Let the Shocker Madness begin

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Kadeem Coleby excites the crowd during the Slam dunk competition during the Shocker Madness event which was held Friday Night at Koch Arena.

The college basketball season has officially arrived. The Wichita State men’s and women’s basketball teams kicked off the 2013-2014 season with Shocker Madness in front of a packed Charles Koch Arena crowd and a national ESPNU audience Friday night.

The women’s team stood at the top of the Koch Arena stands, watching as their 2012-2013 NCAA Tournament and Missouri Valley Conference Championship banners dropped to a roaring applause.

Head Coach Jody Adams addressed Shocker Nation and thanked them for their support before complimenting the team.

“I am really proud of this team and what they accomplished so far in practice.” Adams said. “I really hope you, the fans, come out and watch our games this season. Your support really gets us out of rough spots.”

The women’s team kicked off the event with a 20-minute scrimmage. Wichita native Jamillah Bonner scored led the team with eight points and four rebounds.

The Shocker women outplayed and outhustled their overmatched opponent. They ran away with the game early, going on an 11-2 run to win 30-12.

Once the women’s portion was over, the men’s team entered the arena through the concourse.

Freshman D.J. Bowles was welcomed with a standing ovation. Bowles was not medically cleared to participate with the team, due to a cardiac condition.

WSU President John Bardo, athletic director Eric Sexton and Coach Gregg Marshall presented the men’s team with their Final Four rings.

Last season, the team won the most games in a season in school history and made the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

The players received two rings for making it to the Final Four.Following the presentation was a dunk contest.

Shocker volleyball players Ashley Andrade, Chelsey Feekin, Sam Sanders and Elizabeth Field judged the competition, alongside ESPN commentator Len Elmore and Shocker legend Antoine Carr.

Carr said it was an honor to be a judge for the contest.

“It’s great coming back and supporting the university,” Carr said. “The university and fans have supported me for so many years. It’s only right I give back to the university and fans when I can.”

Freshman Zach Bush started off the contest with a score of 24 out of a possible 60. Rian Holland followed with a sideline reverse dunk for a perfect score.

Next up was Darius Carter with a reverse dunk that received loud applause.

Kadeem Coleby, with the help of Holland, bounced the ball off the side of the backboard for a thunderous dunk. Carter, Holland and Coleby made it to the final round, where Carter won the event by dunking two basketballs at once.

It was Hall of Famer and ESPN commentator Len Elmore’s first time at Koch Arena. He said he liked the atmosphere of the building.

“I did not know it gets that loud at Koch Arena,” Elmore said. “It is definitely a good basketball environment.”

The men’s basketball team split into two teams, yellow and black, for a scrimmage to finish off the evening.

The yellow team led 4-2 early in the scrimmage, but they did not lead again as the black team went on a 7-4 run, making the score 11-6. Fred VanVleet hit a three-point shot to cut the lead to 16-11. That was as close as the yellow team got.

Senior Cleanthony Early scored 9 of the black team’s first 11 points to lead all scorers. Fred Van Vleet scored 7 points for the yellow team in the 25-15 loss.

“We need to get better defensively before the season begins,” Marshall said. “Last season was great, but it’s time to put it to bed and start thinking about this year.”

The first game for men’s basketball is at Koch Arena at 7 p.m. on Nov. 2 against Oklahoma Baptist.