Consider Friday a reset of Wichita State's membership in the American Athletic Conference.
It looked much like the day in April 2017 when Wichita State celebrated joining the American after 72 years in the Missouri Valley Conference. The university president (John Bardo in 2017; Rick Muma now) spoke, cheerleaders and WuShock added spirit. Fans and coaches in the audience looked at an exciting future and wondered how it might unfold.
Wichita State introduced Kevin Saal as director of athletics in the Koch Arena atrium on Friday, two days after announcing his hiring. His job is to take five years of information accumulated as a member of the AAC, weigh the circumstances, add in the changes In college athletics, and guide the Shockers forward in the conference.