Wichita State: Great Program, Coaches, Players, and Fans

by **Ace Dad** » February 18th, 2013, 8:43 pm

I lived in Kansas from 1981-1985, 1996-2001 and from 2008 to current.

Living in Kansas three different times and being involved with high school and AAU basketball with two sons allowed me to interact with folks from WSU. Also, with my older son being an Ace and my younger son spending a year in a Kansas JUCOs (Hutchinson CC) I have been in and around Wichita many, many times.

The Shocker program is the envy of the Valley and many posters are jealous of their success. I know I am. I would love to get 9-11K purple cladded maniacs in the Ford Center. I would love to be able to pay my coach XX millions of dollars. I would love knowing that the Aces were going to dance in March. Do you know how many Thursday night reservations I have made in St Louis? When I pull up Hotwire, the damn thing automatically defaults to Thursday night.

I had first hand interaction with their former coaching staff and the current Head Coach and every contact was professional and above board. The Shockers lightly recruited my son and then made an offer after Evansville offered. They never played any recruiting games. On two occasions I was treated to either lunch or dinner by a Shocker poster and fan. Three and four years later when we visited Wichita for a game, members of the coaching staff treated this Ace parent very well.

Gregg Marshall? The Winthrop University Gregg Marshall was honest, forthright, friendly, and did not play any recruiting games. The WSU Gregg Marshall went out of his way to track down and introduce himself to a former recruit on the Aces coaching staff and recounted stories from that person's high school career. Can he be a jerk? Well, I will answer the question this way: All of us can be a jerk if the wrong thing is said at the wrong time. All of us.

It is patently wrong to negatively broad brush a whole program.

**Sponsor**

by **Braves4Life** » February 18th, 2013, 8:50 pm

Ace Dad wrote:The Shocker program is the envy of the Valley and many posters are jealous of their success.

Gregg Marshall? Can he be a jerk?

Don't forget Creighton. They've been doing their thing longer (and some would say cleaner and classier) than Wichita. Yes Marshall is a jerk, but I'd love him if he were my team's coach... He's a winner!

by **GoShockers89** » February 18th, 2013, 8:53 pm

A thoughtful and kind post when the board is overrun with bickering. Appreciate it, AD.

by **Veritas** » February 18th, 2013, 8:58 pm

Your Hotwire comment made me laugh.
Good post.

by **shocks771** » February 18th, 2013, 10:03 pm

Great post AceDad. I remember meeting you and AceSon at TGI Fridays in St. Louis after an Aces game and before a Shocker game back in the early Turgeon years. You also helped me out with some suggestions for hotels when we went to DC for the Sweet 16. You are a class guy all the way. Thanks for the kind words about our program and hope your family is doing well.

by **rlh04d** » February 18th, 2013, 10:39 pm

Braves4Life wrote:
Ace Dad wrote:The Shocker program is the envy of the Valley and many posters are jealous of their success.

Gregg Marshall? Can he be a jerk?

Don't forget Creighton. They've been doing their thing longer (and some would say cleaner and classier) than Wichita. Yes Marshall is a jerk, but I'd love him if he were my team's coach... He's a winner!

Cleaner and classier is opinion, and you're welcome to your own. I'm not sure you can say that Creighton has been "doing their thing longer," though. I guess in terms of actual length of history, Creighton's first NCAA tourney apperance was in 1941. However, WSU went to the Elite 8 in 64 (year of Creighton's 3rd apperance), and "long term" had far more success in the NCAA tournament than Creighton has. WSU's first NCAA appearance was better than any Creighton has ever had, as was their second, as was their fourth. If you're going long term, WSU has had far greater success.

However, since 1999, I don't think there's any WSU fan that wouldn't acknowledge the tremendous success Creighton has had and the tremendous consistency. So if you're only looking at 1999 on, I would certainly say Creighton has been the envy of the Valley. Historically, I still think Larry Bird alone would make Indiana State the envy of the Valley ... the best player in the history of the conference is an envy that should last generations.

