A crowd of 9,029 stood shoulder to shoulder inside the confines of Koch Arena.
Except, it wasn’t on a mid-winter day. It was on a weekend in August.
The number of fans at Sunday’s title match for The Basketball Tournament broke a championship game record. For the AfterShocks’ Wichita State alumni, it felt all too familiar.
“This is one of my homes,” former Shocker Trey Wade said. “I came here, I played, I worked, I dreamed. I went through a lot of things, the ups and downs of basketball. This is one of my homes. I’m ultimately grateful for the fans to come and support us. It was like old times.”
The crowd noise created by the fans on Sunday helped give the AfterShocks an upper hand as they won their first TBT title and $1 million grand prize, 82-67, over Eberlein Drive.
“Anybody that’s in unfamiliar territory can get rattled,” said Rashard Kelly, another former Shocker. “I also give credit to these guys. Like, we play hard as well … But the crowd helps push us over the top, and we needed it.”
For the former Shockers, the 9,029 fans in the stands were normal during their playing days. But with the pandemic and other factors, Koch Arena hadn’t been that full in over five years.
“This is normally how Wichita looks during basketball season from when we were here,” Kelly said. “This is the style they want to see on the daily. It’s just a testament to the type of basketball we play.”
On Sunday, those in the Roundhouse were reminded of what Wichita State’s heyday used to look like: In-your-face defense, boxing matches on the glass, a crowd volume that can cause chills.
“This place is so special when it comes to basketball,” Wade said. “I would hate for this place to not be anything more than that, because it’s so special. It meant a lot to me for the fans and community to come out and support us. I don’t ever want this place to die.”
Markis McDuffie, a 2019 graduate, was brought to tears after the win in front of the crowd he knows so well.
“I have so much love for this fan base,” McDuffie said. “For me to do it five years removed out of college, to still have this type of love — you don’t get that everywhere.”
Even the players on the team who didn’t attend Wichita State during college felt the impact of the crowd. Guard Marcus Keene went to the TBT championship in 2020, but that was amid the pandemic and the game was played with empty seats in the arena.
He lost that game and didn’t want to lose another for his teammates and the fans.
“It would have hurt me more today because of all these fans that came and supported us,” Keene said. “I didn’t go through that, and I’m happy.”
Forward Chevez Goodwin had never been to Kansas until now. And having played at USC and Wofford during college, he’s used to packed-out arenas.
Sunday reminded him of what it was like back then, but gave him a new experience.
“This was just making me go back to college,” Goodwin said. “Being in a different environment was truly cool to see something different outside of what I’m used to.”
He added that for the crowd to show up when it mattered the most shows how much they care about the game in Wichita, rekindling an old passion.
“I feel like they lost the love for basketball, and we brought it back,” Goodwin said. “I just hope that the flame we lit here is not going to burn out over time, and someone keeps the flame going.”
