The Sunflower Tournament Preview 2019

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 • VOL. 123, ISS. 42

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WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.

Kellen Marshall keeps an open mind on his future

BY MARSHALL SUNNER

Kellen Marshall had a decision to make.

It was his junior year of high school, and Kellen, the son of Wichita State’s winningest basketball coach, Gregg Marshall, had to choose whether or not to play high school basketball. That aspect of his life was normal of a kid his age. His skill was good enough for a rotation spot on the team’s varsity squad.

But at the same time, if Kellen had played that season, he would have likely missed out on some of the experiences that separate him from the average, everyday college student.

“That’s when it became

“THAT’S WHEN THEY STARTED LAUGHING . . . THAT WAS ABOUT TURNING A SAD SITUATION INTO SOMETHING POSITIVE.” ­—Kellen Marshall, senior

different,” Marshall said.

He hung it up. But that hasn’t stopped him from relishing in the scene of great basketball successes.

Marshall was in the locker room in 2014 when the Shockers posted one of the few undefeated regular seasons in NCAA history.

He was courtside when WSU beat Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.

In November, he chatted golf

with President Donald Trump (his experience as a caddy at Flint Hills National Golf Course helped with that one). And for four years, he’s been at practices, on the bench during games, breaking down film, and overseeing day-to-day operations for his father’s squad.

When people see Marshall, they’re quick to bring up basketball. That’s not always a bad thing. Basketball is largely what makes Marshall different.

His knack for the game is reminiscent of his dad, the 2014 Naismith Coach of the Year.

SEE KELLEN PAGE 3

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As he prepares to graduate this spring, Kellen Marshall is keeping an open mind about the future. His father, Gregg Marshall, is hopeful his son will have a similar future coaching college basketball.

Referendum fails by 107 votes Students narrowly reject fee increase for campus upgrades

BY MATTHEW KELLY

T

he Shock the Future referendum has failed by 107 votes, with 51.5 percent of students voting against a $6 per credit hour student fee hike to support campus facilities upgrades, according to a Wichita State press release.

Referendum voting closed Wednesday at 5 p.m., with 3,469 students turning out to vote. Turnout was 28.4 percent, surpassing the 12.3 percent mark for last year’s Student Government Association election. In 2017, 19.7 percent of students voted.

Student Body President Shelby Rowell said she was encouraged by the number of students who made their voices heard.

“I’m really glad that students took the opportunity

to voice their opinion on the matter,” Rowell said.

“Regardless of the results, I think that having such student involvement — whether that’s SGA elections, whether that’s referendums . . . is unprecedented, at least from what I know from SGA.” If the referendum had passed, more than half of the $38.5 million raised by the fee hike would have gone towards the construction of a new business building on Innovation Campus.

SGA Business Sen. Anisia Brumley said she was surprised the referendum didn’t pass.

“There’s a large amount of business students, and I think a majority of those were gonna vote yes,” Brumley said.

SEE REFERENDUM PAGE 3

EASTON THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER

Jenny Beyer from Housing and Residence Life assists junior criminal justice major Ralph Young with voting in the Shock the Future referendum Tuesday in the Rhatigan Student Center.

Bike Share ICT hosts ribbon-cutting ceremony at Wichita State

BY AUDREY KORTE

KHÁNH NGUYỄN/THE SUNFLOWER

Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell cuts the riibbon at the WSU Bike Share opening ceremony Wednesday in front of the Rhatigan Student Center.

Wichita State now has four Bike Share ICT stations located across campus and the Metropolitan Complex.

Bike Share ICT held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Rhatigan Student Center Wednesday, co-hosted by Strategic Communications and the City of Wichita.

Bike Share ICT is a bike transportation system that allows users to rent, ride, and return bikes at various locations across the city.

District II City Council Member Becky Tuttle welcomed a small crowd at the ceremony.

“We’ve had 23,822 rides on Bike Share ICT since we started back

in May 2017, and we have 10,400 members of Bike Share ICT,” Tuttle said. “And we hope that this will bring more members, and our students will enjoy membership.”

Mayor Jeff Longwell spoke briefly about how bike sharing makes the city of Wichita stronger.

“To become a vibrant city, we have to activate our city with opportunities like this, and so the reality is we appreciate the expansion of this bike share out here at Wichita State University,” Longwell said.

Collin Willis, a junior in media arts, said he’s been waiting for this day since he was on the Shocker Freshman Council two years ago, where the idea of a bike share program was initially discussed.

“These bikes open up Wichita to all the students here, so students especially that don’t have cars that live on campus, now they can come and they have a vehicle.”

The bike-share program uses Zagster to provide 205 bicycles for residents and visitors to use at stations throughout Wichita. To use a bike, riders download the Zagster app and choose their rental plan.

Each bike has a unique number that, when entered, opens the bike’s lockbox. Choose a bike, find the bike’s number, unlock it, and ride. Return the bike to any station, and lock it for the next rider. The Zagster app is available for iPhone and Android.

SEE BIKE SHARE ICT PAGE 5

INSIDE

‘FLORIDA’ BEARS FANGS Lauren Groff’s collection of short stories showcases her literary athleticism.

CULTURE/OPINION • PAGE 2

SUPER FAN

‘GUMBY’

Born in Shocker Hall, After Judo releases their debut album Thursday.

