NCAA Basketball: Butler, SDSU headline National Coach of the Year rankings

Gregg Marshall has been one of the best head coaches in the country throughout the 21st century. Both with regard to his time at Winthrop and Wichita State, he has been very successful and should be recognized as one of the defensive-minded coaches in the nation. Through the first two months of this season, Wichita State has been remarkably thanks to superb defensive efforts in just about every game. The Shockers have started this season with a 13-1 record and hold the 10th-best adjusted defensive efficiency rating in the nation.

Heading into this campaign, many people expected that Memphis, Houston, and Cincinnati would be battling for the AAC regular-season title. Now, though, Wichita State can make a claim to be the favorite moving forward and that is largely due to its defensive efforts and offensive balance.

The Shockers might not feature one true go-to scorer (yet) but all of the pieces seem to work together. The underclassmen backcourt trio of Erik Stevenson, Jamarius Burton, and Tyson Etienne is one of the most underrated in the nation while Jaime Echenique anchors the paint.

Wichita State is one of the most inexperienced teams in the country yet it performing at an elite level. The Shockers are taking care of business on the court and they are earning more respect as the season progresses. Coach Marshall deserves a ton of credit for this team’s 13-1 start and the team should only improve over the coming weeks.