Why Wichita State basketball alumni team confident AfterShocks can win TBT title

The AfterShocks have become a staple of The Basketball Tournament, owning almost all of the attendance records and being the only squad to win a regional championship each of the last three summers.

After finishing one bucket away from playing for the $1 million prize two years ago, the Wichita State alumni team is gearing up for another deep run in TBT play next month with a loaded arsenal.

In Wednesday’s TBT bracket reveal, the AfterShocks received the No. 1 seed in the Wichita regional and will open the tournament at noon Saturday, July 20 against No. 8 seed Midtown Prestige, a Wichita-based minor-league franchise. All-session and single-session tickets to TBT action from July 20-24 are available through GoShockers.com.

The Kansas State alumni team, Purple Reign, led by Jacob Pullen is the No. 4 seed and the Kansas alumni team, Mass Street, led by Frank Mason III is the No. 2 seed, meaning the AfterShocks’ road to another regional championship could feature three straight in-state opponents.

If the AfterShocks continue to win, they will play at 8 p.m. Monday, July 22 with the regional championship game slated for 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 24. All games will be broadcast on FS1.

The winner of the Wichita regional will play the winner of the Houston regional in the quarterfinals with the game date, time and location to be determined later. The semifinals and championship game will be played on August 2 and 4 in Philadelphia.

“The first goal every summer is to maximize the number of games we play in Wichita so the fans get to see these guys,” AfterShocks head coach Zach Bush said. “The fans create such an awesome environment. It’s addictive and the guys all want to come back and play in it.

“But after that, we’re really hungry to get over the hump. We feel like we’ve put a really good product on the floor, but now it’s time for us to finally get across the finish line. Honestly, this is the most excited I’ve been about one of our teams and that’s saying something. This is potentially our best group yet.”

Many fan favorites from past WSU teams will return to the Roundhouse this summer, as Conner Frankamp (2015-18), Markis McDuffie (2015-19), Rashard Kelly (2014-18), Darral Willis Jr. (2016-18), Alterique Gilbert (2020-21) and Trey Wade (2019-21) will once again give the roster a majority of former Shockers.

After not playing last summer, the return of Kelly, who was vital to the 2022 semifinal run, is particularly rejuvenating to the roster.

“We really missed his leadership and he’s one of those glue guys who does things that might not necessarily translate to the box score,” Bush said. “But everywhere he goes, people say the same thing about him: he’s a high-IQ guy who just makes winning plays. A guy like that is so invaluable in a tournament like this where a lot of guys are hungry to score and that’s all they want to do. If you look back at some of our big games the last few years, Rashard is almost always on the floor and he’s always making the right play.”

Continuity has been important to the coaching staff when Bush, Garrett Stutz and J.R. Simon made roster decisions.

Not only have all of the former Shockers played at least one year on the AfterShocks (and many of them several years together at WSU and in TBT), but non-alumni players like Hutchinson native Caleb Walker and Jordan Parks played for the AfterShocks last summer.

“Continuity is maybe something we didn’t understand how important it was those first few years,” Bush said. “It’s one thing to have a talented roster, but it seems like every year you watch and the teams that go far are the teams that play the right way and play together. Part of that is knowing each other, liking each other and being on the same page. To be able to bring back a core group of alums and then bring back guys like Jordan, Caleb, Trey and Alterique, who are all high-quality people, it really helps you hit the ground running. It’s not going to take us three practices and then a game or two to get on the same page. Everybody kind of knows their role coming in.”

Frankamp (Spain), McDuffie (Italy), Kelly (France), Walker (France) and Parks (Italy) all played in some of the top international leagues in the world this past season.

The AfterShocks also made a splashy signing this summer in bringing in 6-foot-3 guard Jeremiah Martin, a 2019 Memphis graduate who averaged 17.9 points and 4.0 assists in Russia’s VTB United League, which is considered one of the best leagues in the world.

“He’s a guy we’ve been familiar with and have admired his game,” Bush said. “I think he’s the kind of guy we’ve been searching for for a couple of years now and haven’t been able to find. He can really score it and get his own 1-on-1. As much as you need a really good team in this tournament, the teams that do advance and go really far always have really good guard play at the end of games and guys that can close it out. Fortunately for us, Conner has been that for us, but to have another elite guard to help carry the load, we feel like we got a huge steal.”

Bush said the AfterShocks will add at least one more player to the roster, almost certainly a center. The team was hopeful to bring back James Dickey, who excelled in a cameo performance in 2022, but the 6-foot-10 big man signed to play in Asia this summer. Another option could be former Shocker Jaime Echenique, who averaged 12.6 points in Greece this past season, although it’s still a question if the timing will align to allow the 7-footer to come back to Wichita.

While Bush is confident the AfterShocks will have their best squad yet, the same could be said for their two in-state alumni rivals.

Frank Mason III, the 2017 National Player of the Year, will headline the KU alumni team’s roster. Mass Street also features former Jayhawks like Thomas Robinson, Dedric Lawson, Malik Newman, Jamari Traylor, Silvio De Sousa, LaGerald Vick, Mario Little and Kevin Young. Mass Street will play Ram Up, the Colorado State alumni team, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 20.

Jacob Pullen, K-State’s all-time leading scorer, returns to lead Purple Reign, K-State’s alumni team that also includes former Wildcats in Kamau Stokes, Justin Edwards, Cartier Diarra, Dajuan Gordon, Abayomi Iyiola and Stephen Hurt. Purple Reign will play Team Colorado, also an alumni team, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 20.

“All three of us have kind of been on a different trajectory with the excitement about playing in TBT and I think we’re all in a really good place right now,” Bush said. “I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t impressed with the guys I’ve heard KU and K-State are bringing in. Hopefully we see the same level of excitement from the fans because this is going to be really high-level basketball and really competitive.”

Wichita Regional TBT bracket, schedule, game times

Saturday, July 20

Noon: No. 1 AfterShocks (Wichita State alumni) vs. No. 8 Midtown Prestige on FS1

2 p.m.: No. 4 Purple Reign (Kansas State alumni) vs. No. 5 Team Colorado (Colorado alumni)

5 p.m.: No. 3 Florida TNT vs. No. 6 LA Cheaters

7 p.m.: No. 2 Mass Street (Kansas alumni) vs. No. 7 Ram Up (Colorado State alumni)

Monday, July 22

6 p.m.: Florida TNT-LA Cheaters winner vs. Mass Street-Ram Up winner

8 p.m.: AfterShocks-Midtown Prestige winner vs. Purple Reign-Team Colorado winner on FS1

Wednesday, July 24

8 p.m.: Regional championship game on FS1