Sustained success in college basketball requires recruiting success and growth from within, and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall will be judged on both accounts this season. A year after the Shockers rattled off 35 straight wins before falling to eventual NCAA tournament runner-up Kentucky, they face replacing a majority of their roster; only six players suited up for this year’s Shockers last season.
Wichita State basketball preview: Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet are back for the Shockers
Cleanthony Early left for the NBA, but despite a great deal of turnover Wichita State will have three key returning players that give the Shockers another shot at a deep tournament run. They enter the preseason as our No. 12 team.
Andy Lyons
Three of those players give Marshall reason to believe his team is indeed the No. 11 squad in the nation as ranked by his peers. Ron Baker, Fred Van Vleet and Tekele Cotton return as double-digit scorers who give Wichita State continuity on the perimeter.
The Shockers' biggest loss was forward Cleanthony Early, the athletic combo forward who averaged 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season. Early is in the NBA now backing up Carmelo Anthony, and isn't the only key cog Marshall lost. With so much turnover on the bench, Wichita State will be more reliant than ever on its returning stars -- Baker, Cotton and Van Vleet.
Senior forward Darius Carter will likely slide into Early's starting power forward spot, and Evan Wessel and John Robert Simon round out the returning players. Who joins them in the rotation remains the big mystery.
Projected starting lineup
PG: Fred Van Vleet, junior
SG: Tekele Cotton, senior
SF: Ron Baker, junior
PF: Darius Carter, senior
C: Bush Wamukota, junior
Key bench contributors: Evan Wessel, Shaquille Morris, Ria'n Holland, Zach Brown, Rashard Kelly, Corey Henderson Jr., Tevin Glass, Rauno Nurger, Eric Hamilton, John Robert Simon
How Wichita State could go deep in the tournament: Baker, Cotton or VanVleet put together an All-American season
What we do know about Marshall’s squad is that their best players play smart, selfless basketball on both ends of the floor. They pass well, defend well and shoot the ball at above-average clips.
Cotton is the team’s defensive maestro, using his strength and freakish athleticism to disrupt opposing offenses. The senior has grown his offensive game considerably and hit 37 percent of his three-point shots last season while averaging 10 points per game. He’s a capable passer that plays well with Van Vleet, the junior point guard who returns as a 42-percent three-point shooter and mistake free lead assist man from a year ago.
That leads to Baker, the swingman who is the favorite to lead the team in scoring after putting up 13.1 points last season. Baker is an adept passer, solid shooter and good enough rebounder at 6’3, 233 pounds to play small forward. Can he be more?
If one of the three Wichita State stars separate themselves to be the clear-cut best player, this team goes from good to great. More reasonably, their collective improvement playing without Early is the thing to watch.
How Wichita State could get sent home early: Inexperience gets the best of them
The Shockers have four starters pretty much locked in. A fifth, ideally a center, needs to join them.
A few players of Marshall's large recruiting class need to immediately contribute. At center, the 6'11, 232 pound Wamukota is maybe the most intriguing player and most important to lend support to Miller on the glass. The junior college transfer could be needed to replace last year's rotation big men, Chadrack Lufile and Kadeem Coleby. Morris, a redshirt freshman, and Nurger could also lend support in the frontcourt.
The guard and wing depth likewise have question marks. Simon, redshirt freshman Ri’an Holland and freshmen Zach Brown, Corey Henderson Jr. and Rashard Kelly will have the opportunity to earn minutes from point guard to wing. Junior college transfer Tevin Glass and freshman Eric Hamilton can fight for playing time up front.
How close any of them are to making an impact come tournament time is unclear. Baker, Van Vleet and Cotton can carry the Shockers a long way as Marshall attempts to fill in the rest.
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