2017–18 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball team represented Wichita State University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas and are led by 11th-year head coach Gregg Marshall. The season marked the Shockers' first season as members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 25–8, 14–4 in AAC play to finish a tie for second place. As the No. 2 seed in the AAC tournament, they defeated Temple in the quarterfinals before losing to Houston in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the seventh season. As the No. 4 seed in the East region, they were upset in the first round by Marshall.

2017–18 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
AP	No. 16
Record	25–8 (14–4 AAC)
Head coach	Gregg Marshall (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Donnie Jones Isaac Brown Kyle Lindsted
Home arena	Charles Koch Arena
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 6 Cincinnati †	16	–	2		.889			31	–	5		.861
No. 21 Houston	14	–	4		.778			27	–	8		.771
No. 16 Wichita State	14	–	4		.778			25	–	8		.758
Tulsa	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
Memphis	10	–	8		.556			21	–	13		.618
UCF	9	–	9		.500			19	–	13		.594
Temple	8	–	10		.444			17	–	16		.515
UConn	7	–	11		.389			14	–	18		.438
SMU	6	–	12		.333			17	–	16		.515
Tulane	5	–	13		.278			14	–	17		.452
East Carolina	4	–	14		.222			10	–	20		.333
South Florida	3	–	15		.167			10	–	22		.313
† 2018 AAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Shockers finished the 2016–17 season 31–5, 17–1 to finish in a tie for first place in MVC play. In the MVC tournament, they beat Bradley, Missouri State, and Illinois State to win the tournament championship. As a result, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 10 seed in the South region (considered by everyone to be too high), they defeated No. 7 Dayton in the first round before losing to No. 2 Kentucky in the second round.

The season marked the Shockers' final season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference as the school announced on April 7, 2017 that it would be joining the American Athletic Conference effective July 1, 2017.^[1]

Offseason

Returning players

It was expected that the Shockers would return all five starters and nearly all of their scholarship players from the prior season. The only two seniors on the prior season's roster, Zach Bush and John Robert Simon, were walk-ons. Two underclass players, rising junior Eric Hamilton^[2] and rising senior Daishon Smith,^[3] announced plans to transfer from Wichita State. Hamilton had been a little-used reserve;^[2] Smith had started at point guard at the beginning of the 2016–17 season, but lost his starting position to Landry Shamet and was seeing relatively little playing time by the end of the season.^[3]

Two other players, Markis McDuffie and Shaquille Morris, declared for the 2017 NBA draft, but neither hired an agent, allowing them to return to Wichita State if they withdrew from the draft within 10 days of the end of the mid-May NBA Draft Combine (specifically May 24).^[4][5] Both withdrew from the draft the day before the deadline.^[6]

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason left
Daishon Smith	2	G	6'1"	175	Junior	Jacksonville, FL	Transferred to Louisiana–Monroe[7]
Zach Bush	5	G	6'6"	175	Senior (redshirt)	Wichita, KS	Graduated
John Robert Simon	14	G	5'10"	175	Senior	Oklahoma City, OK	Graduated
Eric Hamilton	25	F	6'8"	230	Sophomore	Atlanta, GA	Transferred to UNC Greensboro[8]

2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Rodgerick Brown G/F	Cordova, Tennessee	Cordova HS	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Jun 19, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 79
Asbjørn Midtgaard C	Helsingør, Denmark	Espergærde Gymnasium og HF	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	265 lb (120 kg)	Nov 16, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Wichita State Basketball Commits". Rivals.com. "2017 Wichita State Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "2017 Wichita State Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Source^[9][10]

Injuries

On July 21, 2017, point guard Landry Shamet, a potential All-American, suffered a stress fracture in his right foot and would need surgery.^[11] He was expected to miss 12–16 weeks to recover from the injury.^[12] Shamet was expected to be ready for the team's season opener on November 10,^[13] and that proved true, as he scored 17 points in only 17 minutes of action in the Shockers' 109–57 blowout of UMKC and, according to the Associated Press, "looked completely recovered".^[14]

