You can feel it again in Wichita.

The anticipation. The expectations. The belief that something special might be brewing inside Koch Arena.

For the first time in years, Wichita State enters a season with championship expectations, not just optimism. The Shockers have the talent to win, the experience to make a run in March and a city hungry to see its basketball program back among the nation’s best.

And with that renewed belief comes a different kind of pressure.

Mills has spent three years steadily rebuilding the program, with the Shockers improving their win total each season. Now, with nearly the entire core of a 24-win team returning and an infusion of talent that has made WSU the preseason favorite in the American Conference, the conversation has shifted.

It’s no longer just about making progress. It’s about chasing championships.

They’re not just dreaming of ending an NCAA Tournament drought that stretches back to 2021. They believe they have the pieces to win in March Madness for the first time since 2017.

Mills, entering his fourth season with a newly signed contract extension, has assembled perhaps the deepest and most talented roster of his coaching career.

And Wichita appears ready to embrace it.

More than 91% of men’s basketball season ticket holders renewed, according to the athletic department, which also reported adding more than 500 new season ticket members. A program-record 19 regular-season home games await at Koch Arena.

“These are community events now,” Mills said. “There’s a special relationship between the Shockers and the city of Wichita. There’s no denying that. I felt it, and our players experienced it.”

After improving from 15 wins to 19 to 24 over his first three seasons, Mills has positioned Wichita State for what could become a defining season of his tenure.

The journey begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday against Cal State Northridge at Koch Arena.

How Wichita State kept its basketball team together

The foundation of this season’s expectations was laid months before the first official practice.

It started in the disappointment of last March.

Wichita State had come agonizingly close to ending its NCAA Tournament drought, reaching the American Conference tournament championship game before falling to South Florida. The Shockers then advanced to the NIT quarterfinals, where a spirited comeback against Tulsa came up just short.

For a program searching for momentum, it was meaningful progress.

For the players who had come so close to something bigger, it wasn’t enough.

That’s where T.J. Williams entered the picture.

The Wichita Heights graduate became something of a recruiter inside his own locker room.

As players contemplated their futures in the aftermath of the season, Williams helped encourage teammates to stay together. According to the coaching staff, he was instrumental in spreading the message that this group shouldn’t scatter into the transfer portal, but instead return to finish what it had started.

One by one, the commitments followed.

William Berg wanted another year. So did Dillon Battie. Mike Gray Jr. was eager for another opportunity. And Kenyon Giles, the electric scoring guard who had explored professional basketball opportunities, remained determined to find a way back to Wichita.

It was a remarkable show of loyalty in an era when college basketball rosters can change almost entirely from one season to the next.

A potential return by Emmanuel Okorafor would give Wichita State 12 players back from last season’s roster, accounting for approximately 76% of the team’s scoring.

Mills has praised the character of a group that includes players who accepted less lucrative opportunities to remain in Wichita or join the Shockers.

They believe there’s something worth chasing together.

“Losing a championship game does not feel good at all,” Giles said. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. So yeah, it’s unfinished business.”

That shared history is one of Wichita State’s greatest advantages.

These aren’t strangers trying to manufacture chemistry in November. Many of the Shockers have already experienced the pressure of a championship game, the heartbreak of elimination and the frustration of realizing just how close they came.

“We think about where we were last year and we just need a little more to get over the edge,” Battie said. “When you’re that close to winning a championship and playing in the tournament, it’s always in the back of your mind. It’s hard to describe, but I think we have that edge now.”

How good can Wichita State basketball be?

Continuity alone doesn’t explain the excitement.

The Shockers also believe they’ve significantly upgraded their talent.

Giles returns after one of the most prolific shooting seasons in WSU history, averaging 19.1 points and setting the school record with 125 3-pointers.

Berg gives Wichita State an established interior presence and one of the conference’s premier defensive anchors. Battie supplies versatility and physicality in the frontcourt. Williams offers an emerging defensive stopper who can guard multiple positions, while Gray provides a dependable veteran capable of handling the ball and knocking down perimeter shots.

Then come the newcomers, who could transform an already potent offense.