Professor Patty Beamer has a special relationship with Shocker basketball.

Markis McDuffie has come a long way in four years.

CULTURE/OPINION • PAGE 3

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW • PAGE 5

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW • PAGE 8

DEBUT ALBUM

CULTURE/OPINION

2 | THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019

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RYAN CREWS MUSIC CRITIC

W

ichita is harboring a hidden oasis for hiphop fans and they go by the name of Lewelheds.

Lewelheds has been active for years and seen numerous variations, but they have only recently released their first project: a demo aptly titled “Finally.”

The projects lifts off with a set of shimmering, interstellar synths that let you know they’re taking us to a new place in Wichita indie culture.

“Finally” delivers us to a fresh groove, live-band hip-hop. The Lewelheds have strong rap roots, with music that branches off into jazz, Latin, and indie rock fusion.

The demo’s opening track, “Moments,” is fueled by brooding drums that rest on the listener like burdened shoulders. The first voice heard is that of keyboardist Dez Hill, who approaches the track with smoky, jazz vocals that have a restrained delivery.

It isn’t until the track takes off into its chorus that it showcases its true potential. “Moments” dives into dynamic instrumentation and reveals the voice of resident MC, Marrice Anthony, who steadily delivers lines like, “She moves the

“One of my friends has a boat. We’re planning to go to Cheney. It’ll probably just be a day trip.”

— CAMERON HILL, anthropology, sophomore

COURTESY

Wichita hip-hop group Lewelheds are an interstellar jazz-rap revelation on debut record, “Finally!”

water like a moon in my fatal sky.”

Suddenly, to bookend the track in unprecedented rap fashion, multi-instrumentalist Benjamin EC absolutely shreds a guitar solo.

Despite the group showing off their originality and gift of blending genres, the full power of “Finally” doesn’t hit until the ready-forsummer jam “Diff” comes out to play. Between two sizzling verses by Anthony, euphoric heights achieved

by Josue Estrada’s trumpeting, and the interpolation of the chorus to Chance the Rapper’s “Acid Rap” classic, “Juice,” vocalist Dez Hill

Lauren Groff is an animal. That was a metaphor; catch up! In all seriousness, Groff has created a literary masterpiece with her collection of short stories, “Florida.”

Groff’s fifth book showcases a writer in her prime. You can feel her stretching her limbs as she writes.

You can practically see the athleticism in her writing. This is an artist who takes imaginative leaps, and it’s a glorious thing to witness.

In the tradition of Southern Gothic writers, Groff uses setting to create mood. The landscape often provides the engine for the worlds she creates. She animates the state of Florida like no other writer before her, except maybe Karen Russell (“Swamplandia!”).

Groff conjures the state of Florida as dangerous, humid, and erotic.

What is particularly impressive in “Florida” is Groff’s ability to seamlessly switch back and forth between universal statements of truth and particular observations.

The effect is like a camera zooming in and out, but so skillfully accomplished that you never feel dizzy.

For instance, in “At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners,” Groff writes: “Jude was born in a Crackerstyle house at the edge of a swamp

— SOFI ABAJOBIR, medical lab science and pre-med, senior

BOOK CRITIC

that boiled with unnamed species of reptiles.” Next, in just a few short sentences, Groff uses a wide-angle lens to further establish character: “Few people lived in the center of Florida then. Air-conditioning was for the rich, and the rest compensated with high ceilings, sleeping porches, attic fans.” The efficiency of her scope is jaw dropping.

It’s difficult to compare Groff to other writers, but for reference, consider a cross between George Saunders and Ottessa Moshfegh.

There is the Saundersesque weirdness and the Moshfegh courage of bringing small, messy things to life and then making a larger point sense of it all. A third trick up her sleeve, surprise, brings it all together.

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— TENZIN SHERPA, aerospace engineering, junior

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“As an international student, spring break is the time when I can work 40 hours during the semester, and I plan to utilize those hours by working.”

“I will probably work more than I usually do, and I am planning to go to medical school, so I am going to study for my MCAT.”

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sends us all to heaven with a “soul scream” he’d been hiding in his back pocket.

From “Diff,” the project is all highs. Perhaps the highest high comes in the form of the group’s “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” remix, “BDKMV.” The hypest of all of their tracks, the chorus finds Lewelheds riffing off of Kendrick Lamar’s classic with seemingly effortless charm — turning Lamar’s “big chillin” anthem into a sporadic party that one cannot resist screaming along to.

‘Florida’ bears its fangs with wild stories of a wild state

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COURTESY

Lauren Groff’s “Florida” is a beast of a collection whose stories effortlessly navigate Floridian particularities and human nature.

Lyricism and rhythm ooze out of every perfect sentence. If this book were read slowy — perhaps in a cliched poet voice — you might think it’s an actual poem. But beyond Groff’s superior language skills, she is a storyteller at heart. And what’s the use of beautiful-sounding prose without a good story?

The collection, a hearty 11 stories, boasts a variety of protagonists and “voice” throughout.

SEE FLORIDA PAGE 3

“Working half the week then my siblings plan to go on a road trip with me.

It’ll be the first time we go on a roadtrip without our parents. It’s mostly about the experience of our sibling bonding time on the road and by ourselves.”

