The RoundHouse | 11/7/2018 10:23:00 PM

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Talking basketball with the President. Nobody at Wichita State knew Wednesday would end with a visit in the Oval Office with Donald Trump.
 
That door from the Roosevelt Room opens when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a big Shocker fan. Pompeo's office helped arrange a White House tour for the Shockers and, after a wait in the room decorated with paintings of Theodore Roosevelt and his 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, a surprise chat and picture with President Trump.
 
"We didn't think, waking up, we were going to get see the President of the United States," Wichita State senior Samajae Haynes-Jones said. "That's something."
 
Trump asked Wichita State's record. He asked to identify the team's top player. He asked the players if Gregg Marshall is a good coach (they all nodded).
 
"Basketball is taking you places you never thought that you would go to," Wichita State freshman Erik Stevenson said.  "He's the President of the United States, so he's kind of a big deal."
 
Marshall had to explain Wichita State is 0-1 after a loss to Louisiana Tech. He assured the President things will improve. On Friday, the Shockers play Providence (1-0) in the Veterans Classic at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
 
"There's a lot of potential," Marshall said. "I have a lot of work to do."
 
The President shook hands. He bantered with Marshall and the rest of the traveling party. The group of more than 25 crowded in for a picture with President Trump seated at his desk.
 
"That's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Wichita State senior Markis McDuffie said.
 
The Oval Office and White House tour ended a busy day that started with a morning charter flight from Wichita to Washington Dulles International Airport. A bus took the team to the United States Capitol, where staff members from the office of U.S. Representative Ron Estes led a tour.
 
In the National Statuary Hall, McDuffie posed with Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey, McDuffie's home. Morris Udeze, from Houston, took a picture with Texas' Sam Houston.
 
"You never get a chance to actually experience it – and we did that today," McDuffie said. "It was a great experience. All the stuff you learn as a kid, to see it in person was amazing."
 
After a look through the East Wing, they passed by the Rose Garden, where the 1989 College World Series champion Shockers met President George H.W. Bush. Their Secret Service guide escorted the Shockers to the Roosevelt Room, next to the Oval Office, where White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders greeted them. 
 
Pompeo, a former Wichita businessman elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, described his job and his transition from Director of the Central Intelligence Agency to his current position. They told the story about Huckabee Sanders' chocolate pecan pie made for a skeptical media for a potluck dinner.
 
Mike and Susan Pompeo, his wife, talked basketball with the Shockers. Mike Pompeo wore his Shockers yellow tie and confirmed that the basketball games go on his schedule and his staff knows to ask before booking a conflicting event. Susan Pompeo described the challenges of conversation with a man whose daily routine, as CIA leader, was top secret and recounted that her husband played forward – power forward, he added - in high school in California.

"Our young men were blown away, as we all were," Wichita State athletic director Darron Boatright said. "We appreciate the efforts that Secretary Pompeo and Susan exerted to make this visit one that none of us will ever forget."
 
Wichita State's Teddy Allen asked Mike Pompeo to elaborate on President Trump surprising him with a call to interview for the CIA job. Ricky Torres asked several questions. Marshall kept the conversation going with questions about Pompeo's travel to places such as North Korea and job duties as Secretary of State, a job he took in April.  
 
After a 20-minute conversation, Mike Pompeo checked on the President's schedule, hoping to squeeze the team in between meetings. 
 
A few minutes later, the door to the Oval Office opened and the Shockers met the President.

Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.