Jordan Frison arrives from Chattanooga as an exceptional playmaker, capable of navigating ball screens, manipulating defenders and creating open shots for teammates.

Jahari Long, a George Mason transfer, adds another experienced ballhandler and scoring threat. Dayton transfer Bryce Heard brings size, athleticism and offensive upside on the wing.

“When Wichita gets a chance to see Jahari Long and they get to see Jordan Frison,” Mills said, “you’re going to walk away really, really impressed.”

The potential combinations are tantalizing.

Imagine Frison operating a pick-and-roll with Berg, keeping his defender trapped behind him before either finding his rolling center or pulling up for a short jumper.

Or Long attacking a defense that can’t afford to leave Giles unattended beyond the 3-point line.

Williams could thrive as a cutter, slasher and offensive rebounder with defenses scrambling to contain WSU’s perimeter threats.

Mills can play small with three dynamic guards, go big with Williams and Battie on the wings, or lean on a veteran-heavy lineup featuring five players from last season’s rotation.

With the potential addition of Okorafor, the Shockers could go 10 deep with experienced options and relatively little drop-off between their first and second units.

The experience is staggering, too. In a projected 10-man rotation that includes Okorafor, six players would be in at least their fifth season of college basketball, another in his fourth and three others in their third.

That continuity has already produced a tangible advantage.

Mills has said the Shockers are ahead of where his previous teams were at this stage, with returning players already familiar with the terminology, offensive concepts and expectations.

Instead of spending the preseason teaching the basics, the coaching staff can work on more advanced concepts.

But assembling talent is one challenge.

Convincing everyone to sacrifice for the same goal is another.

Can Paul Mills keep everyone happy?

There is enough offensive talent on Wichita State’s roster for perhaps 10 different players to score in double figures on a given night.

There aren’t enough shots for all of them to do it consistently.

That’s one of the most fascinating challenges awaiting Mills.

Players accustomed to starting might have to embrace reserve roles. Proven scorers will have fewer opportunities. And some veterans who played heavy minutes last season could see their workloads reduced significantly.

That’s easy to accept when the Shockers are winning.

But what happens if there’s a losing skid in January? Or when a talented player goes through several games without the minutes or shots he believes he deserves?

A deep roster is a luxury, but only if everyone remains committed to the same purpose.

Giles offers perhaps the clearest example of the sacrifice required.

A year ago, WSU needed its undersized scoring guard to shoulder an enormous offensive burden. He played heavy minutes, attempted difficult shots and regularly had to create offense when possessions broke down.

He delivered a historic scoring season, but he knows the same approach won’t necessarily be required this year.

With Frison and Long helping generate offense, Giles hopes to be more selective, take higher-quality shots and become a more efficient scorer.

“I don’t know what teams are going to throw at me from game to game,” Giles said. “But I worked all summer on making sure I have every answer to the test.”

It’s an encouraging mindset from a player who could have entered this season focused on repeating his individual accomplishments.

Instead, Giles feels an unusual responsibility.

The Shockers already had the makings of an outstanding team before his return became possible. Rather than viewing himself as the centerpiece everyone else must accommodate, Giles believes he has an obligation to elevate what was already being built.

“This team was going to be special without me, so I do feel some type of pressure to make sure I add to it,” Giles said. “Because you can tell… this team is going to be special.”

That attitude will have to extend throughout the roster.

Mills has spent his first three seasons trying to build a team talented enough to contend for championships.

Now his challenge is making sure all that talent works together.

Defense could determine Wichita State’s ceiling

For all the excitement about Wichita State’s offensive possibilities, the defensive end presents a more complicated picture.

Berg is an excellent interior defender, but his strengths are most pronounced when protecting the paint rather than chasing smaller players around the perimeter.

That means Mills will frequently rely on drop coverage, keeping his 7-foot-2 center closer to the basket when defending ball screens.

Giles presents a different challenge.

His offensive production makes him indispensable, but at 5-foot-10, his size can create defensive mismatches when opponents force switches and isolate him against bigger players.

Those limitations place considerable responsibility on the other three players sharing the floor.

