old, I guess it's not a VCR anymore. YouTube or wherever they exist.
Speaker 2 00:22:43 Uh, the last time I watched a game from this year, I want to say would've been at Coach Marshall's house when we had Landry Shamu on a, a visit over the Labor Day weekend. Coach always had the games rolling mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh, but since then, I may have caught a couple highlights here and there on YouTube or god knows where, but that's the last time we were watching like a full game.
Speaker 3 00:23:12 Are we talking solely from the Final Four run?
Speaker 0 00:23:14 No, it doesn't have to be.
Speaker 3 00:23:15 I don't know. I, I'm weird. I go back and from time to time like that, KU ones obviously special to us, so I'll go back and some of 'em are on YouTube. The KU ones in like German or something. So it's a little hard to to listen to. But yeah, I've gone back a couple times and just throw it on like late at night board. It's kind of cool to, to even look at the different length of shorts from our era to now.
Speaker 0 00:23:36 What's the highlight from that season that sticks out in your, your mind
Speaker 3 00:23:40 A little
Speaker 2 00:23:41 From the final four season?
Speaker 0 00:23:42 Yeah. Just the first thing that maybe
Speaker 2 00:23:44 Pops in this is going deep, is we hit rock bottom
Speaker 3 00:23:48 That year. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 00:23:50 That's my highlight.
Speaker 3 00:23:51 We had, I was gonna say three
Speaker 2 00:23:52 Stars heard at one point and I recall a stretch where we lost three conference games in a row.
Speaker 3 00:24:01 Yep. Right here. I
Speaker 2 00:24:01 Know it was Evansville was one, Indiana State was another.
Speaker 3 00:24:07 The three, the three stretches. Indiana State three you and I Southern. Yep. And we lose at Southern, oh, Southern on that goal. 10. Yeah. The Goal 10 by Hemo. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:24:16 And we were, we were down bad. We, everyone was kind of feeling sorry for themselves. I remember two pre and post practice meetings where Coach Marshall, coach Jans and the staff were just like, y'all realize like how good we are. Like this could be special. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> over and over. They kept telling us like, this could be special.
Speaker 3 00:24:36 And, and where things were at at that point, like we're eight and one in league
Speaker 2 00:24:39 Before that. Sitting good. And we dropped those three games and then it got to the point where guys were down on themselves so bad that <laugh> our video, our video coordinator, we didn't even watch film for the next opponent. He brought in a a 12 minute clip of all those games.
Speaker 3 00:24:58 Highlights
Speaker 2 00:24:59 All those games from when we were eight and one. And
Speaker 3 00:25:02 Look at how you were shooting the ball.
Speaker 2 00:25:04 Could see, you could see our body language was better. Our our the attention to detail, the little things that we were doing so well at the beginning of the season, we just weren't doing it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> during conference. And from that, from there forward, like you could see the engine started revving. And when adversity hits that, that sometimes can be the best highlight of a season because you're forced to respond and however you respond is where you're gonna get to. And obviously it, it sparked our engines. And I I truly think those, those meetings post those three games really fed into where we got to that season. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:25:42 Yeah. Some of my low lights are all you guys getting hurt and I'm true freshman practicing far more than I should be. <laugh> they're terrified out there. Carl Hall and he's our haime. Yeah. I remember losing those games and thinking, you know, you, you start to catch on. You listen, you watch ESPN and you start hearing, you know, the shockers and how, how great of a non-con we had where we go 10 and they were 10, one whatever, lost no at one point. Right. Yeah. Lose we're losing Tennessee. Yeah. And you're in, we're in that game. It's not like there was a bad loss. Um, and so I think you're starting to feel like, wow, you know, get an at large bid type thing and you lose those games, you don't know how it's gonna go. So that, that season was not perfect. Like a lot of fans remember the Final four, but it was tough, man. There was, there was struggle. And then even you lose the last two in a row, you know, having Evan out for a period and Carl out for a period and you out and just trying to find ourselves again. I think that's tough guys' roles change, you know, because of the injuries. So that's hard for guys to adjust. But, um, I don't even know how we did it looking back, back like it's kind of crazy looking at this, this
