AfterShocks | 7/18/2023 3:22:00 PM
By Paul Suellentrop
Markis McDuffie guarded Trey Wade in practice and hated the experience.
"He moves a lot," McDuffie said. "I was like 'Dang, he's moving too much.'"
Which is precisely why McDuffie is excited to see how Wade contributes to the AfterShocks in The Basketball Tournament. The AfterShocks open play against B1 Ballers on Thursday (8 p.m.) at Koch Arena.
Wade, who played at Wichita State from 2019-21 before finishing his career at Arkansas as a graduate transfer, is the running, hustling embodiment of the player you hate to play against and love to play with.
"He moves, he talks, Draymond Green-type attitude of getting other guys shots," McDuffie said. "He's very poised. He knows when to get his. He knows when to be in the right spot."
Wade, a 6-foot-6 forward, is an AfterShocks newcomer. He fits the team's need for smart, aggressive defenders who hustle and guard smaller and bigger players. Those attributes, and the trio of McDuffie, Rashard Kelly and Zach Brown, gave the AfterShocks an identity that carried them to TBT's quarterfinals in 2021 and the semifinals last summer.
Kelly and Brown are not playing this summer, both electing to rest and heal after their professional seasons. Wade can provide the smarts and desire that maintain the AfterShocks' switching defense.
"Just playing the Shocker way, playing hard, playing the right way," he said. "I can do a little bit of everything. Put everything together. Make everything easy for the other guys."
On offense, he fits into the team approach and his three-point shooting (39 percent in 2022 at Arkansas and 34 percent for his career) means defenses must pay attention.
He fits what the AfterShocks need at forward and to complement scorers.
"That's why we were so interested in him," AfterShocks coach Zach Bush said. "All the little things he does. He's going to set flare screens. He's not going to sit on the perimeter and beg for the basketball. He's going to move. He's going to communicate."
Wade averaged 6.8 points and a team-leading 5.6 rebounds for the 2020-21 Shockers, who won the American Athletic Conference and earned an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament. He started 27 games in the abbreviated 2019-20 season, averaging 7.4 points and 5.4 rebounds for a 23-8 team that likely would have earned an NCAA bid.
The 2019-20 Shockers played in front of crowds of 10,000-plus every game, which is part of the reason Wade is in AfterShocks uniform. He watched the AfterShocks games in the summer of 2019.
"That was the first time ever seeing Koch Arena full," he said. "Playing in front of that crowd again, I'm excited."
Wade played for two successful Shocker teams. In 2022, Arkansas went 18-4 and reached the Elite Eight with him in the starting lineup over the season's final 22 games.
He knows there are plenty of players who love to score and need to score. He makes himself valuable because he is ready to play that versatile, unselfish role for the AfterShocks. In college and professionally, performing the tough things such as screening, running, rebounding, and defending is his ticket to playing time.
"I just try to find ways to stick out," he said. "I know how hard it is to be that guy who wants to take all the shots. Any level you try to make it at, they already have guys like that."
McDuffie and Wade are joined by several others who can help the AfterShocks maintain their defensive identity. Switching on screens is essential to their plan and players such as newcomers Jordan Parks (North Carolina Central) and center Marcus Lee (Kentucky and California) can join that effort.
"We want to keep that identity," Bush said. "It takes so much away teams when you can switch. It keeps things all in front of you and you're hard to beat if you can do it that way."
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