Those defensive challenges will become especially important away from Koch Arena, where the Shockers can’t always count on their offense to carry them. Winning ugly, particularly when shots aren’t falling, will be another test of this team’s maturity.

That’s why Mills continues to emphasize the fundamentals he believes travel anywhere: taking care of the basketball, sharing it and dominating the glass.

If WSU can combine its scoring potential with dependable defense, rebounding and disciplined decision-making, it has the ingredients to become the American’s most complete team.

If not, the Shockers could discover that having more talent than an opponent doesn’t always translate into winning.

The pressure of bringing March Madness back to Wichita

Perhaps no player understands the urgency of this season better than Gray.

The senior guard has twice reached the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament.

At Nicholls State, he experienced the heartbreak of losing a conference championship game. Last March, he endured the same disappointment with Wichita State.

Two opportunities. Two championship-game losses. No NCAA Tournament appearance.

“I’ve been one game away from the tournament twice in my career,” Gray said, the pain evident in his voice. “It’s a lot of fuel. For a lot of us, this is our last run. So we have to get it done.”

That urgency extends beyond the locker room.

Wichita State was once synonymous with March Madness, a program that became a national force under Gregg Marshall and made seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2012-18.

The Shockers reached the Final Four in 2013, completed an undefeated regular season in 2014 and routinely entered March believing they could beat anyone.

But the program has spent much of the past several years searching for its way back.

Its last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2021, when the Shockers won the American’s regular-season championship before losing in the First Four. Its last NCAA Tournament victory came in 2017, the final season before WSU left the Missouri Valley Conference.

For Mills, restoring that standard has been a gradual process.

He’s gone from 15-19 in his first season to 19-15 with an NIT appearance in his second, then 24-12 with an NIT quarterfinal appearance and a trip to the American tournament championship game last season.

Now comes the next step.

And it’s a considerably bigger one.

The Shockers are no longer the underdogs trying to surprise the conference. They’re the preseason favorites, with Memphis, South Florida and everyone else in the American eager to knock them off.

That changes the psychology of an entire season.

Opponents will circle Wichita State on their schedules. Every loss will invite scrutiny. Every disappointing performance will be measured against the enormous potential of a roster assembled to win now.

For Mills, it’s the ultimate test of whether the culture he has spent three years cultivating can withstand the pressure that comes with success.

Because for this particular team, merely making it to the NCAA Tournament might not be enough to satisfy its own expectations.

“With us being so close to March Madness last year, it’s really reinforced the fire for us to be successful this year,” Berg said. “I think all of us have it as our goal to be playing the second weekend.”

Unfinished business, but a different ending?

Mills has spent three years asking Wichita State fans to trust his vision, even when the results weren’t coming as quickly as they hoped.

Through the ups and downs, his philosophy about how to build a winning program has never wavered.

“There’s a real commitment to understanding this is done brick by brick,” Mills said. “Progress is made in steps and not in leaps. I know everybody wants progress to be made in leaps, but it’s not how it works.”

The Shockers have spent three seasons living that philosophy, enduring the growing pains while steadily improving.

Now they have the opportunity to prove the work was worth it.

But Giles has an interesting perspective on the unfinished-business theme that has defined the offseason.

He doesn’t want the Shockers dwelling on what happened against South Florida or Tulsa. He doesn’t want them living in the disappointment of opportunities lost.

He wants them to replace those memories entirely.

“I really feel like as a team we should forget about last year,” Giles said. “We didn’t get it done last year. We want to be want to be the team that gets it done.”

Last season’s pain helped bring this team back together. But remembering how close the Shockers came won’t help them make the final defensive stop, grab the decisive rebound or execute the possession that wins a championship.

They still have to do those things.

For three years, Mills has asked Wichita State fans to trust that every difficult loss, every incremental improvement and every brick laid along the way was building toward something bigger.

Now, with a veteran roster, a city eager to believe and championship expectations that can no longer be ignored, the Shockers have arrived at the moment that will test everything he’s built.

The foundation is there.

It’s time to find out how high they can climb.