Men’s basketball alumni expand skills in the pros

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Thy Vo

alum Markis McDuffie and the AfterShocks team celebrate after winning the first round of TBT 2022. McDuffie was recently named an All Star in the LNB Pro A league. He plays professionally for JDA Dijon Bourgogne.

Tyson Etienne:

Tyson Etienne played a total of 80 games, starting 65 of them for the Shockers. As a guard, his averages were similar for both field goal percentage and at the three-point line. He  finished his college career with a .367 field goal percentage and a .364 three-point percentage. Etienne now plays in the NBA G League for the College Park Skyhawks, an affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks.

Austin Reaves:

Before transferring to the University of Oklahoma, Austin Reaves played his freshman and sophomore years (2016-18) at Wichita State. During his time as a Shocker, he played a total of 66 games. He started 11 of those 33 in his sophomore year. As a guard, Reaves finished his career as a Shocker with a .449 field goal percentage. At Oklahoma State he started all 56 games he played.

Reaves is a shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. During his first season on the team (2021-22), he started 19 of the 61 games he played. An improvement from his college career, Reaves had a field goal percentage of .459. This season (2022-23) his field goal percentage from the 1925 games so far is .5216. At the three point line he is currently at .39672 percent. Reaves is also averaging 10.9 points per game, 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists. 

Fred VanVleet:

Playing all four years of his college career (2012-16) for Wichita State, Fred VanVleet played a total of 141 games, starting 102. As a guard for the Shockers, VanVleet ended his college career with a field goal percentage of .426. During his sophomore season, he averaged .484 percent inside the arc. From the 3-point line VanVleet made 141 shots, the same amount of games he played. 

After college VanVleet made his NBA debut (2016) with the Toronto Raptors, and has been playing for them ever since. The number shooting guard has started every game he has played for the past four seasons (2019-23). His field goal percentage has held steady over the years, ranging from .351 percent his first year (2016-17) to his high of .426 during the 2017-18 season. Throughout his seven seasons with the Raptors his field goal percentage averages .4031. VanVleet is 16.9 points per game, 2.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists. 

Landry Shamet:

Before being drafted by the NBA in 2018, Landry Shamet played three seasons as a Shocker (2015-18). During his redshirt freshman and sophomore season, Shamet started every game he played. His high shooting averages gave him a career high of 30 points in a game against Oklahoma State in 2017. Shamet shot .437 percent from the three-point line and a .480 field goal percentage. From the free throw line, he shot .811 percent.

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Shamet as the 26th overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft. He played part of a season (2018-19) for the  Philadelphia 76ers, and played 54 games. He was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2018-19 season. He played for the Clippers for the remainder of his first season and his second. (2018-20). The next team he played for was the Brooklyn Nets for the 2020-21 season. After playing only one season for the Nets he was traded to the Phoenix Suns where he is currently playing. Over his five year long NBA career so far he averages a .410 field goal percentage. Shamet is averaging 6.9 points per game, 0.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists. 

Conner Frankamp:

After playing his freshman season (2013-14) for KU, Conner Frankamp transferred to WSU where he played the last three years of his college career (2015-18). During his senior year (2017-18) Frankamp shot 100 percent from the free-throw line, making all 35 of his shots taken. This perfect year gave him a free-throw average of .884 percent. Frankamp now plays for Gaziantep Basketbol of the Basketbol Süper Ligi and previously in the FIBA Europe Cup.

Malcolm Armstead:

After playing two seasons for the Oregon Ducks, Malcolm Armstead finished his college career at Wichita State during the 2012-13). Armstead was a part of the 2013 NCAA Final Four team. During his senior season, Armstead started all 39 of the games he played. As a guard, Armstead averaged a .423 field goal percent between his time at Oregon and Wichita. Armstead now plays pro-ball for Kavala of the Greek 2nd division on the team the KB Ylli.

Tekele Cotton:

Between the four years (2011-15) Tekele Cotton spent playing at Wichita State, he started a total of 98 of his 141 games. He started every game he played both his junior and senior years. His field goal percentage never dropped below .410 to give him an average of .440 for his college career. Cotton now plays pro-ball as a point guard for CSO Voluntari.

Jaime Echenique:

Echenique transferred from Trinity Valley Community College in 2018 to play his junior and senior years (2018-20) at Wichita State. He started 58 of the 64 games he played for the Shockers. His shooting average remained on the higher end, finishing his college career with a .516 field goal percentage. One of his career highs include two games with 13 rebounds. Echenique is currently starting his first season as a center in the NBA G League for Capital City Go-Go, an  affiliate of the Washington Wizards.

Markis McDuffie:

Markis McDuffie played 129 games for the Shockers. As a  forward, his field goal percentage average was .428 percent. He hit a career high of 34 points in a game against Temple in 2019. After college, McDuffie became a pro-baller for JDA Dijon Bourgogne of the LNB Pro A and the Basketball Champions League. According to the Wichita Eagle, McDuffie is is avearging  a team high 16.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. McDuffie was just named an All Star in the LNB Pro A. The LNB All Star game is on Dec. 29 in Paris.