Fresh off last season’s 30-win campaign and a trip to the NCAA Final Four, the Shockers won their 18th straight regular-season opener – their seventh in a row under head coach Gregg Marshall – by defeating Emporia State, 93-50, on Nov. 9 in Charles Koch Arena.
On Oct. 31, Wichita State came in at No. 16 when the Associated Press’ preseason college basketball poll was released. Two weeks earlier, the WSU team was also No. 16 in the preseason USA Today coaches’poll. The Associated Press’ top 25 are, in top place Kentucky, followed by Michigan State, Louisville, Duke, Kansas, Arizona, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Syracuse, Florida, Ohio State, North Carolina, Memphis, Virginia Commonwealth, Gonzaga, Wichita State, Marquette, Connecticut, Oregon, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, UCLA, New Mexico, Virginia and Baylor.
The day before the Associated Press poll was released, WSU was picked to win the 2013-14 Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball crown. The Shockers received all 40 first-place tallies, marking just the second time in the past 25 years an MVC team was a unanimous choice to win the league.
The Shockers have a pair of student-athletes on the preseason team, including MVC Preseason Player of the Year Cleanthony Early and sophomore Ron Baker. Early (13.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG) is one of two returning first-team selections from last year’s all-conference squad and Baker (8.7 PPG), despite missing half of the season with an injury, was a key cog for the Shockers down the stretch and during the postseason.
Nov. 4, Early was also named to the Associated Press’ 2013-14 preseason All-America team as an honorable mention selection. A 6-foot-8 senior forward from Middletown, N.Y., he is the first such honoree for the Shockers.
