The RoundHouse | 3/3/2018 3:03:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
It takes approximately 30 steps, up a slight incline on a gray concrete path, from the back corridor of Koch Arena to reach the court. Those steps are routine and unforgettable.
 
On Sunday, Wichita State's six seniors will huddle for the final time at the start of the tunnel, a few feet from their locker room, and run toward the noise to play No. 10 Cincinnati.
 
"Hearing all the fans at the end of the tunnel. . . I can't explain it," senior center Shaq Morris said, stopping to gather his thoughts.
 
"For me it's been like. . . I don't even know how to explain it," he continued. "I know doing it for the last time, it's going to be emotional. I'll never run out of that tunnel again onto this home court to compete. It's overwhelming."
 
Morris, a fifth-year senior, joins guard Conner Frankamp, forwards Rashard Kelly, Darral Willis Jr. and Zach Brown and center Rauno Nurger in their final journey up that tunnel. They run past pictures of cheerleaders and fans and the first game at renovated Koch Arena in 2003. They run past banners, two bathrooms and signs that read "Our House" and "We Win Together."
 
They run toward the noise generated by 10,506 fans and they will never forget that part of the preparation.
 
"It's complete, 100-percent focus," Nurger said. "It's embracing the moment when you take your first couple of steps on the floor and hear the crowd going wild."
 
Kelly tells himself it's time to dominate. Morris thinks about playing hard for the fans. Nurger closes his eyes and turns his mind to his part in the game plan.
 
"The closer you get, the more you hear the fans," Kelly said. "I start by walking. By the time I get to the white signs, I'm jumping in the air. The more I hear the fans, the more excited I get."
 
Frankamp focuses on the scouting report. Willis approach the tunnel thinking it is time to go to work.
 
"We're clocking in when we come from out of that tunnel," Willis said. "It's a pretty long tunnel, so you've got to come up for air and ready to go."
 
Those 30 or steps are their final moments back-stage.
 
"That's the time you collect your emotions and get ready," Frankamp said. "I try to think all positive thoughts before the game and think about what Coach (Gregg Marshall) talked about as the keys before the game. That gets me prepared."
 
Brown isn't one to think about the drama of the entrance too much. Even he will speak for its significance.
 
"If I could really get my emotions and how I really feel about it, I would say it's one of the best feelings I've ever had," he said.
 
On Sunday, the 11^th-ranked Shockers and their seniors can add a piece to their legacy. A win over the Bearcats gives Wichita State a share of the American Athletic Conference title in its debut season. That is an exclusive spot in the history books for a program that seems to add to its history almost every season.
 
"If we win Sunday, (knowing) that I was a part of the very first time that switched into the American Conference, and we came and cut down nets and we had a great year, that is something I want for all six of us seniors," Morris said.
 
The six seniors arrived at Wichita State on different timetables. Morris redshirted during the 35-1 season of 2013-14. Kelly, Nurger and Brown arrived in 2014. Frankamp transferred from Kansas in 2014 and played for Wichita State in December 2015. Willis joined last season after transferring from junior college. They had skill and size on their size, in addition to time. All except Willis took either a redshirt season or played at prep school and benefited from a year to mature.
 
They shared this important timetable – Shocker basketball had to carry on without the architects of the previous smashing era. All of that group – the stars of the 2013 Final Four and the 2014 run at perfection – moved on by the start of the 2016-17 season.
 
"I'm not going to lie, I was one of them that thought we were not going to be that good when they left," Nurger said. "There was definitely a little scary moment for me, but we got over it pretty fast."
 
The Shockers were not nationally ranked to start the 2016-17 season. Voters favored the Shockers to win the Missouri Valley Conference, but not unanimously and opposing coaches spoke of an opportunity to level the playing field with Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet and Evan Wessel off the roster.
 
An exhibition trip to Canada before the 2016-17 season featured leaky defense and a 100-75 loss to Carleton. The Shockers had to replace five seniors and their inexperience showed.
 
"After Canada, we started to almost believe the critics," Morris said. "Me, being here longer than anyone else, had to pick up the slack from guys like Ron and Fred. In October, when we practiced a lot, we grew a lot. We got better."
 
The doubts quieted quickly. Practices helped. The Shockers routed LSU and lost to No. 10 Louisville and No, 24 Michigan State in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Kelly found optimism in those losses for a team that didn't start a senior and lost its top three scorers from 2016.
 
"Even though we lost, we learned from those losses . . .  we knew what we were capable of," Kelly said. "We always had it in us."
 
Wins over Colorado State and Oklahoma started to shape that team's strengths. The Shockers won six in a row before a 76-62 loss at Illinois State in mid-January. Soon after, Frankamp moved to shooting guard and sophomore Landry Shamet blossomed at point guard. The Shockers won 12 in a row to share the MVC title. They won three more in St. Louis to win the MVC Tournament, a rare treat. They defeated Dayton and lost to Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
 
As juniors, they defined and refined the roles and skills that carried them into their senior seasons.
 
"I've loved to watch them mature to where they are the prominent role guys, because early on they played a miniature role to some of the best players that have ever played here," Marshall said. "Now you got this group. When those NBA guys graduated a couple years ago, this group was thrust into the limelight and none of us knew how that would go."
 
Kelly and Brown thrived in their roles as defenders and rebounders. Frankamp, helped by growing chemistry with Shamet, continued as a dangerous shooter and unselfish, smart passer. Morris' transformation from a foul-prone, sometimes frustrating, package of potential into a dominant force took hold during MVC play. Nurger matured into a reliable scorer and defender off the bench. Willis added scoring punch and a physical presence, even as he adjusted to defensive demands.
 
"Once the season started, we all bought into what Coach (Marshall) was saying and that ended up being really good for us," Frankamp said. "Once we bought in. . . even though sometimes we thought we were right, even though he's always right, it really clicked for us."
 
Not without a few reminders about the standards set by the previous Shocker leaders. In a time-honored tradition, Marshall reminded the current Shockers that he didn't remember Baker and VanVleet allowing close games to slip away. Last season's ESPN broadcasts seemed to feature Baker and VanVleet almost as prominently as the current roster.
 
"When we were in our losing streak, that's all we were hearing about," Willis said. "We didn't want to keep hearing about them. We wanted to make something happen."
 
The Shockers returned largely intact for 2017-18 and expectations for a memorable March followed. While losses to SMU, Houston and Temple stung, the Shockers regrouped and are pushing toward a conference title and a favorable NCAA Tournament seed.
 
They maintained and expanded Wichita State's reputation for road success by beating two nationally ranked opponents (No. 16 Baylor, No. 5 Cincinnati) on the road in the same season for the first time since 2006-07. The win at Cincinnati was Wichita State's first at a top-five team since 1964.
 
"Relentless, hard-working," Kelly said. "Honestly, I think it's the best road team for a group of seniors that came through the past four years. We've got to hang our hats on that."
 
This group of six seniors keep Wichita State basketball in the national spotlight while some of the architects of past success watched from the NBA. Not everybody expected Wichita State to roll on.
 
"We had Fred and Ron for two years and they passed the torch to us," Brown said. "Those are big accomplishments. That's not something you do every day."
 
Now it's one last appearance in Koch Arena for the class of 2018. They are 56-2 in that arena with a big one on Sunday on CBS.
 
"I remember seniors of past years coming down that tunnel for their last time," Morris said. "It felt like mine was so far away, and it's here now."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.