— SAMANTHA COSGROVE, media arts, senior

CULTURE/NEWS

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THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019

|3

After Judo finish their long ride home to ‘Harvard Ave.’

F

rom Shocker Hall to Shocker Studios, After Judo has been working nonstop for two years to get to where they are now. The release show for their debut album, Harvard Ave., is Thursday at Ellis Street Moto.

After Judo is comprised of Joe Hagan and Ryne Carballo splitting guitar and vocals with Flavio Pérez on drums, An Nguyen on bass, and Rob Mabrey on trumpet. Hagen recorded, mixed and mastered all of the songs on the album at both the band’s home studio and in Shocker Studios.

Hailing from very different parts of North America, After Judo is a melting pot that came together at WSU. Carballo and Mabrey were roommates in Shocker Hall their freshman year, where Mabrey recalls them nearly starting a “two-kidney band.” They would have two musicians and one kidney each — a gimmick they would rely upon because it wouold take selling kidney to make a career as a musician.

Carballo and Mabrey met Hagen, who lived at Shocker Hall and Nguyen, who attended the Judo club with them. They met Pérez through posting a flyer on campus.

Coincidentally, he also worked at Shocker Hall, even though he didn’t live on campus.

Nguyen starting learning to play bass a year and a half ago because After Judo was in dire need of a bassist. Pérez had only played drums for four years before jumping in the studio, but he states that finding After Judo put him with “the right place and the right people,” to complete an album.

“I’m from a very small town in a different country,” Pérez said. “I came from the third world to the first world not knowing English.

But I already knew how to play music, so that was a language strong enough to communicate

REFERENDUM FROM PAGE 1

Brumley said that, while she understands why some students thought the Shock the Future infrastructure priorities were “inequitable,” WSU is in need of a new business building.

“Clinton Hall is outdated,” Brumley said. “We have one of the best business schools in the Midwest, and you wouldn’t be able to guess by looking at our facilities.”

University officials have said they will have to find a way to build the $50 million Woolsey Hall, which donors have already raised $30 million for.

“We’ve had donors give us $30 million to build [Woolsey Hall], so we have to find a way to do that,” acting President Rick Muma said at a town hall meeting in January.

“It’d be problematic to go back to donors and say, ‘No one wants

KELLEN

FROM PAGE 1 He’s able to see and predict the game in seconds, sometimes minutes, before they occur. Sometimes, he even surprises his dad.

“He said it’s good that I can start doing that now,” Marshall said. “He (Gregg) told me that it’s going to help me coach a team better one day.”

Kellen Marshall’s obvious future is coaching.

“I have never had a desk job,” Marshall, who will graduate with his

FLORIDA

FROM PAGE 2 However, “Florida” never loses its solid understanding of plot. While the collection does not follow a single character, it is tightly bound by theme and tone.

At the heart of Groff’s collection is a sense that humans, though they often make silly decisions and foolish mistakes, are beautiful creatures. There is a sense of humanity to Groff’s writing, so that you never ask yourself, “Why this? Why today?” Her characters commit folly and her narrators often feel shocked by fact of beauty in life even amidst all its messiness and pain.

In “The Midnight Zone,” arguably the most well-known story in the collection, a woman is left alone with her children in

RYAN CREWS MUSIC CRITIC

with people.”

“As far as our musical vocabulary and the unspoken conversations we have through music, I think we just work so well together,” Hagen said.

“Welcome to music 101,” Pérez interjected to the rest of the band’s laughter.

Once formed, After Judo would practice in their dorm rooms on BOne of Shocker Hall and the dorm stairwells. They eventually moved their practices to the basement of Duerksen Hall, where their first EP began to bloom. “The Black EP” was made up of two covers and two originals titled “Wanna Love” and “Lyin’ in the Grass.” The two originals have been completely reworked from their original rough state and are now revitalized for the new album.

After practice, After Judo would eventually make their way to their home studio on Harvard Avenue, where their debut album was conceptualized and recorded. The move from Shocker Hall into their newfound home spawned new music in and of itself, as if the bands was channeling the spirits hidden in the walls their new home.

“If you think of the house as looking, and all the walls having eyes, the house knows more about us than we do,” Hagen said.

The songs from “Harvard Ave.” have been in a constant state of evolution for two years, band members said. Even though the album is comes out Thursday, Carballo said

a business building here. We’re giving your money back.’ That’s not something I think we want to do.”

WSU Foundation President Elizabeth King said donors have been told from the beginning that part of the funding for the business school would come from university resources.

“From the beginning of our efforts, donors have been told that the remainder of the funding would come from university resources, most likely being a bond issue because that is the only source for covering such large capital needs,” King wrote in a February email.

University officials indicated before the vote that if the referendum failed, they would not force the fee hike on students across all six of WSU’s colleges. Instead, business students will likely vote on a $30-$35 per credit hour program-specific fee increase.

Undergraduate business students already pay $35 a credit hour

COURTESY OF JAI CHADALAWADA

After Judo’s live sets have transformed from covers into originals. Their work has now culminated in their first studio LP, “Harvard Ave.”

that they are “still perfecting the sounds we recorded in the studio.”

“It’s showing in our live sets,” Carballo said. “The album is a snapshot of what we were in the moment.”

