The Final Four misfits are Shockers indeed
ATLANTA— More than 30 years ago, Cliff Levingston was part of a powerhouse team at Wichita State that was stocked with future NBA talent, and to this day he believes it underachieved.
The Shockers were knocked off a game shy of the Final Four.
This year, Levingston has been watching from his home in Rochester, N.Y., as a motley group of players from disparate backgrounds has done just the opposite: Without a bona fide star, unsung Wichita State will play Louisville on Saturday night for a spot in the title game.
“They’re playing for each other, because for some of these guys this could be it and they know it,” said Levingston, now a minor-league basketball coach. “They’re playing to be immortalized.” But just who, exactly, are they? Well, there’s Carl Hall, a rugged forward from rural Georgia, and Ron Baker, a small-town kid from central Kansas. Their leading scorer, Cleanthony Early, came out of a tiny junior college in upstate New York and was passed over by most high-profile basketball programs. Seven-footer Ehimen Orukpe is from Lagos, Nigeria. Kadeem Coleby is from the Bahamas, while backups Nick Wiggins and Chadrack Lufile are from Toronto and Burlington respectively. Then there’s Malcolm Armstead, a talented point guard from Florence, Ala. When he landed at Wichita State there wasn’t a scholarship available. He has worked at a car dealership and taken out loans to play one last season for coach Gregg Marshall’s band of ragamuffins. Many were castoffs or misfits, or were in situations that didn’t work out. Some were looking for a fresh start, others seeking a first chance after constantly getting overlooked. It’s a far different group from that Wichita State team in 1981 that lost to LSU in the regional final, and then sent Levingston, Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniel to the NBA. This Shockers team has dismissed any notion of what it takes to win on college basketball’s grandest stage. “At this point, they’re all being interviewed, they’re all getting sized for Final Four rings,” Marshall said. “What we’ve been teaching is to the victor go the spoils, and when we win, everybody gets a piece of it.”