Shortly before practices began on September 29, it was announced that Markis McDuffie would be sidelined with a stress fracture in his left foot.^[15] It was expected that he would miss a majority of the non-conference schedule, but would return some time in late December.^[16][17] McDuffie returned for the final non-conference game on December 22 game against Florida Gulf Coast.^[18][19]

Preseason

At the conference's annual media day, the Shockers were narrowly picked to finish second in the AAC, receiving five of the 12 first place votes.^[20] Landry Shamet was named to the preseason All-AAC first team.^[20]

Roster

2017–18 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Rashard Kelly 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 227 lb (103 kg) Sr Hargrave Military Academy Fredericksburg, Virginia F 1 Zach Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Sr Sunrise Christian Academy Houston, Texas G 3 C. J. Keyser 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 194 lb (88 kg) So Brewster Academy Baltimore, Maryland G 4 Samajae Haynes-Jones 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 177 lb (80 kg) Jr Hutchinson CC Wichita, Kansas F 5 Rod Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Cordova HS Cordova, Tennessee G 10 Kaelen Malone 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 168 lb (76 kg) Jr McLennan CC McKinney, Texas G 11 Landry Shamet 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So Park Hill HS Kansas City, Missouri G 12 Austin Reaves 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 174 lb (79 kg) So Cedar Ridge HS Newark, Arkansas G 14 Jacob Herrs (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 164 lb (74 kg) Fr Andover HS Wichita, Kansas C 20 Rauno Nurger 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 232 lb (105 kg) Sr Sunrise Christian Academy Keila, Estonia F 21 Darral Willis 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Pearl River CC Madison, Wisconsin C 22 Asbjørn Midtgaard 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 270 lb (122 kg) Fr Espergarte Gymnasium Helsingør, Denmark G 23 Brycen Bush (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 152 lb (69 kg) Fr Goddard Eisenhower HS Wichita, Kansas C 24 Shaquille Morris 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 265 lb (120 kg) RS Sr Edmond Memorial HS Edmond, Oklahoma F 25 Brett Barney (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Sunrise Christian Academy Wichita, Kansas F 32 Markis McDuffie  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Jr St. Anthony HS Paterson, New Jersey G 33 Conner Frankamp 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 171 lb (78 kg) RS Sr Kansas Wichita, Kansas	Head coach Gregg Marshall (Randolph–Macon) Assistant coach(es) Donnie Jones (Pikeville) Isaac Brown (Louisiana–Monroe) Kyle Lindsted (Central Christian (KS)) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: September 14, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 4, 2017* 7:00 pm, Cox	No. 7	Henderson State	W 90–53		16 – Morris	7 – Willis	4 – Haynes-Jones	Charles Koch Arena (10,333) Wichita, KS
November 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, Cox	No. 7	Newman ARC Charity Exhibition	W 113–55	–	16 – Nurger	11 – Tied	6 – Kelly	Charles Koch Arena (5,345) Wichita, KS
Non-Conference Regular season
November 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, Cox	No. 7	UMKC	W 109–57	1–0	19 – Willis	10 – Willis	9 – Frankamp	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
November 13, 2017* 8:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 6	College of Charleston	W 81–63	2–0	18 – Morris	10 – Morris	7 – Haynes-Jones	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
November 20, 2017 4:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 6	vs. California Maui Invitational quarterfinals	W 92–82	3–0	25 – Morris	10 – Kelly	4 – Reaves	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, HI
November 21, 2017 12:30 pm, ESPN	No. 6	vs. Marquette Maui Invitational semifinals	W 80–66	4–0	19 – Shamet	10 – Kelly	8 – Kelly	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, HI
November 22, 2017 9:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 6	vs. No. 13 Notre Dame Maui Invitational finals	L 66–67	4–1	14 – Brown	8 – Kelly	7 – Shamet	Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, HI
November 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, Cox	No. 8	Savannah State	W 112–66	5–1	31 – Haynes-Jones	12 – Willis Jr.	5 – Haynes-Jones	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
December 2, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 8	at No. 16 Baylor	W 69–62	6–1	17 – Frankamp	7 – Kelly	7 – Shamet	Ferrell Center (9,733) Waco, TX
