Knight at Koch Arena
On Feb. 28, a day before the Shocker men played their final home game of the season, legendary college basketball coach Bobby Knight — whose 1975-1976 Indiana Hoosiers were the last team to go undefeated during the regular season and also win the NCAA Tournament — stopped by Charles Koch Arena to watch practice, interview head coach Gregg Marshall for ESPN, and address the team.
Knight, who joined ESPN in 2008 as a men's college basketball analyst, is someone Marshall told his team he looks up to. Knight spoke with the players after practice. "I started really liking you guys last year," he told the Shockers. "To be able to come back (from last year's run to the Final Four in Atlanta) and do what you did, it's a tribute to the players and coaches."
During his career, Knight coached his teams — Army (1965-1971), Indiana (1971-2000) and Texas Tech (2001-2008) — to 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball game wins, which was the most all-time at the time of his retirement and currently third all-time behind his former player, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse.
On his visit to Koch Arena, Knight stressed that basketball is about more than athleticism. Playing well, he said, includes intelligence and teamwork. "You guys have done a tremendous job," he told the Shocker team. "I think you play basketball about as well as anyone plays basketball."
2014 Wichita Sports Hall of Famers
Dorothy Harmon '46 became the first female assistant athletic director in the country during her time at WSU. After the 1970 football plane crash, in which 31 WSU players, coaches, boosters and administrators, including athletic director Bert Katzenmeyer, lost their lives, she served as acting athletic director.
Bob Long '64 played three seasons of Shocker varsity basketball and only one on the football field, but his performance as a wide receiver caught the attention of the Green Bay Packers. He played four seasons for the Packers, helping Green Bay to Super Bowl victories in 1967 and 1968. He switched to the Washington Redskins in 1969, becoming the only player to have been coached by Vince Lombardi at both Green Bay and Washington.
Lafayette Norwood '79, head coach of men's golf at Johnson County Community College since 1992, was a guard on Ralph Miller's 1951 state championship Wichita East High team. In 1968, he was hired as an assistant at East, a year later taking over the program at Wichita Heights High School. His 1976-77 Heights state championship team posted an undefeated season.
Randy Smith '75, an NCAA All-American in both track and cross country, while at WSU was also Missouri Valley Conference cross country champion in 1973 and 1974, and the MVC champ in 3,000 meter steeplechase in 1972, 1974 and 1975.
Gene Stephenson, former head baseball coach at WSU, won 1,837 games and lost 675 with 3 ties. He led the Shockers to 28 regionals, seven College World Series and the 1989 national title.
Chris Wimmer '98, a member of the 1992 USA Olympic Team and a former Shocker baseball player now a scout for the Detroit Tigers, was a two-time Baseball America second-team member, and played on two WSU College World Series teams. He was also a three-time All-MVC first team honoree, and led the 1992 team in hits, stolen bases and runs. In 1991, he led the NCAA in hits with 125 and runs with 99.
