Wichita State Basketball: Isaac Brown has earned head coaching job

Isaac Brown was put in a thankless position in November: Replace a historically-excellent coach forced out by scandal two weeks before the start of a regular season unlike any other. Don’t forget that there is a pandemic raging across the globe. Also, remember that seven of your players transferred out after the season, giving the program even less time to gel with more disparate parts.

The Wichita State Shockers were picked to finish seventh in the AAC in the conference’s preseason poll, released before Gregg Marshall’s removal. With Brown in charge? Seventh place seemed like a lofty aspiration for the lifelong assistant coach.

Fast forward three months. Brown and his Shockers have lived up to their name, upsetting the No. 6 Houston Cougars on Thursday night to improve to 13-4 and 9-2 in AAC play. The program picked to finish seventh in the conference is now in first, positioning itself for an unlikely at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Granted, Wichita State isn’t just beating up on a weakened AAC. Outside of a 20-point rout at the hands of Memphis, the Shockers have avoided being blown out almost all season. They played both Missouri and Oklahoma State (two likely tourney teams) close, losing to the latter by just three points. They also have a win at Ole Miss and a win at Tulsa.

One of the defining stats of this Shockers team has been their ability to close out tight games. They’ve now had nine games decided by five points or less, but have only suffered defeat in one of those contests.

Meanwhile, their success has continued without the presence of the star power seen struggling at other schools during the 2020-21 season. Tyson Etienne has emerged as a dominant scorer at 17.3 points per game, but only one other player, Alterique Gilbert, has a scoring average in the double-digits and the UConn transfer is just a hair over the line at 10.2 points per game.

The best news for Wichita State is that this success might be sustainable. Gilbert was a grad transfer, but Trey Wade is the only other senior getting regular minutes in the rotation. The team will have the ability to run it back next season with largely the same core intact.

Of course, Brown is now an inextricable part of that core. He’s a lock for AAC Coach of the Year and is beginning to garner some buzz for the national award as well, despite coaching a team that remains unranked and far from an NCAA Tournament certainty. He has his team playing well above expectations and enjoying the ride.

Naming Brown the interim coach before the season made sense, as Wichita State was scrambling in the departure of Marshall. Brown had been an assistant for the team since 2014-15 and was the team’s primary recruiter. But he had never been a head coach in his career and there was no need to rush into a permanent decision.

Now, that decision has been made for Wichita State. Isaac Brown has been coaching with the interim tag for three months, but it’s clear he’s suited for the permanent job. He has earned it. It should only be a matter of time before AD Darron Boatright comes to the same conclusion and locks up Brown for the foreseeable future.