The recent success of the Wichita State men’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament sparked a renewal of Shocker spirit in the Wichita community. People flocked to stores to buy shirts, posters and other memorabilia to show their support for the black and gold.

Retail stores like Dillons and Wal-Mart carried some Shocker gear, but their selection and prices were trumped by the WSU bookstore.

The bookstore has been the hub for all things WSU ever since the basketball team made its tournament run. It has been full with students, alumni and community members buying unique Shocker gear that they cannot find in other stores.

Jan Schroeder, a WSU alumna, said, “I come to the bookstore because they usually have a better selection than other places. I like to support the students and the university.”

The bookstore’s merchandise and sales paralleled the Shockers’ success as they progressed through the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and the Final Four. They have shirts to commemorate the Shockers’ victories and shirts with “Play Angry,” “Shock the World,” and “Take The Net Down” designs.

The bookstore has some of the largest variety of Shocker gear in Wichita, with shirts that cost anywhere from $19.99 to $23.99. Compared to online prices, these same shirts are actually cheaper or similarly price. And if you were to go to Dillons, the cheapest Shocker shirt you could buy was $12.99, compared to the $10.99 shirts that the bookstore was offering.

Of course not all these shirt designs were the same. If you wanted a Final Four shirt from the bookstore it would cost you $19.99. A “Play Angry” shirt was $14.99. And many of the Nike and Adidas shirts cost more than $20.

To many people, the merchandise was overpriced at the bookstore. Kevin Konda, the bookstore director, said the prices were not raised on account of the basketball team’s success,

“We have been using the same margins as always,” he said.

Konda also said that off-campus customers have been coming to the bookstore just to be part of the atmosphere on-campus.

Despite the prices, the bookstore sales tripled its normal sales for this time of the year according to their website.