Julia Morgan encountered raised eyebrows and confused faces as she tried explaining WuShock to outsiders during her trip to Atlanta for the Final Four game last April.

“Anybody that wasn’t Wichita State had no idea what Wu was, or what the point of wheat was, or they didn’t know what a Shocker was,” Morgan, a senior social work major, said.

However, that sentiment isn’t strictly relegated to outsiders. Plenty of WSU students and fans have only a basic knowledge of what WuShock is. Most know nothing about his history.

“He’s a big bundle of wheat,” Morgan said with a laugh. “Honestly, that’s really all I know about him. He’s really energetic. He’s a real nice guy.”

WuShock, or Wu, as many so lovingly refer to him, has been WSU’s official mascot since 1948, 44 years after the Wheatshocker nickname originated.

The nickname developed out of necessity for a promotional football game poster and referred to the football players who shocked, or harvested, wheat during the off-season. Over time, the name was shortened to Shockers, and eventually led to the development of WuShock.

Inside the suit, which Rappard estimates to weigh approximately 15 pounds, Wu’s identity remains a secret. To help maintain the mystery, Wu has certain guidelines to follow.

“They can’t talk at all — that’s mascot rule number one,” Rappard said. “They can talk to cheer squad members, and they can talk to their coach, but if a little kid comes up and kicks them in the shin they have to just take it.”

With many scheduled appearances throughout the week at games, local events and around campus, WuShock duties are divided among three people this year. The workload is too much for one person to manage alone, Rappard said.

On top of Wu appearances, the people in the suit must maintain a full-time class schedule and a high GPA like WSU athletes. But the upside to being Wu, Rappard said, is that they spend a lot of time practicing and traveling with the cheerleaders.

“They do conditioning, or when we’re doing practice, they’ll go workout,” Rappard said.

This year, the practice and working out has paid off for WuShock, as he just qualified for the national mascot competition for the first time.

The mascot competition works similarly to cheerleading competitions. Wu will perform a skit to be reviewed by judges, as one of the top five mascots selected in the nation in his division. In fact, after submitting the audition video, Wu was ranked third in the nation.

“This is the first year that he’s made it, so it’s a huge step for us,” Rappard said. “This year, they not only made the cut, but they beat it by two positions.”

For a personality who has been named among the lamest mascots by magazines such as Sports Illustrated, it’s certainly a step up.

But Wu’s greatness, while perhaps not nationally recognized, has long been understood at WSU.

Brandon Ebeck, a business major, is a long-time Jayhawk fan, but has grown to appreciate Wu during his time at WSU.

“The fact that he is one of a kind, if I was to compare him against other mascots, I’d say he’s definitely one of the better ones that I’ve seen,” Ebeck said. “He’s extremely outgoing, he’s really high energy and there’s nothing else to say. I mean nobody else can really be compared to him.”

Regardless of whether or not WU’s history is understood, or people even know what he is, he draws people in with his enthusiasm and charm.

There is a spell, oftentimes not understood until it’s experienced, that WuShock casts on his fans. Ebeck has experienced it firsthand.

“Before I came to Wichita State, I didn’t know anything about this place,” Ebeck said. “I was going to learn and be on my way, but the more and more that I’m here, the more and more spirit I feel on campus, just because of who he is and what he represents.”

As witnessed during the famous Final Four journey last spring, it isn’t only WSU students that Wu has charmed. He has inspired the love of an entire city and helped spread the university’s name across the globe.

“I would definitely say that if you don’t know us yet, you will here soon,” Ebeck said. “I mean, who else can say they’ve got their city right behind them?”