In order to exemplify that, the album art is comprised of a film photograph of the place the band dwelled when these recorded versions of the songs were actualized. The “Harvard Ave.” house is a family home of Carballo’s that his grandparents once lived in.

“The craziest thing is it was uninhabited four like four years,” Hagen said. “It’s literally across the street from campus.”

“They could have been bankin’ on some college students but they didn’t and they hooked

in program-specific fees, and graduate students pay $50.

Brumley expressed doubts that business students would be supportive of a major program-specific fee increase.

“I think it was either gonna pass the first time or never pass,” Brumley said.

“When you’re paying your way through college, that’s not fair to ask of somebody. And it’s not feasible. If you can’t afford college, you can’t afford [the extra fees] — even if you want the new building.”

State law requires WSU to hold a referendum before raising student fees to bond money. At a Shock the Future steering committee meeting in February, Vice President for Student Affairs Teri Hall acknowledged frankly that WSU isn’t necessarily required to abide by the will of the students.

“The state statute says that we must have a referendum.

I don’t think it says it has to pass,” Hall said.

degree in business this spring, said.

“I have no idea what it’s like.”

It’s likely he’ll stick around and return next year as a graduate assistant. There’s a “75 percent” chance he’s back, he said. He plans to keep an open mind and explore different options in the coming months.

He has dreams — being a journalist, sports agent, an actor, or a magician — he’s just not sure which one he’ll settle on. Even broadcasting is an option. He once bumped into CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, who told him he has “a

knack for it.”

That comment was like “Tiger Woods telling me to go play golf,” Marhsall said.

And don’t be quick to rule out magic. Marshall is known to always have a deck of cards close by. Card tricks, he said, can help him brighten someone’s mood on their worst day. Like on Feb. 23 when Wichita State lost a heartbreaker to Memphis.

“My parents were both upset,” Marshall said. “We were up in the Champions Club, and I felt like I had to make them better.”

a hunting camp deep in Florida scrub. There is rumor of a panther on the loose. The mother tends to the children and then has a terrible accident.

What follows is a haunting, surreal account of the narrator’s experience. Simultaneously dreamlike and grounded, Groff creates a world that the reader is terrified to leave. She lies down sentence after sentence, leading us further into truth: “I passed outside. The path was pale dirt and filled with sandspurs and was cold and wet after the rain. The great drops from the tree branches left a pine taste in me.

The forest was not dark, because darkness has nothing to do with the forest-- the forest is made of life, of light-- but the trees moved with wind and subtle creatures.”

The clean prose is hypnotic.

You won’t be able to stop reading

mid-story.

Groff is a rarity — she is both a writer’s writer and a reader’s writer. Few other writers — Maybe Stephen King, probably George Saunders — with this gift come to mind. These are writers who can be appreciated by both the literary scholar and the casual reader. Her fine-tuned craft does not alienate people, because she keeps her prose accessible and fun.

Yes, I said it: fun. Groff understands that readers want satisfaction. They want details, they want hooks, and they want to lose themselves in a well-told story.

“Florida” is the best book I’ve read all year, and I read a lot of books. Groff is an exciting writer to watch. It’s hard to imagine that she can keep improving, but that’s what she’s done with every book so far. “Florida” is a triumph.

us up,” Hagen continued, looking to the floor. “Rest in peace, John Eastburn.”

Among the countless takes per song and Carballo’s recollection of the “hours of endless soloing that was never used,” many of the band’s fondest memories of creating the album were ditching class to practice and making Kwik Shop runs for late-night recording fuel.

Upon the mention of their “cover band past,” Nguyen is the quickest member to chip in: “I wasn’t there for that.”

The rest of the band assures me that those days are long gone.

“The album is just a culmination of everything we’ve made up until now,” Carballo said. “It’s literally home grown.

Everything about the album is us.”

“It’s so fulfilling to have something that we put percent of our effort into,” Hagen continued. “It’ll be interesting to see what our next 100 percent sounds like in the next couple of years.”

From “Snowed In” to “Breakin My Heart” to “Lackadaisical,” nearly every member of After Judo has a different favorite song from “Harvard Ave.” After all, this album defines the previous two years of their college days.

Asked what their “thesis statement” for the album would be, Nguyen was again the quickest member of After Judo to reply. He looked me directly in the eyes and summed it up in one simple sentence.

“It’s good to have friends.”

Student Fees Committee hears organizational funding requests

BY ANDREW LINNABARY

Wednesday’s first Student Fees Committee meeting featured a number of budget proposals, including Student Affairs’ budget presentation. It breaks down as follows:

of $952,000 -Student Involvement requested an increase of $36,895 for a total budget of $1,020,400 -Student Life requested an increase of $55,684 for a total budget of $145,000

-Child development center requested an increase of $20,364 for a total budget of $340,664 -Counseling and testing requested an increase of $6,676 for a total budget of $229,983 -Office of Diversity and Inclusion requested an increase of $7,128 for a total budget of $54,466 -Student Conduct and Community Standards requested an increase of $10,071 for a total budget of $118,176 -Student Health requested an increase $8,495 for a total budget

Other presenters Wednesday included the debate team, College of Applied Studies Dean Shirley Lefever and Vice President of Student Affairs Teri Hall — who is also on the Student Fees committee as a non-voting member — for WSU eSports, and Student Government Association.

