on the roster are Malcolm Armstead, David Kyles, Joe Ragland,
Ben Smith and Garrett Stutz.
Winning the 2011 National Invitation Tournament Championship and finishing a school-record 29-8 in 2010-11, the Shockers have set high expectations for themselves and their fans for the 2011-12 season.
The team also carries a 106-game regular-season attendance streak of more than 10,000 fans a game at Charles Koch Arena into the coming season.
Wichita State’s 2011-12 home schedule features nine Missouri Valley Conference games, as well as dates against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Utah State.
The 2011 NIT champs are also slated to go up against Alabama-Birmingham in a game played at INTRUST Bank Arena. The final men’s basketball schedule has not been released, as of press time.
Preparations for the high-pressure demands of the upcoming season are well under way. The Shockers played five games during a 10-day trip to Brazil in August.
The trip was the first overseas play for Wichita State since the Shockers traveled to Canada prior to the 2006 season.
In Sao Paulo, WSU fell to the Brazilian professional club, the Palmerias Sports Club, 81-76, in the team’s first game in Brazil. The Shockers also lost their second game of the trip to the Brazilian National Team, 87-61. In that game, David Kyles led the team with 14 points, and newcomer Carl Hall contributed 13 points.
Despite the 0-2 record, head coach Gregg Marshall was positive about the play, saying, “We’ve accomplished a great deal. We played every player in both games. We’ve done a lot of different combinations; a lot of different guys participated.” He added, “We’re getting a taste of what it’s like to play in a very tough, competitive environment.”
From Sao Paulo, the Shockers headed to Rio de Janiero, where they took in the sights and faced the Flamengo Sports Club in their third game, posting their first victory – a sound 80-39 trouncing of the under-19 Flamengo team. All Shocker veterans sat out this game, providing first-year players and Ehimen Orukpe, Josh Walker and Randall Vautravers some valuable game experience. Freshman Ede Egharvba led WSU with 14 points, and fellow freshman Evan Wessel scored 11 points in the win.
Wichita State improved to 2-2 with a crushing 103-61 victory over the Tijuca Tennis Club. Hall poured in 16 points for the Shockers, while senior Garrett Stutz added 14 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field. Other Shockers with points scored were Jake White, 13; Ben Smith, 10; Demetric Williams, 9; Orupke, 8; Ron Baker, 7; Joe Ragland, 7; Wessel, 6; Kyles, 5; Eghervba, 4; and Tekele Cotton, 2.
Before playing their fifth and final game of the trip, the Shocker players hosted a youth basketball clinic at the Solar Meninos De Luz school in one of Rio’s poorest neighborhoods.
In the final game, the Shockers defeated the Tijuca Sports Club, 96-91, with Ragland scoring 16 points and making 14 out of 16 free throws in the comeback victory. Williams paced WSU with 17 points and was 7 of 12 from the field. Wichita State trailed at halftime 53-47, but took a 78-72 lead at the end of the third quarter.
“It’s been very beneficial,” Marshall said about the trip. “We played five games. One in particular only our new, or young, players participated, so they were getting game experience and valuable minutes.”
Four WSU senior players each shared a few comments about their summer trip to Brazil in a video posted on GoShockers.com. Here are a few out-takes:
Ben Smith: “I think it really helped our team – helped our growth. And I just, you know, hope everybody has a chance to come to Brazil.”
Garrett Stutz: “This trip was a great experience – a lot of fun. We learned a lot of things. It was cool to see another culture. It was just a really good time. I’m glad we did it.”
Joe Ragland: “It was a lot more physical to play over there in the professional leagues. They scored the ball pretty well. We worked hard defensively. It was fun, especially playing the Brazilian National Team. It was a great experience.”
Toure’ Murry: “Everybody enjoyed their experience on the beach, experiencing the new food that we ate – just being around the people in Brazil, being around the kids. It was a lot of fun.”
– WSU Sports Information
