Reported KU/Wichita State hoops matchup could revive in-state battle

By Conner Becker     Jun 13, 2023

article image
Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet (23) breaks through the Kansas defense to score 2 points late in the Shockers' 78-65 win over the Jayhawks Sunday, March 22, 2015 at the CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Neb.

A renewal of the Kansas and Wichita State men’s college basketball series seems like a possibility for this season. The in-state schools’ 11th regular-season meeting looks to be scheduled for Dec. 29, ESPN Wichita radio’s Pat Strathman was first to report last week.

That same week saw KU release its 12-game nonconference schedule, making the potential matchup with WSU the 13th nonconference listing in the Jayhawks’ upcoming regular season.

If the reports are confirmed, the matchup would be KU’s first game coming out of the team’s holiday break beginning Dec. 23, and the first regular-season meeting between the schools since 1993. Kansas Athletics had no comment on the matchup, and when asked about the game, a representative for T-Mobile Center — a probable neutral-site venue in Kansas City — declined to comment on any event not listed on the arena’s website.

The last time the Jayhawks and Shockers tipped off? Eight years ago, when Wichita State, truly, had its day in the sun.

After five consecutive defeats at the hands of KU from 1989 to 1993, the Shockers rattled their foes from Lawrence 78-65, on an evening where five Shockers entered double-figure scoring and starting guard Tekele Cotton shot 7-of-12 from the field, in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

WSU, which went on to drop its Sweet 16 matchup with Notre Dame 81-70 in Cleveland, picked up its third all-time win against KU in the schools’ 10th meeting.

Since the 2015 national tourney, KU has claimed six more Big 12 Conference regular-season titles, made four more trips to the Elite Eight and won its fourth NCAA title just over a year ago. The Shockers, on the other hand, won three more American Athletic Conference regular-season championships and took four more trips to the Big Dance, pushing as far as the Round of 32 in 2017.

The hiatus saw the departure of then-WSU head coach Gregg Marshall before the 2020-21 season after allegations of verbal and physical abuse, initially reported by The Athletic, resulted in his resignation in November 2020.

The Shockers then cut ties with head coach Isaac Brown, promoted from assistant to head coach in fall 2020, this past spring after Brown finished 17-15 (9-9 AAC) in his third season in Wichita. The school hired former Oral Roberts head coach Paul Mills to lead the program in March.

A new KU-Wichita State would be the first meeting for Mills and KU coach Bill Self as head coaches. Self had his own first head coaching job at Oral Roberts (1993-97). Mills witnessed Self and the Jayhawks for several years when he served as an assistant at Baylor from 2003 to 2017.

If KU and WSU meet on the court in late December, it’ll be a potentially tone-setting matchup leading into the start of conference play for both programs. KU, which entered Big 12 play 11-1 last season, looks poised for an interesting nonconference finale this winter.

PREV POST

Running back Stewart commits to KU football

NEXT POST

107334Reported KU/Wichita State hoops matchup could revive in-state battle

Author Photo

Written By Conner Becker

Conner covers high school sports and more for the Journal-World.