The Student Government Association requested $186,007 in fiscal year 2019. This year, SGA is requesting $206,825.

Student Fee Committee meetings will continue Thursday and Friday.

He drew a deck of cards from his pocket and performed a trick for a small group.

“That’s when they started laughing,” Marshall said. “The people who have never seen this before were dumbfounded. That was about turning a sad situation into something positive.”

PULL QUOTE: “That’s when they started laughing . . . That was about turning a sad situation into something positive.” — Kellen Marshall, senior Marshall unofficially celebrated senior night with his peers, Markis

McDuffie and Samajae HaynesJones, Tuesday, as the team played at home for presumably the last time this year.

“I hate to see any seniors leave, but hopefully, I’ll have Kellen stay around a little while,” Gregg Marshall said. “I have no idea what he’s going to do next year. He’s either going to be on my staff or someone else’s.”

Kellen Marshall isn’t in a hurry as his senior season winds down.

“Right now, it’s about the team,” he said. “I’ll figure out the rest later.”

LEWELHEDS

FROM PAGE 2 While “BDKMV” completely goes off, the most profound moment of the project comes during the spoken-word-anchored “Let’s Be Us.” This is Dez Hill’s track, and he completely owns it.

“Keep your hands behind your back. Swine catch you runnin’, metal bullet to your back. You’re at the funeral but your body in the bag, fam askin’ for a rulin’ but the judge ain’t black, nah.” This heartbreaking revelation highlights exactly why Lewelheds are what Wichita has been starved for.

The entire project is wrapped in the minds of improvising, jazz-trained musicians. Trumpets, keys, and drums are constantly sputtering in unhinged fashion.

“Finally” certainly has a demo

feel that is prevalent when a track soars to its noisiest moments, as it does with “Let’s Be Us.” However, that un-killable vibe also shines through when a track feels slightly under-cooked, such as on “Penthouse.” The track doesn’t quite reach the same highs that it does during Lewelheds’ climactic live sets.

The tape’s spontaneity would indicate that Lewelheds meant to put the listener right in the studio with the group. Thankfully, they pulled off exactly what was intended with their first project.

The most impressive feat is that “Finally” strongly brings on the feeling that the listener is at Kirby’s, watching them rock live.

It’s raw, unpolished, and it’s exactly what Wichita needs to be paying attention to right now. As soon as you know it, they are going to be out of this world.

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

4 | THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019

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Wichita State center Asbjørn Midtgaard makes a dunk in the second half of the game against UConn at Charles Koch Arena on Feb. 28.

SHOCKERS IN POSITION TO DRAW 6 SEED IN AAC TOURNAMENT

BY EVAN PFLUGRADT

W

ichita State will likely finish sixth in the American Athletic Conference standings.

The Shockers are the first team in the league’s existence to finish better than eighth after a 1-6 start to conference play. WSU has had to win eight of its last 10 games to enter this position.

Of course, there’s still one game left to play. WSU (16-13, 9-8) will finish its season at Tulane, which remains without a conference win (4-24, 0-16) on Saturday.

Should Memphis, who hosts Tulsa, lose and WSU win this weekend, the two teams would tie in the conference standings.

Although Memphis, having swept its series with Wichita

State, will own the tie-breaker and finish fifth.

That means when WSU travels to Memphis for the AAC tournament, they’ll draw the six seed and play East Carolina (10-19, 3-14) in the opening round of the tournament. The Shockers fought off bad offense in the first half, but handedly defeated East Carolina on Tuesday. The Shockers swept the Pirates in the regular season series.

South Florida could, technically, slide into sixth if a couple of things happen.

First, WSU would have to lose at Tulane. South Florida would then have to win out versus Tulane and Southern Methodist. If all that were to happen, WSU would fall to seventh because South Florida owns the tie-breaker, having won the teams’ only meeting.

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Wichita State guard Cesaria Ambrosio drives past UConn guard Katie Lou Samuelson during the game on Feb. 26 at Charles Koch Arena.

Women’s basketball draws 10 seed

BY EVAN PFLUGRADT

Wichita State women’s basketball team will enter the 2019 American Athletic Conference tournament in Connecticut as the No.-10 seed.

The Shockers will play No.-7 seed Tulsa at 6 p.m. Friday. The winner of that game will advance to play the No.-2 seed, Central Florida.

WSU draws the 10 seed in the tournament after a 5-11 conference

record. The Shockers split the regular-season series with Tulsa, last playing the Golden Hurricane Monday during the team’s season finale. The two teams will play one another for the second time in just four days.

The Shockers were picked to finish No. 10 in the conference during the preseason. Last season, WSU finished eighth in its inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference.

“RIGHT NOW, WE REALIZE THAT IF WE WANT TO GO TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT, WE HAVE TO GO WIN THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT.” ­—Gregg Marshall, Head Coach

If WSU wins Saturday at Tulane, the team will play in the conference tournament at 9 p.m. (CT) next Thursday, March 14.

The winner of that game will play the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals the following day. That team will either be Central Florida or Temple, but could also be Houston or Cincinnati.

UCF hosts Cincinnati on Thursday before traveling to Temple on Saturday. Should

Central Florida win one game, the team will likely take the No. 3 seed. That’s assuming Cincinnati and Houston each win at least one of their two remaining games.

