The RoundHouse | 7/20/2023 9:34:00 AM

 Listen to Final Four memories from Ron Baker and Zach Bush. And more with voice of the Shockers Mike Kennedy and former Wichita Eagle columnist Bob Lutz on the 2013 Final Four.

By Paul Suellentrop
 
The waiting, the detours, the miles, and the anxiety – all worth it for Ehimen Orukpe.
 
Orukpe, Wichita State center for the 2013 Final Four season, lives in Phoenix and is unable to attend this weekend's 10^th anniversary reunion. There is a bit of poignancy to those circumstances because no member of that team invested more in getting to Wichita than Orukpe.
 
"It was so hard," he said earlier this week. "At one point I was defeated."
 
His three seasons at Wichita State lifted him, both on the basketball court and academically. He returned the favor with his unselfish play, defensive prowess, and dedication in the classroom.
 
"I'm grateful for the opportunity," he said. "I made use of a lot of the opportunities I was given. Wichita gave me a home. The people are genuinely nice. It's a good place."
 
Orukpe, a software analyst, earned a degree in mathematics with a business minor and a 3.52 GPA. As a senior, he grabbed a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team. The National Association of Basketball Coaches selected him as a member of its 2011-21 Honors Court for upperclassmen with a grade-point average of 3.20 or above.
 
"A joy," former Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall told The Wichita Eagle in 2013. "Zero maintenance."
 
As a 7-foot shot-blocker, Orukpe started 30 games in 2012-13 and played some of his best basketball during a stretch in which fellow big man Carl Hall sat out with a hand injury. Orukpe played on the 2011 NIT champions, the 2012 MVC champions and NCAA Tournament at-large pick and the 2013 Final Four team.
 
None of that came easily for Orukpe, from Lagos, Nigeria.
 
He signed with the Shockers in May 2007 and spent a year waiting on the release of test scores and working to obtain a visa. Marshall dispatched assistant coach Marty Gross to Nigeria and the athletic department worked with Kansas government officials to secure a visa.
 
He came to the United States in the spring of 2008. An excellent academic record didn't sway the NCAA to make him eligible, so he attended Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College for two years. He came to Wichita State in 2010 for his sophomore season.
 
He remembers Gross accompanying him to the embassy for the successful attempt to obtain a visa. He remembers a call from Marshall that lifted his spirits.
 
Once in a Shocker uniform, Orukpe provided a physical presence and a deterrent to scoring in the lane. He blocked nine shots against Southern Illinois in 2013, tied for the sixth-best total in Shocker history. His 56 blocks in 2012-13 are tied for fourth on the season list.
 
After playing a reserve role in his first two seasons, Orukpe moved into the starting lineup as a senior in 2012-13. That team started the season with modest expectations after the departure of a distinguished senior class. The Shockers went 11-1 in nonconference play. Injuries to Evan Wessel, Ron Baker and Carl Hall took a toll and they endured a three-game losing streak midway through the MVC season and lost two straight to finish the regular season.
 
Orukpe, as do several of his teammates, remember a video session late in the season at the behest of assistant coach Chris Jans. The clips showed the Shockers at their best and reminded them of the style of play and confidence needed. Coaches told them, even during the struggles, that the team possessed the ability to make it a special season.
 
"It kind of gave us chills," Orukpe said. "(Jans) was a great force that season."
 
Baker returned for the MVC Tournament and the Shockers clicked. They advanced to the championship game before losing to Creighton. Then they defeated Pittsburgh, No. 1 Gonzaga, La Salle, and Ohio State to move to the Final Four.
 
"We knew our sweet spots," Orukpe said. "We knew - we have to play really hard to win. We played as a unit. Unselfish."
 
The season turned spectacular in the final six minutes of the 76-70 win over Gonzaga in Salt Lake City. The Shockers trailed 61-54 with 5:31 to play after Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos made a three-pointer.
 
Somewhere around that time, Orukpe remembers Marshall telling the Shockers that the moment arrived, and it was their decision to finish strong or fade.
 
"Goose bumps on my body," Orukpe said. "We were ready to get back out there. It was all magic at that point."
Freshman guard Fred VanVleet hit a long three-pointer with the shot clocking running down to give Wichita State a 70-65 lead with a 1:28 to play. He held his shooting hand in the air as the ball sank through the net and turned to wink at Marshall.
 
"You could see him let go, like he felt he was the only one in the arena," Orukpe said. "Nobody had seen him react like that. Basketball is all about confidence. That's where he hit his stride."
 
Two more wins sent the Shockers to Atlanta, the program's first Final Four since 1965. Police escorts. Fans massing everywhere. The best hotels. National media and crowded locker rooms. The scene at the public practice in the Georgia Dome before the national semifinal sticks with Orukpe.
 
"The whole moment, it was in a different space," he said. "It just didn't feel real."
 
Orukpe played three-plus years in Spain, Croatia, and Saudi Arabia before returning to Wichita. He moved to Arizona two years ago.
 
The Final Four reunion will gather Shockers from Kansas, Illinois, Canada, Georgia, Nevada, New York, and other places. The man who traveled the farthest won't be there, but his six-year journey remains part of that team's legacy.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.