LOS ANGELES—It was the second game of the season at Virginia Commonwealth when Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall started believing. 

Senior point guard Malcolm Armstead, a transfer from Oregon playing in only his second game as a Shocker, was able to handle VCU’s vaunted defense with ease and lead WSU to a surprising upset. 

“He is just dynamic. The way he runs a team, and the way he takes care of the basketball,” Marshall said. “That was the first time I thought, wow, this team has a chance, because he handled their press.”

Armstead had been a target of Marshall’s early on. But grades led Armstead, a native of Florence, Ala., to a junior college in Florida instead. He later decided to attend Oregon where he set the school’s record with 89 steals in a season. 

But he wasn’t happy, and decided he wanted to join Marshall at WSU. The problem was Marshall didn’t have an open scholarship at the time. 

This didn’t deter Armstead, who paid his own tuition for a year before earning a scholarship this season, his final year of playing eligibility. 

It didn’t take long before Armstead became the leader of the offense. 

“I told him before the game he’s our quarterback,” WSU senior Carl Hall said after Saturday’s win over Ohio State. “If he doesn’t like things we’re doing on the court, then just tell me … what we need to do and how he wants to set ball screens and do certain things. He’s very important to our team, and I don’t know what we’d be if we didn’t have him.”

And Armstead seems to be peeking in the NCAA Tournament. The senior has averaged 15.5 points in four tournament games, compared to the 9.8 he averaged during the regular season. 

His offense sparked the Shockers during this stretch, and impressed enough people to be named the Most Outstanding Player for the West Region of the tournament. 

But don’t expect Armstead to take all the credit. 

“I think this goes to the team. This isn’t just for me, man. This is about the team,” Armstead said. “It’s just a matter of everybody staying together and believing in one another. I feel like that just carries over on to the court.”

Joining Armstead on the All-West Region Team was Hall, a native of Cochran, Ga. The Final Four is being played in Atlanta.