AfterShocks planning reunion of 2013 Final Four Wichita State basketball team during TBT

The AfterShocks want to try to bring a new flavor each summer to their annual run through The Basketball Tournament at Koch Arena.

How does a 10-year reunion of the 2013 Final Four Wichita State men’s basketball team sound?

A reunion event is currently in the works — all players, coaches and staff members from the 2012-13 season have been invited — to highlight what is shaping up to be another memorable week of summer basketball at Koch Arena.

Details are still being hammered out, but the event, which will be held off WSU’s campus, is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, July 22 and is being organized by Armchair Strategies, Wichita State’s NIL collective. Former Shockers Ron Baker and Evan Wessel are spearheading the recruiting efforts to bring back players, coaches and staff members from the Final Four team. More information should be available in the coming weeks.

“It’s kind of scary to think that it’s already been 10 years,” Baker said. “Some of those guys are still playing professionally, so they haven’t had a lot of time to get back to Wichita because they’re getting ready for their next season. It’s going to be good to see how everyone is doing and hopefully their families can come out and make it. Reunions are always fun because you get to relive the good times, but then also catch up and see how everybody is doing. We’re all busy and got stuff going on in the summers, but this is a good chance for us to break bread together and catch up.”

TBT also announced the dates for the AfterShocks’ potential games at Koch Arena on Tuesday, as the WSU alumni team will open play on Thursday, July 20. The second-round games will be on Friday, July 21, while the Wichita regional championship game is slated for Sunday, July 23. The winner of the Wichita regional will play at Koch Arena in the TBT quarterfinals on Tuesday, July 25.

Fans can have first access to tickets on May 1 if they sign up for TBT’s waitlist through its website. Tickets go on sale to the general public on May 4. Other teams competing in the Wichita regional will be announced over the next handful of weeks, although the Wichita regional should once again feature plenty of Sunflower state pride.

The AfterShocks, which reached the TBT Final Four last summer, also announced the first four commitments to their roster this summer: Conner Frankamp, Markis McDuffie, Darral Willis and Samajae Haynes-Jones. Frankamp, Willis and McDuffie were the team’s top three leading scorers last summer.

With first-year WSU men’s basketball coach Paul Mills leading the program now, AfterShocks coach Zach Bush said the timing couldn’t be better to help “bridge the gap” and build relationships from past Shockers to current ones.

“One of the biggest reasons we want to do TBT and keep it going is that we’ve got that family feel where every summer we have this set time where we come back together and players can come back and feel welcomed and wanted in Wichita,” Bush said. “Especially with a new staff now, I think it’s important to build those relationships. This is a brotherhood and getting us all back together, seeing guys that we don’t get to see very often, spending time together, that’s what is important to all of us. And we want fans to see those guys back at Koch Arena.

“I think it’s going to be really cool and a really special thing that just doesn’t happen really anywhere else.”

WSU’s 2012-13 team featured a starting lineup of Malcolm Armstead, Baker, Tekele Cotton, Cleanthony Early and Carl Hall with current NBA star Fred VanVleet off the bench.

Other players on the roster included Bush, Kadeem Coleby, Derail Green, C.J. Lufile, Ehimen Orukpe, Jake White, Nick Wiggins and Demetric Williams. The team was coached by Gregg Marshall with Chris Jans, Greg Heiar and K.T. Turner as assistant coaches.