If Temple wins its regular-season finale at home against UCF, neither Houston nor Cincinnati can fall to third. Temple, assuming they wins on Thursday, would jump to third in the standings should Cincinnati beat UCF on Thursday. But should UCF beat Cincinnati, Temple could tie for third. The winner would be determined by the conference’s tie-breaker rules.

WSU Head Coach Gregg Marshall said he’s admired how his seniors, Markis McDuffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones, have handled a tough year — one of transition for the program.

“They are used to, at this time, being talked about as where in the (NCAA) tournament, what seed are we going to get, what region are we going to play in, who are we going to draw,” Marshall said.

“Right now, we realize that if we want to go to the NCAA Tournament, we have to go win the American Athletic Conference Tournament.”

Wichita State has a chance — albeit not a convincing one — but a chance to win the conference tournament. The team is on the upswing, having won eight oftheir last 10 games.

The Shockers have only won the conference twice since Gregg Marshall has been the coach — and none of those were in the American Athletic Conference.

The AAC tournament will be played March 14-17 at the FedexForum in Memphis.

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How a crazed Shocker basketball fan helped Carl Hall see clearly

BY MARSHALL SUNNER

Patty Beamer keeps a signed photo of former Shocker Carl Hall in her office.

Hall, a 6-foot-8 senior on Wichita State’s Final Four team, signed the picture, “To Patty: Thanks for looking out for me.”

Beamer is always looking out for others — and when she set her sights on Hall, she noticed something other’s didn’t. He was struggling to look back.

“He was always squinting,” Beamer said.

Hall was a force. His 6-foot-8, 240-lb body would bully opponents.

He was a full embodiment of Gregg Marshall’s “Play Angry” motto — but perhaps too angry. That’s when Beamer took notice. Beamer approached Hall.

“She asked me why I frown and look so angry always,” Hall said. But Hall wasn’t frowning intentionally. It was because he had trouble seeing. Only he hadn’t told anyone just how badly he was struggling.

Beamer went to the team’s optometrist and told him Hall couldn’t see. Hall learned he had Keratoconus, a condition in which the clear tissue on the front of the eye’s cornea bulges outward.

The condition typically causes distorted vision. Hall was practically going blind.

Doctors had prescribed him a pair of contact lenses, but he was still squinting. He tore one of the lenses and had stopped wearing them. Beamer took matters into her own hands and called the optometrist herself. In a matter of days, she returned with Hall’s recognizable goggles — a staple of his two-year career.

“I thought it was crazy someone thought of that,” Hall said. “It shows the type of person she is.”

Beamer, a resident native of Pratt, has a long history with WSU. Her first time at the university was far from traditional. She had a 1.5 G.P.A., and left for the Airforce, where she received the rank of Lieutenant Commander Nurse Corp. She returned after retiring from the Airforce in 2008 in pursuit of her master’s in nursing. Today, she’s a Health Professions professor.

Her arrival back at the university lined up with the start of Gregg Marshall’s tenure. Back then, she

KHÁNH NGUYỄN/THE SUNFLOWER Health Professions professor Patty Beamer speaks about her love for the Wichita State men’s basketball team.

could sit courtside with friends relatively easily. Then, the team started winning — a lot. As the team won, Beamer’s love for the team grew, too.

She started to follow the Shockers everywhere. To Hawaii, to Puerto Rico, to Madison Square Garden when the Shockers won the NIT in 2011. She was in Atlanta for the Final Four in 2013, too.

Her office in Ahlberg Hall is decorated in autographed posters, photos, and art. These represent the collection of her favorite moments and times where she experienced joy. But her passion is is often sideled with more than just fan work.

It’s the mental aspect of the game Beamer likes the most, she said.

She’s often quick to defend social stigmas associated with Division-I athletes. Perceptions that players have it all — money, food, happiness — aren’t always true. Thanks to her close association to the team and its players (and her master’s degree in mental health), she knows this all too well.

Does Wichita State have a chance at the postseason?

BY EVAN PFLUGRADT

Wichita State left the Missouri Valley Conference for a reason.

If the Shockers played better competition, the team would stand a better chance at drawing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The league’s conference tournament wouldn’t be as high-stakes that way.

This year, the only way WSU can punch a ticket to its eight consecutive NCAA Tournament is by winning the American Athletic Conference Championship in Memphis next week.

“Right now, we realize that if we want to go to the NCAA Tournament, we have to go win the American Athletic Conference Tournament,” Head Coach Gregg Marshall said.

The Shockers are likely to draw the six seed in the tournament.

That’ll mean going through East Carolina before meeting the No.-3 seed in the tournament. That team could range from Houston, to Cincinnati, to Temple, or Central Florida. WSU owns just one win against those opponents this season — against UCF in January.

BIKE SHARE ICT FROM PAGE 1

You can also borrow a bike by text message. Text the word “Start” and the bike’s number to 202999-3924. You’ll receive a lockbox code and further instructions.

Student annual memberships are $20, and regular annual memberships are $30. Riders can also rent bikes for $3 an hour.

Current locations around Wichita include: • Advanced Learning Library • Auto Park • Broadway and Mt. Vernon • Central Riverside • Cleveland and 1st Street • Clifton Square • Great Plains Nature Center

“We’ve done a pretty good job lately of improving our stock and our seeding going into the (AAC) tournament,” he said.

