by WICHITA, Kan. –Wichita State’s Ron Baker (Citizen Potawatomi) and Fred VanVleet were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ (NABC) All-District 16 first team, and Gregg Marshall was tabbed district Coach of the Year, Friday afternoon.
District 16 consists of the 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools, and this year’s NABC District 16 first team mirrored the All-MVC picks from earlier this month. Southern Illinois’ Anthony Beane and Evansville’s Egidijus Mockevicius and D.J. Balentine rounded out the top-five.
Marshall earned COY status for the fourth time in five seasons after leading the Shockers to a 16-2 MVC finish – four games ahead of the next closest competition. WSU (26-9) also advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 for the fourth-consecutive year.
Baker and VanVleet — both seniors and both third-time selection to the first team — were keys to a Shocker defense that allowed fewer points than any on team in the nation (59.0 per game), ranked second nationally in turnover margin (+5.6) and set a new school record for field goal percentage defense (.387).
Baker led WSU in both scoring (14.0) and rebounding (4.8), while VanVleet (12.0 points, 5.6 assists) finished his career as WSU’s all-time leader in steals (225), assists (637) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.08).
Since 2010, WSU has landed 15 players on the All-District 16 teams, with 10 of those earning first-team status.