Speaker 0 00:26:44 Schedule. Right. So Ron would've missed a good chunk of the season. Yeah. Uh, Carl Hall missed I think eight games that he may was hurt and Evan got hurt in the, uh, in the, the pre-season before the season. Yeah. I, I thought that team, there were three versions of that team. There was the non-conference version that was, you know, whatever, eight and oh nine and oh were very, very good. And then the injuries hit a little bit. So they got through the Missouri Valley conference season. Uh, and then there was the tournament version of that team when Ron came back and gave what I thought that team was really good or could be really good defensively. And then Ron added a little bit of scoring that, that team, that team needed. So yeah,
Speaker 3 00:27:22 I do, I gotta interrupt Paul. I do remember the biggest low light, maybe of that season at cra. I don't know how this final score was 79 to 91. Cuz it felt like we got beat by 30 40. Oh it was like off rip too. Like Doug McDermott's just going crazy. We're we're putting Tekel, we're putting Carl, we're putting everybody,
Speaker 2 00:27:39 Anybody. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:27:39 It didn't matter. And like Grant Gibbs had that one, he, he's falling out of bounds and just throws the ball up over his face. He's falling backwards from the sideline in front of the bench, throws it up, overhand like a soccer, you know, throwing and it goes in. So those like, golly. So that was also, I know we're talking highlights, but big low light there.
Speaker 0 00:27:58 Really good Creighton team with Doug McDermott as you mentioned. Uh, yeah. Excellent. Creighton team. Those would've been really good games. Shockers had a chance to wrap up at least a tie for the Valley title at home against Evansville. And I believe that was Greg Marshall's 50th birthday. So that was, and then lost that game. So that was another, uh, another part of that, part of that story. What a great group of newcomers. I would say it would be up there with, uh, you know, one of the best that, that Wichita State has had. You had Clay Anthony coming in as a junior college transfer. Uh, Malcolm Armstead had sat out the previous season. Fred coming in as a freshman. Uh, and then Ron had had Redshirted the, the previous season. Uh, first impressions of those three, anything jump out from the first time you were in a gym or in a practice with CL Anthony or, or Fred or Malcolm? We
Speaker 2 00:28:43 Missed? Uh, Nick Wiggins. Nick Wiggins and CJ as well. Cj. Right. I uh, I just remember it being our, probably not our first pickup game in June that summer. And my dad was super excited cuz this was gonna be my first year being eligible to play. And I remember him texting me in June just like, Hey, how are the new guys? Like what, what's it gonna look like this year? And I'm like, dad, these, these three guys, these three JUCO recruits are, they're unbelievable. They're athletic long can score big with cj And I'm like, did, how did we get the fir first and foremost? How did we get these three guys? Like this is, this is crazy. And I just remember pick up being like, oh my goodness, like these guys are elite. Like how does Wichita State land these guys? Those are kind of my first impressions going into that summer with my communication with my dad. I remember it like yesterday.
Speaker 3 00:29:43 Yeah. I remember the first pickup game, you know, with these guys too. That was the, especially CLE Lee just stuck out with his length and how he could shoot the ball. And I remember saying the same thing to my parents, like, we got some of these dudes are, yeah, this isn't quite what I imagined when, you know, I was, you know, thinking I'm coming here. These guys are are big time. And even you, you know, we, if people don't know Ron and I played for the same AAU program and so, um, Ron's going into his senior year of high school going into my junior year of high school, um, you know, seeing Ron then and then jumped forward, you know, a year and a half or change, seeing what he'd become was, was pretty surreal. So even you were, you know, really impressive physically. Um, all the guys just obviously the speed of the game is different from high school to college, but you wouldn't, you know, in my mind I'm coming into a more of a quote unquote mid-major program, but the size of these dudes, like he said, like CJ La Lafe and Kadeem Colby who couldn't play that year, was just a rock chiseled.
