When Wichita State parted ways with longtime coach Gregg Marshall — the man that helped the program reach the 2013 Final Four and transition to the American Athletic Conference — the idea of playing in the 2021 NCAA Tournament felt like an afterthought.
But here we are in March, and Wichita State players are cutting down nets, having just won a share of the AAC regular season with a comfortable victory Saturday over South Florida. The win also shifts WSU to a much safer projected No. 10 seed and further from the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Marshall resigned after an investigation into allegations he had physically and verbally abused players became public.
Coach Isaac Brown, who spent six years under Marshall as an assistant, took over as the interim in November and then was offered the full-time gig with a five-year contract.
Less than a week after the Shockers’ season ended last March, a walk-on and six scholarship players announced their decisions to transfer. This year, WSU faced several interruptions due to COVID-19. Despite five game postponements since the end of January, WSU hasn’t lost since Jan. 21 and has won seven in a row.
Winners
Wichita State. The Shockers rolled over South Florida 80-63 and now are building a case that will make it difficult for the committee to keep them out of the NCAA Tournament. The problem with WSU’s profile is a NET score in the 60s. A top-25 non-conference strength of schedule should ultimately work in this…