December 5, 2017* 7:00 pm, Cox	No. 6	South Dakota State	W 95–85	7–1	21 – Shamet	8 – Brown	8 – Shamet	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
December 9, 2017* 3:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 6	at Oklahoma State	W 78–66	8–1	30 – Shamet	7 – Kelly	5 – Shamet	Gallagher-Iba Arena (9,655) Stillwater, OK
December 16, 2017* 3:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 3	vs. Oklahoma Intrust Bank Arena Showcase	L 83–91	8–2	20 – Willis Jr.	12 – Willis Jr.	5 – Shamet	Intrust Bank Arena (15,004) Wichita, KS
December 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, Cox	No. 11	Arkansas State	W 89–80	9–2	27 – Haynes-Jones	8 – Kelly	6 – Shamet	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
December 22, 2017* 6:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 11	Florida Gulf Coast	W 75–65	10–2	23 – Shamet	13 – Willis Jr.	5 – Shamet	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
AAC regular season
December 30, 2017 11:00 am, CBS	No. 8	at UConn	W 72–62	11–2 (1–0)	16 – Shamet	12 – Kelly	6 – Shamet	XL Center (15,564) Hartford, CT
January 4, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 9	Houston	W 81–63	12–2 (2–0)	18 – Shamet	7 – Brown	5 – Brown	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
January 7, 2018 3:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 9	South Florida	W 95–57	13–2 (3–0)	15 – Morris	6 – McDuffie	7 – Tied	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
January 11, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 5-t	at East Carolina	W 95–60	14–2 (4–0)	14 – Nurger	8 – Kelly	11 – Shamet	Williams Arena (5,539) Greenville, NC
January 13, 2018 6:30 pm, ESPNU	No. 5-t	at Tulsa	W 72–69	15–2 (5–0)	16 – Tied	9 – McDuffie	3 – Shamet	Reynolds Center (8,355) Tulsa, OK
January 17, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 7	SMU	L 78–83	15–3 (5–1)	20 – Shamet	6 – Kelly	10 – Shamet	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
January 20, 2018 11:00 am, ESPNU	No. 7	at Houston	L 59–73	15–4 (5–2)	12 – Morris	10 – Kelly	3 – Tied	H&PE Arena (5,708) Houston, TX
January 25, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 17	UCF	W 81–62	16–4 (6–2)	19 – Morris	10 – Kelly	6 – Shamet	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
January 28, 2018 5:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 17	Tulsa	W 90–71	17–4 (7–2)	23 – Reaves	11 – Kelly	8 – Kelly	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
February 1, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 16	at Temple	L 79–81 OT	17–5 (7–3)	24 – Morris	9 – Morris	7 – Shamet	Liacouras Center (6,320) Philadelphia, PA
February 6, 2018 8:00 pm, CBSSN	No. 22	at Memphis	W 85–65	18–5 (8–3)	22 – Reaves	12 – Willis, Jr	5 – Shamet	FedEx Forum (7,257) Memphis, TN
February 10, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 22	UConn	W 95–74	19–5 (9–3)	16 – Shamet	10 – Kelly	5 – Kelly	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
February 15, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 19	Temple	W 93–86	20–5 (10–3)	24 – Willis, Jr	13 – Morris	5 – Shamet	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
February 18, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 19	at No. 5 Cincinnati	W 76–72	21–5 (11–3)	19 – Shamet	5 – McDuffie	5 – Shamet	BB&T Arena (9,523) Highland Heights, KY
February 21, 2018 6:30 pm, CBSSN	No. 13	Tulane	W 93–86	22–5 (12–3)	25 – Morris	9 – Morris	4 – Frankamp	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
February 24, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN	No. 13	at SMU	W 84–78	23–5 (13–3)	26 – McDuffie	10 – Morris	4 – Tied	Moody Coliseum (6,931) University Park, TX
March 1, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 11	at UCF	W 75–71 OT	24–5 (14–3)	19 – Morris	9 – Tied	6 – Shamet	CFE Arena (5,930) Orlando, FL
March 4, 2018 11:00 am, CBS	No. 11	No. 10 Cincinnati	L 61–62	24–6 (14–4)	16 – Tied	8 – Morris	5 – Shamet	Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS
AAC tournament
March 9, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPNU	(2) No. 11	vs. (7) Temple Quarterfinals	W 89–81	25–6	24 – Shamet	8 – Morris	4 – Shamet	Amway Center (8,680) Orlando, FL
March 10, 2018 2:30 pm, CBS	(2) No. 11	vs. (3) No. 21 Houston Semifinals	L 74–77	25–7	19 – Shamet	12 – Kelly	4 – Shamet	Amway Center (8,644) Orlando, FL
NCAA tournament
March 16, 2018* 12:30 pm, TNT	(4 E) No. 16	vs. (13 E) Marshall First Round	L 75–81	25–8	27 – Frankamp	11 – Kelly	8 – Shamet	Viejas Arena (10,892) San Diego, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	7	6	6	8	6	3	11	8	9	5	7	17	16	22	19	13	11	11	16	Not released
Coaches	8	8^	6	8	6	3	11	10	9	5	7	16	16	21	18	12	11	14	16	25

^Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll at the same time AP did.
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.

References

1. "American Athletic Conference votes unanimously to add Wichita State". ESPN.com.
2. Suellentrop, Paul (March 29, 2017). "Eric Hamilton will transfer from Wichita State's basketball program". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
3. Suellentrop, Paul (April 20, 2017). "Daishon Smith will transfer from Wichita State's basketball team". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
4. Suellentrop, Paul (April 25, 2017). "Wichita State's Morris, McDuffie continue NBA Draft process". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
5. "Wichita State's McDuffie, Morris declare for NBA Draft". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
6. Funschelle, Aliyah (May 23, 2017). "Morris and McDuffie to return 2017–2018 season". The Sunflower. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
7. "ULM adds Wichita State transfer". The News-Star. Monroe, LA. June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
8. "UNCG adds basketball transfer from Wichita State". The Times-News. Burlington, NC. May 12, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
9. "Shockers sign 7 foot Danish Center, Asbjorn Midtgaard – ShockerHoops". shockerhoops.net. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
10. "Verbal Commits". www.verbalcommits.com. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
11. "Wichita State star guard Landry Shamet breaks foot; surgery scheduled for Monday". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
12. Phillips, Scott (July 30, 2017). "Wichita State guard Landry Shamet will have surgery on broken foot". CollegeBasketballTalk. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
13. "Wichita State guard Landry Shamet suffers broken foot". Sporting News. July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
14. "No. 7 Wichita State blows past Missouri-Kansas City 109–57". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
15. "Report: Wichita State's McDuffie out with stress fracture". CollegeBasketballTalk. September 26, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
16. "TRH: McDuffie Ready to Get Recovery Started". Wichita State. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
17. Shannon, Chase. "Shockers ready to step up in Shamet's and McDuffie's absence". Retrieved October 2, 2017.
18. Funschelle, Aliyah. "McDuffie returns; Shockers finish non-conference play with a 10-point win over FGCU – The Sunflower". thesunflower.com. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
19. "McDuffie returns as the No. 11 Shockers rally to beat FGCU". Associated Press. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
20. "Cincinnati Selected as 2017–18 American Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite". Retrieved October 24, 2017.