Marshall would like for his seniors, Markis McDuffie and Samajae Haynes-Jones to have a postseason.

“If we don’t [win the conference tournament], I just know that the way those guys love basketball, they are going to want to play in some postseason as long as we can keep winning, and stay above .500 and have a winning record in our league. Somebody’s going to pick us up for some postseason tournament.”

That invitation could likely be the National Invitational Tournament, a tournament consisting of teams that just missed the cut for the NCAA Tournament. In 2011, the last time the Shockers played in the NIT, they won the whole thing — cutting down the nets in Madison Square Garden.

WSU played in the NIT in 2010 as well, losing in the opening round. Ultimately, the team is hopeful it will continue its streak of 10 consecutive postseasons, when the time comes in two short weeks.

• Handley and Delano Path • Hillside and Douglas • Hydraulic and Douglas • Madison and Douglas • North YMCA • OJ Watson Park • River Vista • Rutan and Douglas • Revolutsia • Sedgwick Co. Extension Office • Sedgwick County Zoo • Wichita Art Museum • Wichita Transit Center • Wichita Transit Administration Office • Wichita State University: Heskett Center, Innovation Campus, Metroplex and Rhatigan Student Center • West 11th and Bitting • 1700 W. Douglas

That’s also what led her to see the mental block senior Markis McDuffie was struggling with last year after returning from a stress fracture that caused him to miss 11 games. He was trying to make up for lost time — playing too hard, and trying to force his game when it just wasn’t working.

“She said I wasn’t looking like myself,” McDuffie said. “She told me to start acting like myself again.

When she told me that, it shows you how many people care about you. It really boosted my confidence.”

Why does Beamer stay after games — dedicainge herself to knowing every in and out of the program? Because Wichita State basketball brings her joy. She doesn’t seek out tickets, autographs, or pictures — although they happen from time to time. She said she wants to enjoy the experience of her symbiotic relationship with the team she’s come to love.

“I don’t want anything from them,” Beamer said. “I want my joy, that’s all.”

KHÁNH NGUYỄN/THE SUNFLOWER Wichita State basketball memorabilia hangs on the walls of Patty Beamer’s office in Ahlberg Hall.

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Spring Sculpture Dedications The Ulrich Museum of Art’s Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection is growing this spring with the dedication of three new sculptures. Please join us in celebrating these new additions to the campus.

Randy Regier The Celestial Mechanic

Tuesday, April 2 3:30 P.M. Reveal and Remarks 4:00 P.M. Reception North Lawn of Ahlberg Hall 5:30 P.M. Artist Talk Ulrich Museum of Art

Elyn Zimmerman Font

Tuesday, April 23 3:30 P.M. Reveal and Remarks 4:00 P.M. Reception Shocker Hall Plaza 5:30 P.M. Artist Talk Ulrich Museum of Art

Tom Otterness Shockers

Sunday, May 12 3:30 P.M. Reveal and Remarks 4:00 P.M. Reception

South Lawn Duerksen Fine Arts Center

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THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019

looking back

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

Wichita State’s Samajae Haynes-Jones is fouled attempting a contested shot by Oklahoma Sooners defenders on Dec. 8 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma handed Wichita State its worst loss — a 32-point throttling defeat — under Gregg Marshall. At that point, the Shockers had a 4-4 record and hadn’t won a game on the road.

Far left, Wichita State’s Samajae Haynes-Jones blows by Southern Mississippi defenders on Dec. 15 at INTRUST Bank Arena. Wichita State gave up a 17-point lead, but held on, winning by three.

The Shockers ended non-conference play with a 7-5 record. Left, Gregg Marshall celebrates a commanding win against Central Florida.

After losing its first three conference games, Wichita State handedly defeated UCF on Jan. 16. At the time, UCF was on top of the conference standings. That, however, didn’t break Wichita State’s losing spell, as the team dropped its next three games and fell to a 1-6 conference record.

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

Above, Wichita State’s Samajae Haynes-Jones drives into traffic against Southern Methodist defenders on Jan. 30.

Haynes-Jones hit a gamewinning shot, his first of two this season, to beat Southern Methodist 85-83.

The win snapped a threegame losing streak, and kick-started what would become Wichita State’s best stretch of the year — a four-game winning streak.

Right, Wichita State’s Jamarius Burton pulls the ball out of the hands of Tulsa’s Sterling Taplin on Feb. 5. The Shockers pulled down a nine-point Tulsa lead in the final 11 minutes of the game before surging to its third conference victory of the season. Wichita State once again shocked Tulsa three weeks later, completing the series sweep.

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

Wichita State’s Dexter Dennis finishes a breakaway dunk off the steal by teammate Erik Stevenson. The Shockers defeated East Carolina in the team’s final home game of the season. After starting league play with a 1-6 conference record, Wichita State won eight of its next 10 games and put itself in sixth place in the conference standings. Wichita State is the first team in American Athletic Conference history to start 1-6 in conference play and finish better than eighth in the league.

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JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER Wichita State senior Samajae Haynes-Jones looks for a pass during the first half of the game against ECU Tuesday at Charles Koch Arena.

