Busting Brackets
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Wichita State Basketball: What makes the Shockers a contender?

By Lukas Harkins

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 22: The Wichita State Shockers bench and fans celebrate a point during the first half of the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irishat the Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 22, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 22: The Wichita State Shockers bench and fans celebrate a point during the first half of the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irishat the Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 22, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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WICHITA, KS – DECEMBER 22: Frankamp
WICHITA, KS – DECEMBER 22: Frankamp /

Veteran leadership breeds success

Wichita State is off to another hot start this season and that is because of their coaching and talent on the court. In addition to talent, though, it also helps to be experienced. In each of the last two years, the top three scorers on the national championship teams (Villanova and North Carolina) have been upperclassmen.

For Wichita State, they are privileged enough to have eight upperclassmen all playing significant roles. In fact, all eight (six seniors) play more than 14 minutes per game on the season. Each of them brings something different to the Shockers and adds to the overall depth of the squad.

Leading the way for the group of seniors is big man Shaq Morris. The second-leading scorer on the team, Morris is a high-energy player who can do it all on offense. His 6’7″, 261-pound frame is very difficult to deal with and he is a skilled offensive player. For the season, he is making 53.0% of his total shots, which includes hitting on 10 of his 23 3-point attempts (43.5%).

Next in the group is the sharpshooting Conner Frankamp. After spending his freshman season with Kansas, Frankamp has enjoyed a terrific three-year career with the Shockers. He is currently averaging a career-high 11.8 points per game (third on the team) while splashing home 39.2% of his 5.7 3-point attempts per game. The underrated part of Frankamp’s game is his ability to create. For the season, he holds an assist-to-turnover rate of 7.0.

Darral Willis Jr. (11.6 points, 6.9 rebounds), Rauno Nurger (6.3 points), Rashard Kelly (5.9 points, 7.4 rebounds), and Zach Brown (5.0 points) round out the seniors on this talented roster. The remarkable thing is that as good as the senior class is, the juniors are well-represented as well.

Even though he has missed the majority of the season so far, junior Markis McDuffie is a huge part of this talented group of upperclassmen. The leading scorer on the team a year ago, McDuffie has only played in four of the team’s 15 games so far this season, averaging only 14.5 minutes in those contests. With that being said, once McDuffie starts to feel more comfortable on the court, the Shockers will be even more talented.

Another junior, Samajae Haynes-Jones is a JUCO transfer that has made an instant impact for the Shockers. In addition to adding another shooter to the lineup (11-for-17 from three), Haynes-Jones is a solid playmaker with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.

If these upperclassmen are just part of what drives Wichita’s State success, what else makes this team tick? Enter superstar sophomore guard Landry Shamet.