Wichita State Shockers

Intercollegiate sports teams of Wichita State University

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Wichita State Shockers" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Athletic teams representing Wichita State University

Wichita State Shockers

University| Wichita State University
Conference| The American (primary)
CUSA (bowling)
NCAA| Division I
Athletic director| Kevin Saal
Location| Wichita, Kansas
Varsity teams| 16
Football stadium| Cessna Stadium
Basketball arena| Charles Koch Arena
Baseball stadium| Eck Stadium
Softball stadium| Wilkins Stadium
Mascot| WuShock
Nickname| Shockers
Colors| Black and yellow[1]

Website| goshockers.com
Team NCAA championships

Individual and relay NCAA champions
3[2]

The Wichita State Shockers are the athletic teams that represent Wichita State University, located in Wichita, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the American Athletic Conference (The American) since the 2017–18 academic year. The Shockers previously competed in the D-I Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) from 1945–46 to 2016–17; as an Independent from 1940–41 to 1944–45; in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIC) from 1923–24 to 1939–40; and in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1902–03 to 1922–23. As of the 2020s conference realignment, Wichita State is one of two full members of The American (along with Temple) to have never been a member of Conference USA, although it became a single-sport member of that conference for bowling in 2024. They are also currently the only non-football-sponsoring institution that is a member of an FBS conference.

## History

[edit]

The name for WSU's athletic teams is the Shockers and, collectively, students are also referred to as being "Shockers". The name reflects the university's heritage. Early students at what was then Fairmount College earned money by shocking, or harvesting, wheat in nearby fields. Early football games were played on a stubbled wheat field. Pep club members were known as Wheaties. Tradition has it that in 1904, football manager and student R.J. Kirk came up with the nickname Wheatshockers.[3] Although the Wheatshockers name was never officially adopted by the university, it caught on among the fan base. Newspaper writers also liked it because it was easily shortened to "Shockers" in headlines, and the shorter name was officially adopted by around the time Fairmount became the Municipal University of Wichita in 1926.

Until 1948, the university used a nameless shock of wheat as its symbol. In 1948, junior Wilbur Elsea won the Kappa Pi honorary society's competition to design a mascot typifying the spirit of the school. Elsea, who had been a marine during World War II, decided that "the school needed a mascot who gave a tough impression, with a serious, no-nonsense scowl." Once Elsea's mascot was adopted, all that was needed was a name. The Oct. 7, 1948, issue of The Sunflower, the student newspaper, ran an advertisement urging students to submit names for the school's new mascot. It was freshman Jack Kersting who suggested the winning name, "WuShock."[4]

In 1998, WuShock, also referred to as "Wu", marked his 50th birthday by undergoing a redesign and getting a pumped-up physique and revved-up attitude. The mascot's costume has changed over the years, as well. With the redesign, a new costume was introduced in fall 1998. In fall 1999, the head of the new costume underwent another redesign after a number of supporters suggested the mascot needed a more intimidating look. In 2006 it was decided to once again update the Wu costume. The general consensus was that many wanted the costume to more accurately reflect the depiction of WU in the school's logo. Many officials[who?] feel that a more professional and intimidating mascot on the field will certainly bolster WSU's image.[citation needed]

## Conference affiliations

[edit]

The American Athletic Conference logo in Wichita State's colors

NCAA

* Missouri Valley Conference (1949–2017)
* American Athletic Conference (2017–present)

## Varsity sports

[edit]

WSU competes in 16 intercollegiate athletic teams:[5] Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, tennis and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Also, it offers club sports such as crew, bowling, shooting sports, and other intramural sports. The most recently added varsity sport is women's bowling, which was elevated to full varsity status in 2024–25[6] and joined Conference USA at that time.[7]

Men's sports  | Women's sports

|

Baseball | Basketball
Basketball | Bowling
Cross country | Cross country
Golf | Golf
Tennis | Softball
Track and field† | Tennis
| Track and field†
| Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

