Wichita State Basketball: Breaking down the 2018 recruiting class

SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 16: The Wichita State Shockers mascot gestures in the second half against the Marshall Thundering Herd during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena on March 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

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SAN DIEGO, CA – MARCH 16: The Wichita State Shockers mascot gestures. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Wichita State basketball suffered a mass exodus this offseason. Can head coach Gregg Marshall immediately recover with his incoming 2018 recruiting class?

Wichita State basketball has been one of the most consistent programs in college basketball for the last several seasons. Whether in the Missouri Valley Conference or in the AAC, the Shockers have performed extremely well year in and year out. Head coach Gregg Marshall has done some outstanding things with the program to build it up to where it is today. He is, without question, one of the more underrated coaches in the country.

However, he will more than have his hands full during this upcoming season. Wichita State, which is usually a team built on experience and depth, will have neither during 2018-19. The program experienced a mass exodus this offseason, most of which was anticipated due to graduation, but will still greatly affect the program in this season. For reference, the following players all graduated after this past year: Shaquille Morris, Darral Willis Jr, Conner Frankamp, Rashard Kelly, Zach Brown, and Rauno Nurger.

However, those are not even all of the players leaving this offseason. Most notably star point guard Landry Shamet took his talents to the NBA, where he was selected 26th overall in the draft. In addition, scholarship players C.J. Keyser and Austin Reaves along with walk-ons Brett Barney and Kaelen Malone elected to transfer to other schools.

This means that there will only be four returning scholarship players on the roster. These include Markis McDuffie, Rod Brown, Samajae Haynes-Jones, and Asbjorn Midtgaard. Walk-ons Brycen Bush and Jacob Herrs are also still with the program.

Because of this, Coach Marshall desperately needs his incoming recruiting class to make an immediate difference. This class, although ranked at just No. 60 in the country, consists of five freshmen and two JUCO transfers. There are clearly plenty of reinforcements coming in. The question is, though: how much impact can they have?

Let’s dive into each player and take a look at what they will bring to Wichita State.

(NOTE: Although Rodgerick Brown is listed as a member of the 2018 recruiting class on 247Sports, he enrolled at Wichita State early and redshirted this past season as a member of the 2017 high school class. That is why he is not included in this piece. West Virginia transfer Teddy Allen, who is also joining Wichita State, is also not included.)