Haynes-Jones: ‘I’ve been given the opportunity of a lifetime’

S

BY SEAN MARTY

amajae Haynes-Jones will remember many things from his last game in Charles Koch Arena.

He’ll remember the fans, the energy, the buzzer beaters, his teammates — and his mother, who died of cancer when he was in high school.

“She’s always here with me,” Haynes-Jones said ahead of his senior game Tuesday. “It’s always tough when I think about it, but it’s something that keeps me motivated.”

Haynes-Jones wasn’t an overnight success. Despite winning a 6A state championship with Wichita East on Devlin Court as a senior, he dealt with grade issues — keeping him from jumping directly to a Division-I university out of high school. He

spent his early years at Hutchinson Community College, where he won a NJCAA championship. When he got to Wichita State, he played a limited role behind Landry Shamet. It wasn’t until he had no choice but to take ownership of the team that Haynes-Jones became the senior WSU needed. So when Haynes-Jones took the floor for the Shockers’ final home game of the year, he did so slowly — remembering every moment.

“Everybody has their own story to tell, their own trauma or tough things to deal with in life,” WSU Head Coach Gregg Marshall said before the game Tuesday. “Samajae has had quite a bit.

“Just the fact that he’s on the precipice now of his senior night and graduation and just fulfilling his basketball career at the collegiate level is great.”

Haynes-Jones has helped WSU weather the storm of an up-and-down rebuilding year.

He’s characterized success with two dramatic buzzer beaters, and excelled at times to put the team in a position to win.

“All that he has overcome is amazing,” Marshall said. “It’s a story that he can tell now. It’s been a dream come true for he, his family, and for the Wichita State Shockers, to have him be a part of this program.”

It’s sometimes hard for HaynesJones, a recognized introvert, to put into words what his career with the Shockers has meant to him, he said.

“I’ve been given the opportunity of a lifetime,” Haynes-Jones said.

“I’m thankful for it and I’m just taking it all in right now with my last time playing in Wichita for the Shockers.”

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER Coach Gregg Marshall speaks with Samajae Haynes-Jones and his sister after the senior’s final game in Charles Koch Arena on March 5, 2019.

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

Markis McDuffie drives the paint during the second half of the game against ECU on March 5, 2019 at Charles Koch Arena.

From Gumby to a 21-yearold senior, Markis McDuffie has ‘improved as a basketball player, and grown as a man’

BY MARSHALL SUNNER AND SEAN MARTY

Markis McDuffie first arrived at Wichita State a follower.

He was a lanky 17-year-old on a team with All-Americans Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker. That team was full of success.

McDuffie became accustomed to winning. As a sophomore, his team-best scoring and rebounding average catapulted WSU to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference. Even still, Gregg Marshall would have described him as a follower.

That changed when McDuffie stepped in as this season’s most-experienced player.

“This year made him (McDuffie) become a leader,” Marshall said.

“That’s the biggest thing he’s going to take away this year.”

“Through all the challenges and all the trials and tribulations, I’ve improved as a basketball player, and grown as a man,” McDuffie said.

“We’ve had a tough year,” Wichita State coach Gregg

Marshall said. “For guys that are used to winning and winning big, like myself and Markis (McDuffie) and Samajae (Haynes-Jones), it was tough.

There’s been times where it’s been really tough.”

It’s how McDuffie battled through tough stretches that Marshall will remember how 17-year-old “Gumby” grew up into a young but mature 21-year-old senior.

“Those guys (McDuffie and Haynes-Jones) come every day, whether they are a little bit down — they don’t show it,” Marshall said. “They keep fighting. They keep trying to persevere through adversity. That’s all you can ask as a coach.”

McDuffie, Marshall said, is the bridge between the VanVleet, Baker-era and the future of Wichita State basketball.

His transformation from charismatic youth to a mature senior could best be described by teammate Asbjørn Midtgaard, a sophomore center.

Midtgaard arrived to Wichita State from Denmark with one

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER Wichita State senior Markis McDuffie makes a move around Oklahoma forward Brady Manek during their game against the University of Oklahoma at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on Dec. 8, 2018.

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

Above left, Markis McDuffie hugs coach Gregg Marshall after stepping off the court at Charles Koch Arena for possibly the last time. Above right, McDuffie is surrounded by his family as he lifts up his jersey at center court Tuesday.

suitcase — that’s all he could really afford to bring with him.

When Midtgaard arrived in Wichita, he didn’t have many clothes. McDuffie invited him over to pick out a pair of shoes.

That was an opening, Midtgaard said, to understanding what kind of leader McDuffie was both on and off the court.

“It means a lot to me, and it really hasn’t hit me yet knowing

that this is my last game at Koch Arena,” McDuffie said. “All the memories, the great times and bad times, grew me into the person that I am today.

“I don’t know when it’s going to hit me, but I just know how amazing this journey has been.

It wasn’t the easiest for Marshall to sell McDuffie’s parents on WSU — a distant move from his home in Patterson,

New Jersey.

“His mom trusted us to let him come halfway across the country,” Marshall said. “That was a big discussion we had when we recruited him. I hope they are pleased with the results — we are certainly pleased.”

“I’m kind of at a loss for words right now . . . I just appreciate everything,” McDuffie said. “I will never forget being here.”