Where Does WSU Go From Here?
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First of all, thanks for letting me even mention this topic. It would have been taboo to speak of any other college / university on that other site.
Anyway, we discussed WSU a fair amount this season and I’d be interested to see what’s on your minds.
Does Marshall stay? If not, what does that do to the program? Will they seek membership in another conference so they won’t have to downplay the weakness of the Missouri Valley again. Or do they stay and dominate and hope for weak draws in the tournament? They won’t be under the radar any more.
Or does anyone care one way or the other?
Thanks for your input!
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Or does anyone care one way or the other?
Well no not really, but in the overall landscape of college basketball one has to wonder what’s next for them.
What conference would they join? I’m not sure. If Marshall leaves, I think they are a middle of the road team for many more years to come. He does have a decent recruiting class coming in and a few players staying so they should be decent again next year.
I could see them being a Butler like team, hot for a few years, coach gets a bigger job and pooof, they are no longer on the map of mattering much anymore.
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@nuleafjhawk I believe they stay relevant as long as Marshall is HC. Does he stay? Who the heck knows. Money can be a big motivator.
I think they have missed the boat on joining another conference any time soon. I thought they should have pursued the A-10 but I believe they have signed on some new schools lately and the widow has shut.
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@That Is All
Dayton might be moving tot he All-Catholic Big East leaving an opening in the A-10.
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WSU has had success on and off over the years. Ralph Miller had some decent teams in the 50s, Gene Smithson had some glory years in the early 80s with players like Cliff Levingston, Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniels and recently they had great success with Marshall; however.in between they have faded into the woodwork and I suspect once Marshall leaves they will go back to being a middle of the pack team.
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@JayHawkFanToo what would it take for him to leave? Money? The 2 guards to graduation?
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Okay. Cool. I would like to see WSU pursue the A-10. I think it would be a great fit considering their lack of football program.
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@JayHawkFanToo Yes, I remember the '81 “Battle of New Orleans” game all too well. I’m still mad at Darnell Valentine for missing 15 layups (slight exaggeration) that day…
The three Shockers you mentioned were really great players though!
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I am pretty sure that WSU would match most money he is offered by other schools except for the deep pockets Elite programs. I imagine he is looking for a major program with a decent chance of success where he can stay for a long time and establish a legacy. There was talk last year that UCLA was interested but they ended up getting Alford instead. He should be a fairly hot commodity right now and he also has a decent core of players coming back, so WSU should still be good next year and run the table in the MVC, which should give him additional leverage.
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@That Is All
The A-10 would be an excellent fit for WSU,.
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While I was surprised Marshall wasn’t announced as a candidate for the Wake Forest job (at least I missed it if he were), his being a South Carolinian born and raised, and a coach there for many years makes him a much more natural candidate for the South Carolina job, than the Wake job.
Frank Martin has had two bad seasons at South Carolina and got suspended by the AD the last game for abusive behavior. My hunch is Marshall is probably biding his time for Frank Martin to implode and be S-Cannned sooner or later.
WSU apparently has the kind of backers with deep pockets to match offers from anywhere.
Marshall at 51 has to think about stability, too. He can probably parlay what he has done at WSU into a long term contract offering him career security at least to 60, and with enough FU money to retire at that point. Nine years goes by in a blink from 50 onwards.
Marshall’s alternative, at 51, is to go to a South Carolina, or a Wake that is in a slump, and in a much tougher conference, and very easily go .500 and get S-Canned in 3-5 years; then his career is back down to some mid major at a modest salary and a rebuild starting at 55 that he could easily not hang around long enough to get the rewards of.
So: unless South Carolina S-Cans Frank Martin this off season, or at the end of next season, I suspect Marshall will remain at WSU for the long haul, unless the deep pockets at WSU refuse to give him security.
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Look, what many WichitaState fans (along with dear Gregg Marshall…) do NOT understand is that most KU people are not antagonistic towards WSU. It is not a rivalry. They arent in our conference. Many of us KU alums from around Wichita may have friends/family that attended WSU. We may have grown up in Wichita, rooting for the 80s era Shockers…And, as KU fans, we should know good basketball when we see it, and WSU definitely was a strong, solid contender this season.
I’d specifically like to tell Gregg Marshall to CUT the anti-KU rhetoric, because this KU alum did spend 5 figures to put my daughter thru WSU (so she could live at home), who is now at KU professional school. There is no reason to alienate part of YOUR fanbase, Mr. Marshall.
Could WSU “beat KU” someday? Sure. KU has been beat by MVC teams before: Bradley, UNI.
Since some of KU nation has been choosing to beat up on Bill Self regarding an early Tourney exit…I’ll spread some over to Gregg Marshall: Early exit from Tourney diminishes the special season WSU was working on. I personally wanted better for WSU than getting beat by a dysfunctional Kentucky, who seemed to awaken in that very game vs. WSU.
GAME SYNOPSIS: WSU lost to KY because of 5 plays, all seemingly +60% chance of scoring, that each resulted in ZERO points for WSU: Missed Cleanthony alleyoop dunk att, Wessel 0-2 at FT line, Wiggins 0-2 at FT line, 2 blocked Baker layup attempts. It should have never come down to VanVleet’s desperation 3heave.
Key returnees: VanVleet, Baker, Cotton, Colby? We see how important guardplay is, so WSU has a SOLID, stellar guard core. But who will fill Cleanthony Early’s shoes? He literally was WSU’s “andrew wiggins” role. He did everything for WSU, a do-it-all 6’7 athlete with hops and a 3gun. Do they go to a more conventional 4man now?
Final thought: Will Marshall be defined by how this group of guards does, or can he reload in 2-3 years with another contending lineup? Can he win the MVC multiple times ‘straight’? I’m sure WSU fans are devastated, as this amounted to less-than-last-year’s result, with an actually better team…welcome to KU’s world, where seemingly a 1 or 2 seed team can get beat in the Madness before making it to the Final 4. Let’s see if WSU can sustain the excellence needed to be a perennial top10 team. Big question.
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@jaybate 1.0 “9 years go by in a blink after 50”
It sure did!!!
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The MVC is a much weaker conference with Creighton gone and WSU should continue to dominate. Other than Cleanthony Early he has the bulk of the team coming back and a few decent recruit, so next year should not be that much different. In a way, in the last couple of years he had a “perfect storm” with his current group of players, which formed an incredible cohesive unit, and I am not sure if he can duplicate the results once they are gone.
I believe his best chance to leave is at the end of next season, after he has put together another great record, albeit against weak competition.
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Amen to that!!
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@JayHawkFanToo I think he’ll wait til baker and fred v, leave, 2 years. Early leaving will hurt non-con schedule, but they should dominate Missouri valley. Koch bros have deep pockets. I agree, perfect storm of great, hard-working kids. Let’s see how he develops these new guys. Love ralster’s dear Gregg Marshall post!
