The program motto is “Play Angry.” Today, that takes on a different, darker tone.
When Wichita State was rocketing upward from solid mid-major to a force in college basketball, making the 2013 Final Four and going undefeated in the regular season in ’14, “Play Angry” was an accurate—and seemingly harmless—description of the program ethos. The Shockers were incredibly tough, physical and unrelenting in their approach. They didn’t just do the dirty work of basketball, they reveled in it.
But one part of the equation never added up. A coach who wins the way Gregg Marshall won at a place like Wichita always moves on to a bigger and better job.