Before the Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker era, before the Final Four run or the 35-0 start, there was the 2011 National Invitational Tournament championship team.
That 2010-11 Wichita State basketball team, a 29-8 squad with seniors in J.T. Durley, Graham Hatch, Aaron Ellis and Gabe Blair, is often overlooked because of the success that followed them in the program.
But Shockers coach Gregg Marshall constantly refers to that team as the “impetus” to the program’s seven straight NCAA Tournaments that followed.
Eight years later, Marshall and the Shockers are back in New York City for the NIT semifinals, this time against Lipscomb at 6 p.