AfterShocks | 7/26/2023 4:13:00 PM
Two years ago, Kevin Saal arranged a conference call with the management of The Basketball Tournament. As the athletic director at Murray State, he wanted to know more about bringing games to his arena.
He asked "Hey, who does it the best?"
The TBT organizers said, "By far and away, it's Wichita State."
The 2023 TBT games at Koch Arena will add to that reputation. July basketball with the AfterShocks at Wichita State is a big deal and a reliable money-making success for TBT.
That is why Wichita hosted for a fourth time and is home to regional and quarterfinal play. In all, 16 teams played 15 games over the past week at Koch Arena to send one – Team Heartfire – to Philadelphia for the semifinals.
"What's make it special is a combination of so many things," Saal said. "Fans having the opportunity to relive glory days, former players they've built great relationships with. It's a basketball fix for the basketball junkies."
As has become the summer routine, fans, coaches, and former Shockers turned late July into a celebration of what basketball means to the city and university. A regional rivalry component added to the fun with teams representing Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Memphis playing in the Wichita 1 and 2 regions.
"People just love basketball," AfterShocks coach Zach Bush said after Tuesday's loss to Team Heartfire. "They love the Shockers. This event would not exist without them, the way they continue to show up. A huge thank you to them."
Tuesday's record TBT attendance of 7,202 again showed that fans deserve that gratitude.
"I kept looking for an empty seat," Heartfire guard Marcus Hall said. "The fans were amazing."
The previous mark was 7,184 at a 2019 AfterShocks game at Koch Arena. Third on the 10-year-old tournament's list is 6,510 at Koch Arena in 2021, followed by 5,970 in 2019 for the AfterShocks.
"You guys are incredible," Mills said at halftime during a team introduction on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, The Ville (Louisville alumni) drew 5,463 at Freedom to claim TBT's fifth spot. Koch Arena also owns the next two (5,032 on Sunday vs. Team Arkansas and 4,768 in 2022).
Mills spent the week soaking up the Shocker vibes, meeting former players and making sure current Shockers paid attention. It is helpful, he said, that his players see successful Shockers who hung NCAA Tournament banners and are of a similar generation.
"It's great perspective for your players to hear about some of the history that's occurred within the last decade," he said. "I saw people's enthusiasm for Shocker basketball and how important it is to the city of Wichita."
Women's basketball coach Terry Nooner could tell something was different when he arrived at Koch Arena on Tuesday and saw cars parking off campus and fans crossing 21
st Street.
"The crowd was crazy," he said. "It shows the passion of the crowd, and they were into it. They weren't coming just for something to do. They were serious."
Saal experienced his second TBT. Last summer, the event was his first as WSU's recently hired athletic director. He enjoys meeting former Shockers such as Cleo Littleton, the program's career scoring leader, and the Final Four team. He thought about the value of the current Shockers – who will soon play an exhibition series in Greece – watching the crowd roar as the AfterShocks rallied from a 21-point deficit on Friday to defeat Beale Street Boys.
"It hammered home away special Koch is – the arena and the fans," Saal said. "They witnessed three wins, a come-from-behind win where the crowd is so critical. They also had an opportunity to interact with the Final Four team this weekend and really hear all the elements. Culture. Relationships. Hard work. Good fortune. The ability to bounce back from failure. All those lessons you learn."
One of the weekend highlights came when Mills spoke at Saturday's Final Four reunion at Mark Arts. He told the story of pondering what he wanted his personalized Shocker license plate to read.
To his surprise, "Final 4" was available.
