Wessel and Wing – Perfect Teammates

(St. Louis, MO) – Senior nights are special in college basketball. All ten Missouri Valley Conference teams play their final home games this week and tears will be shed, memories recounted and standing ovations will abound.

This is a senior class that will not soon be forgotten. VanVleet & Baker, Brown & Smith, Balentine and Mockevicius, Beane, Washpun & Bohannon are names that role off the tongue of serious Valley fans and media. Players with multiple years of stardom and accomplishment will be playing before the home town crowds for the final time.

Anthony Beane at Southern Illinois will go down as one of the greatest scorers in Saluki history. Devonte Brown and Khristian Smith have been the life blood of Indiana State hoops. The duo of D. J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius will likely complete a three year run of leading the MVC in scoring (Balentine) and rebounding (Mockevicius) for an unheard of three straight years.

Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker have helped launch Wichita State into national awareness if not prominence on the basketball scene, and oh the national upsets engineered by Wes Washpun and Matt Bohannon at Northern Iowa. This is a uniquely special senior class.

But there are two other seniors we want to recognize today. These two have been four-year contributors to high level success for their universities. These two have been a part of historic win accumulation, but between them they have one league-wide honor, and that was for landing on the ‘most improved’ list last season.

Evan Wessel (Wichita State) and Adam Wing (Evansville) are the consummate ‘teammates’ and are players that have helped others shine and succeed. Each came to their respective teams with a football background and were recruited by ‘money conference’ schools to play on the grid iron, but ended up on the hardwoods of the Valley.

Wessel (the guy that received the ‘most improved’ title) is the winningest player in Dividion 1 basketball over the past four years. Wichita’s record with Wessel in the line-up is 104 and 12. He has been to the Final Four, won three MVC championships and who can forget his 22 point and 12 rebound performance against Kansas in last year’s NCAA Tournament?

Wessell is a pest, a defensive stopper and the first player to dive on loose balls and to defend his teammates. He is greatly loved by the fans that fill Koch Arena on a nightly basis.

Head Coach Gregg Marshall says Wessell is the definition of ‘winner’. He says his background as a football player gives him a strong ‘team first mentality’ .

 

 

Marshall brags about all his players and knows senior night will be emotional.

 

 

Marshall says Wessel is the most popular player on the team. He is the player that does all the dirty work and makes the winning plays that pay off for the highly successful Shockers.

 

 

The senior who grew up in Wichita is passing knowledge along to his younger teammate Rashard Kelly.

 

 

Evansville’s Wing has been a part of a historic run of his own. During Wing’s four years the Purple Aces have won 81 games, recorded three 20-win seasons and brought home the championship of last year’s College Insider.com Tournament. Evansville had recorded just one 20-win season since joining the Missouri Valley, prior to Wing’s class’ arrival.

UE headliners Balentine and Mockevicius receive the applause, but head coach Marty Simmons has watched Wing do all the dirty work you’d expect from a football player. He has the skills to be a star in his own right. His shooting percentage is over 50% and makes close to 80% from the charity stripe.

Simmons says Wing is the kind of a player a coach loves to have, and he does all the intangible things that cause teams to succeed.

 

 

Simmons says Wing’s senior year has been outstanding and, like Wessel at Wichita is the most popular player on the Evansville team.

 

 

Senior night will be emotional for all and the loudest cheers rightly belong to the all-stars, but perhaps the greatest respect should belong to two players, willing to defer to their teammates for the good of the team. Wing and Wessel are the consummate teammates and players that make winning possible at these high level programs.

Do Good