### Football

[edit]

Main article: Wichita State Shockers football

Wichita State University fielded a football team for 90 years before it was cut in 1986 due to poor attendance, financial red ink, NCAA recruiting violations, and the state of disrepair of Cessna Stadium. This followed the Missouri Valley Conference ending its sponsorship of football in 1985, which left only Wichita and Tulsa remaining at the Division I-A level (now known as FBS), as the rest of the schools either dropped to Division I-AA (now FCS) or Division II. The program saw a great deal of success in its early years, but after moving up to the University Division and joining the Missouri Valley Conference in 1947, the program became known as one of the worst in the nation, with only 3 of the 15 coaches they had over that period posting winning records. Nevertheless, Wichita managed to play in three bowl games. On Jan. 1, 1948, they lost in the Raisin Bowl to Pacific. In December 1948, Wichita played in the Camellia Bowl, where they fell to Hardin–Simmons. They did not participate in another bowl game until 1961, when they lost to Villanova in the Sun Bowl. Wichita State also won four Missouri Valley Conference football titles, in 1954, 1960, 1961, and 1963.

#### Football team plane crash

[edit]

Main article: Wichita State University football team plane crash

On October 2, 1970, the first, or "gold" plane (the twin plane to the second, or black, plane) carrying players and staff of the WSU football team took off from a Colorado airport after refueling, bound for Logan, Utah for a game against Utah State University. It flew into a mountain valley too narrow to enable it to turn back and smashed into a mountainside, killing 31 of the 40 players, administrators and fans near a ski resort 40 miles (64 km) away from Denver.[8]

#### Bowl games

[edit]

Season | Bowl | Champion | Runner-up

|
|
|

1947 | Raisin Bowl | Pacific | 26 | Wichita | 14
1948 | Camellia Bowl | Hardin–Simmons | 49 | Wichita | 12
1961 | Sun Bowl | Villanova | 17 | Wichita State | 9

#### Notable players

[edit]

Legendary NFL coach Bill Parcells was a linebacker at WSU in 1962 and 1963 before serving as a graduate assistant in 1964. Wichita State University was also the first Division I-A school to hire a black head coach in college football, Willie Jeffries in 1979.[9] In 1978 place kicker Joe Williams tied University of Arkansas All-American kicker Steve Little and University of Texas kicker Russell Erxleben for the longest kick in NCAA history after kicking a 67-yard field goal. That record still stands today. Defensive end Jumpy Geathers was the last WSU football player to play in the NFL[10] and also had the longest NFL career. His career spanned from 1984 to 1996, playing for the New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins, Atlanta Falcons, and Denver Broncos. He also won Super Bowl XXVI with the Redskins.

#### Experimental game

[edit]

See 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game

On December 25, 1905, Washburn University played Fairmount College (former name of WSU) in an experimental game testing a rule forcing the offense to earn a first down in three plays instead of four. The experiment was considered a failure.[11]

### Basketball

[edit]

#### Men's

[edit]

Main article: Wichita State Shockers men's basketball

Shockers men's basketball defenders surround a Clemson Tigers men's basketball player during a game in 2019

The Shockers men's basketball team is coached by Paul Mills and competes in the American Athletic Conference after 72 seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference. The men's basketball team reached the Final Four in 1965 and 2013, the "elite eight" in 1981, the "sweet sixteen" in 2006 and 2015, as well as winning the 2011 NIT title, the first non-conference tournament, post-season championship in the program's history. In 2013–14, the Shockers become the first NCAA Division I men's team to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten in over 20 years. Current Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet was a backup at that position for the 2013 Final Four team, and started for the next season's team that finished the regular season unbeaten.

#### Women's

[edit]

See also: Wichita State Shockers women's basketball

The Shockers women's basketball team is currently coached by Keitha Adams. In 2013, the Shockers qualified for their first NCAA tournament in team history after winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title. They repeated the feat in 2014 and 2015, winning a record 29 games in the latter.

