‘Gave me chills’: Current Wichita State basketball players soak up 2013 Final Four stories

The players from Wichita State’s 2013 Final Four team captivated a sold-out audience at Mark Arts on Saturday evening to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their achievement.

A 45-minute panel with first-hand stories from Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker, Cleanthony Early, Tekele Cotton, Carl Hall and Demetric Williams and moderated by longtime WSU announcer Mike Kennedy gave around 300 Wichita State fans plenty of nostalgia.

While stories of VanVleet’s dagger shot against Gonzaga, Early’s unmatched swagger on a basketball court and Cotton’s lock-down defense were famous for many in the room, the current Wichita State men’s basketball players and new coaching staff enjoyed soaking in the new experience.

“It gave me chills just hearing those guys talk about it,” WSU junior Colby Rogers told The Eagle after the event. “The energy that comes out of them when they talk about it, it makes me want to create memories with the guys that I’m with now. I’ve never been to a Final Four, never been to March Madness. That’s every players’ dream. And then to be in a community like this to celebrate it, it makes me want to be able to hopefully create similar memories and 10 years later we can come back and talk about it and bring our kids here.”

That’s exactly the kind of motivation first-year WSU head coach Paul Mills hoped the experience would provide. When Armchair Strategies, a NIL collective for WSU, first began to organize the event, Mills made sure his staff and players were included on the guest list.

He particularly liked it when the 2013 players recounted the infamous Jackie Carmichael kicking incident at Illinois State, which the players said galvanized the team. He also hoped his players took note when VanVleet said the 2013 Shockers always had one another’s backs, whether it was as simple as rushing over to pick up a fallen teammate or joining them into a fracas.

“Coaches can talk a lot about those things, but to hear it from guys who have actually done it, who have walked in their shoes and carved this path is something I think they will remember,” Mills said. “Anytime a team accomplishes that much, you realize that their mentality is probably a little different than your average team. Those are huge takeaways for us, especially when you’re in the building process.”

The legacies of players like VanVleet, Baker and Early, who all ultimately reached the NBA from Wichita State, are well-known within the program. Posters of all three players are plastered inside WSU’s locker room and the current batch of Shockers walk past the 2013 NCAA West Regional championship trophy every day to the dressing room.

What that 2013 team accomplished is the reason why many of the current players wanted to come to Wichita State.

“I remember watching on TV that special run they had,” Rogers said. “I didn’t know who Wichita State was, I didn’t have them on my bracket, but I saw how that Final Four run catapulted all of their careers and that’s one of the reasons why I came here because I know something like that is possible.”

On top of the Final Four reunion, the current Wichita State players have also been able to attend games at Koch Arena and watch the AfterShocks win three straight games in The Basketball Tournament.

Being exposed to that kind of winning can only help, WSU athletic director Kevin Saal said.

“We talk about connections and commitment and family and it’s really important for our current players to be here interacting with these guys this entire weekend through TBT and this event because it’s just invaluable,” Saal said. “They start to see a roadmap, they start to see a blueprint for success. It’s an opportunity for our new players and our new coaches to see what it’s all about.”

The current Shockers are in the midst of their preparations for an upcoming exhibition tour in Greece, so they haven’t had as much time as the team usually does to connect with the former players who return for TBT.

But having several of the program’s past stars trickle back through Koch Arena the past week has led to plenty of chances for the current players to pick the minds of the players who came before them.

“All of those guys are really approachable,” WSU junior Kenny Pohto said. “You can go up to them and ask them whatever you want. You can ask for advice and they’ve been through it and know what it takes, so it’s great to have guys like that who can be role models for us. We can learn from what they tell us and apply it to this season coming up.”

Watching the AfterShocks erase a 21-point deficit and electrify Koch Arena in their come-from-behind win over Beale Street Boys lit a fire in Mills, who was left imagining how loud the Roundhouse could be with 10,000 strong in February if it was already that loud with half of that in July.

“I was motivated to recruit after that,” Mills joked. “I wanted to make phone calls right then. It makes you want to have a team that represents these fans well because you realize if you do well, people are going to support. So we want a group who can be supported.”