And everyone can be a jerk. I think Marshall gets very emotionally invested into games. Some will read that as him being a jerk, but, quite frankly, I don't think he'd be as good of a coach as he is if he wasn't as emotional about it. I've very, very rarely ever seen any kind of dirty play from WSU players under his coaching (the almost nut punch a few weeks ago against an opponent that I don't remember is close, but I do think he was just going for the ball). There have been no recruiting violations (knock on wood; every fan of every program everywhere can only say that in a hopeful manner, without anyway of knowing), no instances I can remember of him belittling or striking his players on the sidelines. He's emotional and that rubs people that lose to him the wrong way.

by **mvcfan** » February 18th, 2013, 11:37 pm

My wife wasn't an immediate taker to Coach Marshall when he first came to WSU. He had some odd mannerisms like shaking his wrist watch. He as very frank and never held back what he said even though he wasn't rude in his comments. He is frank with his players, and doesn't mince words. You always know where he stands on an issue and he doesn't beat around the bush. He doesn't play political games. When emotion abounds, he responds in an emotional way.

But as the years have moved along, Coach Marshall has grown on her. She found that he is a very complimentary person. He never promises any player playing time when he recruits them. His teams always have good on the court discipline and while not perfect, they play as a team. That's why you rarely see players score a lot of points a game no matter how talented. He graduates his players and expects them to go to class, go to study hall, and work on their grades. Some are good students and some struggle some, but he treats them all the same regarding academic expectations. At the very least, they work hard and if they don't he punishes them all the same. There hasn't been a player who has been in trouble with the law (he has punished players for technicals, not going to class, etc.) and never has he had a player who has been ruled academically ineligible. Marshall is a church going, family man who has one of the pastors at his church be his teams spiritual advisor/counselor. Marshall treats all WSU fans graciously, having an open door policy in the locker room after wins. I guarantee you that any fan that walks by him is able to approach him like they already know him. In conclusion, Coach is a flawed man who has admitted that he has made mistakes, but he has a lot of good qualities.

by **shoxrox** » February 18th, 2013, 11:52 pm

I appreciate your thread and your actual first-hand experiences to back up what you're saying with it.

Thanks for shedding some light in this dark vacuum of a place that seems to beg for instigation.

I've had squabbles with you in the past AceDad, but your thoughts during a time when you didn't have to post them have turned me back around on you. I am a fan.

by **cu36** » February 19th, 2013, 12:39 am

He's emotional and that rubs people that lose to him the wrong way.

I agreed with you until this point. Are you saying that he rubs everyone who has lost to him the wrong way, which would be every team in the Valley at one point or another, or he only rubs people the wrong way on the night they lose to him?

Why not say that he is an emotional coach who can rub people the wrong way? I can agree with that, but to take it a step further and imply that fans only dislike his antics when they lose to him is untrue. I have come out of CU/WSU games that CU won thinking that I would be embarrassed if our coach acted in the same manner. ISU probably thought the same thing when he got ejected against them in St Louis.

I can't say that I like Marshall, he has shown an emotional side that portrays an 'everyone is against me/us/WSU' attitude and shows a complete inability to understand that things don't always go your way, or the way you planned. At the same time, in almost every press conference I have seen him do after a Shocker loss he compliments the other team on a job well done and takes responsibility for being outplayed or outcoached. Whether it is sincere or not is irrelevant, it shows me that he knows what the right thing to say/do is in that situation. But every once in awhile he goes out of his way to do the wrong thing, that is what I disagree with.

by **MoBraves** » February 19th, 2013, 8:13 am

I like the mocksy and swag of WSU teams since the early 2000s. In my view, they don't play dirty, but hard, similar to the Salukis for about 4 seasons straight. And while I'm a die-hard Braves fan, every season there are a couple other Valley teams that I enjoy watching and kind of pull for, whether it be past experiences of following their "teams" or just the way that a team gels. I have grown to like this Shockers team after only knowing a couple of their players at the start of the season. Their home court environment is outstanding and I think every league team is envious of the way their fans support and get into the games. Of course, the Jays have awesome support too, but the environment they produce just doesn't compare to Koch Arena.
It will be a sad day if/when the Shox leave the Valley for greener pastures, but it will be a WHOLE lot easier to pick up a road win vs. any other team that joins.

Acedad, whose son is yours on the Aces?