### Baseball

[edit]

Main article: Wichita State Shockers baseball

The men's baseball team is college baseball's highest winning team for the past 31 years, with numerous conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. The baseball team won the national championship in 1989, and was runner-up in 1982, 1991, and 1993.

### Men's golf

[edit]

The men's golf team has won 21 Missouri Valley Conference Championships: 1946, 1977–79, 1984, 1986, 1999–2001, 2003–2004, 2006, 2008–15, 2017.[12]

## NCAA infractions

[edit]

The NCAA has cited Wichita State University with 8 NCAA rules infractions. Following the 1983 infractions decision, WSU was the most penalized school in NCAA history.[13] This is no longer the case as SMU holds that dubious distinction with 10 major infractions.[14]

This list was taken from The Wichita Eagle and The Hour.

* Oct. 25, 1955 – Football program reprimanded for paying costs for a recruit's visit.
* Jan. 6, 1958 – Football program placed on probation for one year for excessive aid to players via external slush fund during the 1954–56 seasons.
* Oct. 21, 1963 – Basketball program reprimanded for paying transportation for a scout.
* April 30, 1968 – Football program placed on probation for two years, postseason ban for two years, and a TV ban for three years for improper recruiting, improper aid, improper out-of-season practice, and poor ethics.[15]
* Sept. 16, 1974 – Basketball program placed on probation for one year, postseason ban for one year, and a TV ban for two years when a team official changes a transcript for a recruit. (The Missouri Valley Conference also gave the basketball program probation for two years in Dec. 1973 for the same violations.)
* Jan. 11, 1982 – Basketball program placed on probation for three years, postseason ban for two years, reduction of scholarships for two years for 44 violations (32 under Harry Miller, 12 under Gene Smithson).[13]
* Jan. 5, 1983 – Football program placed on probation for two years, postseason ban for one year, and TV ban for two years for paying meals and transportation for recruit, and unethical conduct.
* Jan. 29, 2015 – Baseball program placed on probation for one year and vacation of victories for extra benefits to athletes, failure of administration to monitor the baseball program, and recruiting inducements. Over a two-year span, 21 players purchased non-baseball apparel using an impermissible 50-percent discount from the team's apparel manufacturer.[16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Wichita State Athletics Brand Guide 2019 (PDF). August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
2. ^ "CHAMPIONSHIPS SUMMARY THROUGH JAN. 10, 2024" (PDF) (Press release). NCAA. January 10, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
3. ^ Nickname origin
4. ^ "WuShock: A True Original". wichita.edu. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
5. ^ "Go Shockers seven sports". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
6. ^ "Wichita State Athletics Adds Women's Bowling" (Press release). Wichita State Shockers. September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
7. ^ "BOWL: Wichita State Joins CUSA as an Affiliate Member for Bowling" (Press release). Conference USA. November 13, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
8. ^ "Wichita State Recalls a Crash That Killed 31". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 3, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
9. ^ Willie Jeffries." SportsCentury. February 22, 2002. ESPN
10. ^ "NFL Players who attended Wichita State University". DatabaseFootball.com. DatabaseSports.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
11. ^ "Ten Yard Rule a Failure" (PDF). The New York Times. December 26, 1905. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
12. ^ "MVC – Men's Year-by-Year History" (PDF). Retrieved June 13, 2013.
13. ^ a b "Wichita State Hit by 3-Year Probation". Retrieved January 30, 2015.
14. ^ "NCAA Major Infractions Database". Retrieved November 15, 2019.
15. ^ "The Top 25 Dirtiest Athletic Programs in College History IV: Cheat Free or Lose Hard". 15 July 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
16. ^ "Wichita State Probation". Retrieved January 30, 2015.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wichita State University athletics.

