The Wichita State Shockers' men's basketball program has had unprecedented success the last three years as they have not only made the round of thirty-two three consecutive seasons, but have played in the Final Four in 2013 and the Sweet Sixteen this past March. With that being said, one should not expect their success to vanish this upcoming season.
With two First Team Missouri Valley Conference players returning, Fred Van Vleet and Ron Baker, the Shockers were an early favorite in my estimation to win one of the best mid-major conferences in college basketball. Then, I remembered that a sharpshooting transfer from Kansas, Conner Frankamp, will be eligible to suit up in black and yellow for the first time this fall after being forced to sit out a year due to NCAA rules. In case you have no idea what talent Frankamp has, allow me to state the stats from his last collegiate game (versus Stanford in the round of thirty-two of the 2014 NCAA Tournament): twelve points on four for eight shooting from beyond the arc with two of his treys made with less than thirty seconds remaining in the game. In other words the Stud Sophomore is very good at hiting clutch three pointers for his team.
Last Friday, May 8, 2015, Head Coach Gregg Marshall's odds of winning "The Valley" as well as winning the 2016 NCAA Tournament increased significantly with an announcement from First Team Horizon League big man Anton Grady. Grady's statement involved where he would play basketball for the 2015-2016 season and the decision was to take his talents to Wichita rather than keep them in Cleveland as a part of the Cleveland State Vikings. And the best part for the Shockers is that he is eligible immediately to play this season! Grady finished his Junior season very strong for the Vikings as he collected all eleven of his double-doubles in his last nineteen games while averaging 22.3 points and twelve rebounds per game in three games during the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. Despite the Shockers losing Senior big man Darius Carter to graduation, they may have received an upgrade at the power forward/center position.
2015-2016 Wichita State Projected Lineup
PG-Fred Van Vleet (SR)
---12.7 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.3 APG, & 1.8 SPG.
SG-Ron Baker (SR)
---15.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, & 1.3 SPG.
SF-Evan Wessel (SR)
---4.2 PPG & 3.4 RPG.
PF-Shaq Morris (SO)
---4.9 PPG & 2.8 RPG.
C-Anton Grady (SR)
---13.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.5 SPG, & 1.3 BPG (last season for Cleveland State)
6th-Conner Frankamp (SO)
---2.5 PPG (in 2013-2014 for Kansas)
Although the tallest player in the projected starting lineup is six feet, eight inches (Grady), I believe the Shockers will waltz through the competition in the Missouri Valley Conference with no losses. The conference team that I feel could give Wichita State the most trouble in the upcoming season has to be the Evansville Purple Aces considering all of their starters are returning from the 2014-2015 team, which includes Collegeinsider.com Tournament Most Valuable Player D.J. Balentine and double-double machine Egidijius Mockevicius, both of which were also First Team Missouri Valley Conference. With the Purple Aces of Evansville, Milton Doyle's Loyola Ramblers and Wes Washpun's Northern Iowa Panthers could be formidable tests, but none I forsee too challenging.
Prediction:
At this point in the year, it is really hard to tell how any team will perform since players are continuing to transfer to new schools and teams are still ironing out their non-conference schedules. Nevertheless, the Shockers will be right in the mix when late March rolls around. Big early season games to watch Wichita State includes home matchups against UNLV as a part of the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge (December 2) and Utah (December 12), and a road showdown versus a Sterling Gibbs-less Seton Hall Pirates squad (December 19). Those three games are already highlighted on my calender as must watch and at the moment, I predict the Shockers to win all three handedly. Where I feel the losses could arrise for Gregg Marshall's club is in the Orlando Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports. The 2015 Orlando Classic contains a great field featuring four teams, excluding Wichita State, that won a game in the 2015 NCAA Tournament! So, with that being said, it will not be a walk in the park for Fred Van Vleet and Ron Baker in the "Entertainment Capital of the World," but I only see the Shockers acquiring one, if not zero, losses in the Sunshine State. When Arch Madness arrives in St. Louis, Wichita State will win the tournament with ease just as they did in 2014 while also completing a perfect 21-0 conference record (including wins at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament). How will they perform in the "Big Dance?" Honestly I am unsure considering lock-down defender, Tekele Cotton, is not around anymore to shutdown the leading scorer on great teams, but I am certain that they will be playing into the second weekend once again next March.
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