ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla eager to emcee 2013 Wichita State Final Four basketball reunion

When Fran Fraschilla first heard word from ESPN he was headed to Wichita to cover The Basketball Tournament’s annual stop at Koch Arena, he immediately began anticipating his return to the Doo-Dah Diner.

But when he’s not chowing down on French dips from his favorite Wichita eatery, the popular ESPN college basketball analyst is looking forward to his third TBT experience in the Roundhouse watching the Aftershocks play in front of electric crowds.

Wichita is hosting a super regional in the $1 million, winner-take-all summer basketball tournament, featuring 16 teams (including alumni teams from WSU, Kansas and Kansas State) that will play games from July 19-23 with a trip to the Final Four on the line in a July 25 final. Tickets to Wichita TBT sessions are available through WSU’s ticket office.

“Whenever I get the chance to come back to Wichita, I get excited because I know how much (TBT) means to the community,” Fraschilla told The Eagle. “Wichita is as good of a regional host as any in TBT because first and foremost, Wichita is a huge basketball community. The place has an incredible basketball tradition going back many, many years ago with Ralph Miller and Gene Smithson, so it’s always fun for me to come back.”

Being a basketball historian, Fraschilla is looking forward even more to being the emcee of the 10-year reunion event being planned for the Shockers’ 2013 Final Four team.

High-profile players from the team like Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker, Cleanthony Early, Tekele Cotton and Evan Wessel have confirmed they will be in attendance for the anniversary event, which is slated for 6 p.m. Saturday, July 22 at Mark Arts, an art gallery located at 1307 N. Rock Road.

The event is the same weekend as the AfterShocks’ run in TBT at Koch Arena with the WSU alumni team slated to play Thursday and potentially Friday with a regional championship game on Sunday. VanVleet, who recently signed a $130 million contract with the Houston Rockets, is also expected to be introduced during an AfterShocks game for his contribution to help renovate the weight room for the WSU men’s basketball team.

“That 2013 team was special because of the historic nature of what they accomplished, being a nine seed getting to the Final Four,” Fraschilla said. “They were a gritty, tough, hard-nosed team and we probably didn’t know how good the talent was at the time, but it turned out there were three NBA players on that team. But they were special in my mind because of how hard they played.

“The cool thing is that it was somewhat unexpected, but also kind of expected because Wichita has such a great basketball tradition. It rekindled some of the glory days for the program.”

Armchair Strategies, the WSU collective, is organizing the dinner-and-drink event and selling tickets beginning at $150 that will afford attendees autograph and picture opportunities with the team. The night will also feature memorabilia items being auctioned off, as well as a panel hosted by radio play-by-play announcer Mike Kennedy with players and coaches to relive the journey to Atlanta with wins over Pittsburgh, Gonzaga, La Salle and Ohio State.

WSU’s 2012-13 starting lineup featured Malcolm Armstead, Baker, Cotton, Early and Carl Hall with a bench unit of VanVleet, Demetric Williams, Nick Wiggins, C.J. Lufile, Kadeem Coleby, Derail Green, Ehimen Orukpe, Jake White and Zach Bush. The team was coached by Gregg Marshall with Chris Jans, Greg Heiar and K.T. Turner as assistant coaches. Every player, coach and staff member has been invited to the event, according to Armchair Strategies.

Tymber Lee, co-founder of Armchair Strategies, is hopeful the week can serve as a bridge to welcome first-year WSU head coach Paul Mills and help connect the current team with past Shockers. Current players will mingle with the AfterShocks at Koch Arena leading up to TBT games, while Mills and the team are slated to attend the event to witness the celebration of the program’s past achievement.

“This town was just unreal during that run and we want to give fans the chance to experience that and relive that again,” Lee said. “It’s great to give a nod to excellence in our past, but it’s also like, ‘Hey guys, we can get back to where we once were.’ I think Wichita is in a great position right now to get back to those days with NIL and with coach Mills. He’s just a rock star and embodies what Wichita is as a community and I think he’s going to prove to be a great hire for us. So we’re giving a nod to our past, but also it’s something we want to experience in the near future.”