Welcome to The Sports Bank’s third annual college basketball season preview series. Two years we looked at 99 teams in 99 days. Last year, we were slightly more aggressive and expanded to 111 teams in 111 days and will do so again as we look ahead to the 2012-2013 season.
We will rank the 75 power conference teams and top 36 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, transfers, incoming freshmen, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
The Wichita State Shockers lose all five starters from last year’s team which won 27 games and earned a five seed in the NCAA Tournament. While there is plenty of turnover on the roster, Greg Marshall’s team should still be in the mix of the Missouri Valley Conference race.
WICHITA STATE SHOCKERS
Last Season: 1st, 16-2 in MVC, 27-6 overall
Predicted MVC Finish: 3rd
Projected Depth Chart
C: Ehimen Orukpe (Sr)/Chadrack Lufile (Jr)
PF: Carl Hall (Sr)/Jake White (So)
SF: Nick Wiggins (Jr)/Cleanthony Early (Jr)/Derail Green (Fr)
SG: Demetric Williams (Sr)/Tekele Cotton (So)/Evan Wessel (So)/Ron Baker (Fr)
PG: Malcolm Armstead (Sr)/Joe Mitchell (Jr)/Fred Van Vleet (Fr)
Gone: PG-Joe Ragland, C-Garrett Stutz, SG-David Kyles, G/F-Toure’ Murry, F-Ben Smith, SF-Ede Egharveba (transfer), PF-James Anacreon (transfer)
2012-2013 Outlook:
With so many key contributors graduating, Marshall welcomes in eight players who didn’t suit up for the Shockers last season; four junior college transfers, two true freshmen, and two players who redshirted last year.
Carl Hall is one of two returning players who saw significant playing time a year ago. A former JUCO transfer himself, Hall was efficient on the offensive end but also brought toughness and a tenacity on the boards. Seven-footer Ehimen Orukpe figures to start alongside Hall up-front. Orukpe is used solely for his size as a rebounder and shot blocker since he possesses practically no offensive game.
After stops at three different JUCO’s, Chadarick Lufile lands in Wichita. He is a capable offensive player with decent range to his jumper and will probably see more minutes than Orukpe due to his versatility. Jake White will bring some energy off the bench as well and also has some range to his jumper.
Junior college transfers Nick Wiggins (Lufile’s best friend and a fellow Canadian) and Cleanthony Early have a chance to start right away at small forward. Wiggins adds offensive firepower with his sharpshooting ability from deep though he can also slash to the basket. Early, who chose Wichita State over top 25 caliber programs like Baylor, San Diego State, and Alabama, has great ups but is also a capable jump shooter. Freshman Derail Green is likely the odd man out at small forward.
The new look backcourt has a trio of point guards capable of making an immediate impact. Former Oregon Duck Malcolm Armstead should have the leg up in the competition due to his previous experiences playing high Division One college basketball. However, former junior college transfer Joe Mitchell who redshirted last season seems ready to play heavy minutes and freshman Fred Van Vleet was a top 20 point guard in the 2012 class according to most of the major scouting sites.
Demetric Williams is a combo guard who played a significant role off the bench last season and should take a step up into the starting five. Tekele Cotton was used sparingly as a sub and that will likely be the case again this season while Evan Wessel and Ron Baker provide depth in case of injury.
There is certainly some talent on this Shockers team but with so many new faces on the roster, it is hard to rank them much higher than this. With Creighton and Northern Iowa each returning a solid core from a year ago, they get ranked ahead of Wichita State. I will say that if Marshall can get this group acclimated with one another, they are more than capable of making a run though not near the amount of success they saw last season.
Player to Watch: Malcolm Armstead
Outside of Williams, Armstead is the only other player on the roster to have scored at least 300 points at the D-1 level. With one year of eligibility remaining, Armstead should be anxious to end his career with a bang and Marshall will lean heavily on the senior’s shoulders due to his experience.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/13 at VCU
11/20 vs. DePaul (Cancun Challenge)
11/21 vs. Iowa/Western Kentucky (Cancun Challenge)
11/28 vs. Tulsa
12/13 at Tennessee
12/22 vs. Southern Miss
OTHER 111 IN 111’S:
#67 Virginia Cavaliers
#68 Villanova Wildcats
#69 Maryland Terrapins
#70 Marshall Thundering Herd
#71 Iona Gaels
#72 Northwestern Wildcats
#73 Oklahoms State Cowboys
#74 Rutgers Scarlet Knights
#75 USC Trojans
#76 UConn Huskies
#77 Harvard Crimson
#78 Xavier Musketeers
#79 Ole Miss Rebels
#80 Clemson Tigers
#81 Oregon State Beavers
#82 Texas A&M Aggies
#83 Providence Friars
#84 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
#85 Oklahoma Sooners
#86 Lehigh Mountain Hawks
#87 Washington State Cougars
#88 Long Beach State 49ers
#89 Belmont Bruins
#90 Vanderbilt Commodores
#91 Dayton Flyers
#92 Houston Cougars
#93 UCF Knights
#94 Old Dominion Monarchs
#95 Oregon Ducks
#96 LSU Tigers
#97 South Carolina Gamecocks
#98 Seton Hall Pirates
#99 Georgia Bulldogs
#100 DePaul Blue Demons
#101 Boston College Eagles
#102 Penn State Nittany Lions
#103 Arizona State Sun Devils
#104 Virginia Tech Hokies
#105 Texas Tech Red Raiders
#106 Auburn Tigers
#107 Wake Forest Demon Deacons
#108 TCU Horned Frogs
#109 Mississippi State Bulldogs
#110 Utah Utes
#111 Nebraska Cornhuskers
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag.)
You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.