Men's Basketball | 1/29/2019 11:06:00 AM
Where are they now:
Karon Bradley, men's basketball (2005-07)
Bradley played a big part in the first stages of Wichita State's basketball revival. The 2006 Sweet 16 Shockers introduced him to Wichita's enthusiasm.
In July, he is giving fans a chance to relive those moments and reunite with some of the Shockers who produced the most recent run of success at Koch Arena. Bradley is coaching the AfterShocks team in The Basketball Tournament and the roster includes Joe Ragland, Tekele Cotton, Toure Murry, Cleanthony Early,
Conner Frankamp and others.
"The Shocker fans are the greatest I've been around," Bradley said. "It's a basketball town."
Koch Arena, with games scheduled July 25-28, is the site for one of the TBT's eight regionals. Games begin on July 19 at other sites and ESPN networks will televise. Eight teams play in each regional with the winners advancing to the Championship Weekend at DePaul in Chicago (Aug. 1-6).
The Basketball Tournament, started in 2014, is a 64-team winner-take-all summer tournament with a $2 million prize. Teams largely consist of former college athletes who are current or former professionals.
Bradley, who played two seasons at Wichita State after transferring from Marquette, helped take an idea and turn into a reality. Former Shockers J.R. Simon and Zach Bush are assistant coaches.
"I've been watching the TBT for the last four years and I just started thinking 'There's not a WSU team that's represented. That would be great and I'm sure fans would love that,'" Bradley said. "Everybody was like 'Let's do it.'"
Bradley credits the growth of college alumni teams with sparking interest in the tournament. Teams largely consisting of alumni from schools such as Notre Dame, Kansas State and Bradley competed in past tournaments. In 2019, alumni teams from Ohio State, Kentucky, VCU and Syracuse are among the hosts at regional sites.
"It's shifted to where it's kind of focused on the alumni," Bradley said. "Once you see one alumni team, you starting thinking 'We could get our guys together.'"
Bradley, a 5-foot-11 guard, earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Newcomer team in 2005-06. He averaged 7.9 points and 2.3 rebounds while starting 13 games for the MVC champions. In 2006-07, he averaged 7.8 points and started 16 games.
"I miss (Wichita) so much," he said. "I tell people this story all the time – Wichita people are the most genuine people and good-hearted people that I've ever been around. Everyone that I know from there – if I go back I'm going to be shown nothing but love. The Shocker fans are by far the greatest I've been around."
Status update – Bradley is the owner and founder of the Youth Basketball Association in his hometown of Houston. The program is home to eight AAU team, ranging in age from 9-under to 17-under, plus hundreds more who train and practice.
When he played professionally, Bradley held camps and worked with youngsters during the summers. He retired from pro basketball in 2014 and started the training business full-time.
Family – Son, Aydon (11)
Band back together –The Basketball Tournament grew from 32 teams in 2014 to 72 last summer, helped by ESPN's exposure. When Bradley approached former Shockers about playing, he said they responded enthusiastically.
"I really wasn't hard," he said. "I had a few guys reach out to me as they were hearing stuff. They were all on board. Toure (Murry) mentioned to me that this is something everyone's thought about and they've watched the tournament from afar, and they just didn't have somebody to kind of organize it."
Bradley considers versatility the strength of the AfterShocks roster. Guards are plentiful on the roster with Malcolm Armstead and Clevin Hannah signed up. The AfterShocks can play big with Shaq Morris, J.T. Durley and Garrett Stutz.
"Things will change on different nights," he said. "We have the personnel to where – all these guys are pros and know how to play the game the right way – so we'll have our few sets and different things we'll run. But I think for the most part it will be 'This is the matchup and this is the mismatch we want to exploit.'"
The roster includes NBA experience with Early and Murry and six on Wichita State's list of 1,000-point scorers. All 10 on the roster earned all-conference honors, six of them on a first team.
"You cannot go into this tournament with a freestyle deal," he said. "If you go in there and try to play pickup, we'll have an early exit for sure."
All over – Bradley's pro career took him to Italy, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Macedonia and he spent a summer in China.
"I was fortunate enough to live 10 minutes from the major cities," he said. "When I was in France, I lived 10 minutes from Paris. When I was in Italy, I lived 10 minutes from Milan. I lived in Geneva (Switzerland). I was really fortunate to be in some really nice places."
His time in French-speaking countries helped him learn that language. Those type of experiences lead him to recommend travel to the youngsters he works with in Houston.
"It definitely opened your eyes to so many different possibilities," he said. "The idea of traveling and seeing different cultures, it keeps you open-minded for sure."
Sweet 16 memories – The 2005-06 Shockers gave Wichita State its first NCAA appearance since 1988 and its first NCAA wins (over Seton Hall and Tennessee) since 1981.
The team returned from its wins in Greensboro, N.C. to a welcome at the airport packed with fans.
"I remember the excitement from the city of Wichita," he said. "The history of Wichita State, you go all the way back to Dave Stallworth and Cleo (Littleton) days and Xavier (McDaniel). It's a strong, long history. It gives the town a sense of pride when you win."
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