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Wichita State University

Located in: Wichita, Kansas

Academics|

* Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology

Athletics|

* Baseball
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball
* Track and field
* Football (defunct)
* Cessna Stadium
* Charles Koch Arena
* Eck Stadium
* American Athletic Conference

Museums|

* Lowell D. Holmes Museum of Anthropology
* Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art

Media/arts|

* KMUW
* Personnages Oiseaux

People|

* List of Wichita State University people

Related|

* 1905 Cooper vs. Fairmount football game
* 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game
* Camellia Bowl
* Wichita State University football team plane crash

* v
* t
* e

American Athletic Conference

Full members|

* Charlotte 49ers
* East Carolina Pirates
* Florida Atlantic Owls
* Memphis Tigers
* North Texas Mean Green
* Rice Owls
* South Florida Bulls
* Temple Owls
* Tulane Green Wave
* Tulsa Golden Hurricane
* UAB Blazers
* UTSA Roadrunners
* Wichita State Shockers5

Associate members|

* Army Black Knights1
* Navy Midshipmen1
* James Madison Dukes2 4
* Old Dominion Monarchs2
* Vanderbilt Commodores2
* FIU Panthers3 4
* Missouri State Bears3
* Liberty Lady Flames4
* Marshall Thundering Herd4

Championships|

* Conference champions

Media|

* American Digital Network

See also|

* 2010–2013 Big East Conference realignment
* 2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment

* 1football
* 2women's lacrosse
* 3men's soccer
* 4women's swimming
* 5non-football member

* v
* t
* e

Conference USA

Full members|

* Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
* FIU Panthers
* Jacksonville State Gamecocks
* Kennesaw State Owls
* Liberty Flames
* Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
* Missouri State Bears
* Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
* New Mexico State Aggies
* Sam Houston Bearkats
* UTEP Miners4
* Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Affiliate members|

* Dallas Baptist Patriots1
* Florida Atlantic Owls2
* South Florida Bulls2
* Tarleton State Texans2
* Tulane Green Wave2 3
* UAB Blazers2
* Arkansas State Red Wolves3
* Valparaiso Beacons3
* Vanderbilt Commodores3
* Wichita State Shockers3
* Youngstown State Penguins3

History|

* Metro Conference
* Great Midwest Conference
* 2005 NCAA conference realignment
* 2010–2013 Conference USA realignment
* 2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment
* Southland Bowling League

* 1baseball
* 2beach volleyball
* 3bowling
* 4leaving in 2026

* v
* t
* e

Sports teams based in Kansas

Baseball|

Wichita Wind Surge

Kansas City Monarchs

Garden City Wind
JCL
Bethany Bulls
Derby Twins
Dodge City A's
El Dorado Broncos
Hays Larks
Haysville Aviators
Liberal Bee-Jays
Wellington Heat
MPL
Baldwin City Blues
Junction City Brigade
Rossville Rattlers
Sabetha Lobos
Topeka Golden Giants

Football|

AF1
Salina Liberty
Southwest Kansas Storm
Wichita Regulators

Hockey|

ECHL
Wichita Thunder
FPHL
Topeka Scarecrows

Roller derby|

WFTDA
ICT Roller Girls
Kansas City Roller Warriors

Soccer|

MLS
Sporting Kansas City
MLS Next Pro
Sporting Kansas City II
USL2
Kaw Valley FC
FC Wichita
NPSL
Sunflower State FC

College
athletics|

| NCAA
Division I|

* Kansas Jayhawks
* Kansas State Wildcats
* Wichita State Shockers

|

NCAA
Division II|

* Emporia State Hornets and Lady Hornets
* Fort Hays State Tigers
* Newman Jets
* Pittsburg State Gorillas
* Washburn Ichabods

NAIA|

* Baker Wildcats
* Benedictine Ravens
* Bethany Swedes
* Bethel Threshers
* Central Christian Tigers
* Friends Falcons
* Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians
* Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes
* McPherson Bulldogs
* MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers
* Ottawa Braves
* Saint Mary Spires
* Southwestern Moundbuilders
* Sterling Warriors
* Tabor Bluejays

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template