Shocker Madness provides the men’s and women’s basketball teams the opportunity to showcase their personality on the court before the beginning of their season.
The event also featured a performance from the American rapper Tech N9ne, who performed a 40-minute set.
Paul Mills, head coach for men’s basketball, said it is good to show fans what a real game would actually look like.
“It’s a chance for fans to get to know these players, you can kind of see some of their personality on the court,” Mills said. “They’re a fun group to be around.”
Shocker Madness commenced with performances from the Shocker Sound Machine, Spirit Squad, followed by a presentation of all the varsity sports from Wichita State.
A 12-minute scrimmage of the women’s basketball team followed, with the team split into two: the “Black Team” and “Yellow Team.”
The Black Team consisted of Sophia Goncalves, Daniela Abies, Tre’Zure Jobe,
Ornella Niankan and Sierra Morrow. The Yellow Team played with Aniya Bell, Salese Blow, Ella Anciaux, Jeniah Thompson and Ambah Kowcun. The Yellow Team won, 21-14.
After a five-minute break, it was the men’s turn to take the court. The Black Team had Xavier Bell, Isaac Abidde, Kenny Pohto, Trevor McBride, Quincy Ballard and Harlond Beverly. The Yellow Team had Ronnie DeGray III, Colby Rogers, Henry Thengvall, Bijan Cortes, Dalen Ridgnal and Jacob Germany. The Black Team won, 35-31.
“We really just wanted to have fun out there and I think to some degree, you saw some of the explosiveness out of some of the players,” Mills said.
Mills said he likes the group he has.
“They’ve approached it the right way. They’ve done everything right,” Mills said. “Today was kind of more something for the fans than it was for us to get anything out of it from a basketball perspective.”
More information about Wichita State basketball can be found on goshockers.com.