Speaker 3 00:30:41 And so yeah, the size was impressive, but the skill, um, in those first couple individuals or pickup games was just, um, kinda surreal.
Speaker 0 00:30:49 How was Malcolm Armstead able to come in and, and contribute what he did? He'd been around the previous season, uh, sitting out but hadn't practiced, if I'm remembering that right. He was here but wasn't, wasn't
Speaker 2 00:31:01 Practicing. It was kinda a, it was a kind of an odd year for Mal the year we sat out together. I'd also contribute kind of our chemistry. The times he worked was here. I always gotta play with him on the scout team cuz neither of us were gonna play that first year when we were here. So, uh, obviously super talented. Probably the best player on the court other than maybe re Murray and a, you know, Raglin maybe. But wow, very talented, had been to some high major programs, was tight knit with the staff and just kind of had that swag to him like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna beat you. He kind of had that Fred Van Blet chip on his shoulder and like you said, he was kind of in and out that first year, but towards the end of the season he was, he was here and he just seemed like a fun guy to play with high IQ and knew I knew I was gonna be his, his best friend coming into that next season. And I contribute a lot of that chemistry to that first year we sat out
Speaker 0 00:32:08 And if I'm remembering correctly, the relationship between he and Fred turned out to be really important. The story goes toward the end of the year. Cause Fred was not, he did not, he was a reserve and then really started to come on last half of the season, last third of the season, whatever. And Malcolm, I think at one point said, Fred needs to play more. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, get me off the ball. You can get Fred off the ball. What was their relationship like and how important was it to, to the team?
Speaker 2 00:32:35 I will say tho those two were pit bulls. They didn't like being on the same team. They always wanted to play against each other when it came to pickup and scout team. Uh, and it was kind of like a little brother, big brother battle every day from what I recall. But you're exactly right. Late in the season we started playing Fred a lot more, uh, because there was trust. He, he, he had grown so much in that, in that season and putting Malcolm off the ball was, was I think a big reason why we won a lot of those games. Both of 'em, I believe led the team in Steels, uh, per minutes played throughout that season. So you're looking at two great defensive guys that have on the field, or excuse me, the court and just gelled really well together. And that's what happens when you have two su super IQ guys on the court. And not to mention a college basketball, if you can have two ball handlers that can make great decisions mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I mean, you're, you're one guard up on the opponent half the time. That's huge.
Speaker 0 00:33:41 And Malcolm would've hit one of the biggest shots of the season really very early in the season when he beat VCU at vcu. And I think that was the game that even when the shockers struggled late in the valley season, they had that VCU chip in their back pocket and got 'em in the NCAA tournament fairly, uh, fairly safely. All right, Zach, let's switch to the aftershocks. Take us through the, uh, through the roster. What do you like about this group that's been assembled?
Speaker 3 00:34:05 Yeah, so, uh, you know, very similar group to what we've had these past couple years. You've got Samage Connor, um, Marcus, we've got, help me out here Ron. I don't have the list in Trey Front Wade, but yeah, I mean, new guy. Yeah. Trey Wade,
Speaker 0 00:34:19 EK Gilbert.
Speaker 3 00:34:19 Yeah, Al Alter's a new one coming in. We're really excited about Trey and, and Al Alter eq. Um, Trey played this last year with the Arkansas team and um, I'd spoken with their, the guy that coaches them and he had said how hard it was to just bring him off the floor at times because he kind of has that Rashard Kelly presence where he does the little things, the dirty work and makes the right play. Alek, you know, starting to blossom a little bit in his professional career. He's always been so talented. And I think fans, it was just a, that was a fun fifth year transfer for fans to have. But, um, Darryl Willis back again, we're super excited for Machine Gun Willis. Um, it's just, it's a super fun group. And then, um, you know, added a couple non alumni guys like we typically do.
Speaker 3 00:34:56 Um, you know, we really wanted James Dickey back. Fans loved him last year. He was, um, you know, our, our big guy from UNC Greensboro, but he unfortunately was on a family vacation that was planned way back when. And, you know, those guys spend so much time overseas, you can't be upset at somebody for that. So we got Marcus Lee, who fans, uh, might remember. He was on the Kentucky team in 2014. Um, didn't play against us. Uh, Willie Coley got hurt or something happened. And then the next game when they played, uh, I think it was Michigan, uh, Marcus had to play and play really well. And then, uh, later in his career ended up transferring and playing at Cal, who we played in Maui. And so Marcus is a great guy, friend of a friend, and, um, he's gonna add quite a bit of length for us.
Speaker 3 00:35:39 And then Tys McGee is back and then we're excited to add, uh, Caleb Walker, who some fans might remember. You gotta jog your memory a little, but, uh, Caleb played at Hutch High back in, around oh eight and then was at Butler for two years. And then at University of Nebraska, he played against Marcus this year in France. So a little bit of a connection there. And then a guy named Jordan Parks, who Marcus played with two years ago in Italy. Yeah. Excited to have, uh, Asby Beck. He, I think, you know, blossomed in his, was it a year or two years at Grand Canyon? How long was he there? I can't even remember. He was year three and then two at Grand Canyon. Okay. Yeah. Um, just excited to have him his size last year. You know, we get to the semis and we're in the game. We got a chance to win it at the end, but we got bullied a little bit all game. We didn't have the size and so he's a guy, you know, he's in great shape. He's young. He adds that presence down there on the block. Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:36:29 That'll be fun to see him. I think he was a, he was a player of the fans. Really, really enjoyed watching. How has the roster building the recruiting for the aftershocks, how's that, uh, changed from maybe two seasons ago? You've had a lot of success. How do you, how do you approach it now?
Speaker 3 00:36:45 Same way. I don't think a ton has changed. You know, it's for the most part, you know, kind of that same core group. Um, you know, it hurts not having Zach and Rashard this year, but we approach it the same way. Like, hey, you know, this is a pretty unique chance to play back in front of the fans who love you guys. The experience is is second to none. Like even within T B T Dayton is the only other, you know, regional that even comes close. And we feel like we've got the best, you know, kind of setup in this. And then you add in the, the moments that have happened, you know, Connors game winners, Darryl's game, Darryl's game winner. And, um, I think everybody remembers two years ago against Challenge als, the, the green team, um, just how much fun that was. So we try to remind the guys, you know, it's hard.
Speaker 3 00:37:33 They have busy summers and it's short summers really, and so sometimes it's tough trying to get them back here. But we really, I think, wanna strike the right combination of alumni, guys that fans wanna see. We certainly, you know, that's in the forefront of our mind. We want to give them the group that they wanna see, but we also have to combine that with a team that wants to compete and win this. We're not just coming here to play a couple games at Koch. We are in this because we feel like we have a chance to win it and we've gotten closer and taken the right steps every year. So that's kind of the way the roster is constructed, you know, the way it is.
Speaker 0 00:38:05 Okay. Zach Bush. Ron Baker, thank you for your time. We've got T B T at Karina next week, uh, and then on July 22nd, arms chair strategies, the n I L collective that helps out. Wichita State is holding the Final four reunion at Mark Arts. Thanks for your time guys. Thanks
Speaker 3 00:38:22 For having Thankss. Paul,
Speaker 4 00:38:40 Hi. This is Rick Mema, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Chara Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 5 00:39:11 Great insight as always. Thanks 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 always find more roundhouse
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Speaker 6 00:39:28 They let him pass it up court and then he gets picked off along three by Pango. No good. One second. It's over. It's over. And Wichita State has beaten the number one team in the nation to go to the Sweet 16. Go crazy Wichita. I know you
Speaker 1 00:39:44 Are.
