Why this Wichita State alum won’t be rooting for the AfterShocks in Friday’s TBT game

As a die-hard Wichita State fan for the past three decades, David Clark has seen some memorable basketball games at Koch Arena.

The one on Friday night in the Roundhouse will be unlike any other one he’s ever experienced when the AfterShocks take on We Are D3 in the 8 p.m. nightcap of the opening day of The Basketball Tournament at Koch Arena.

That’s because for the first time in his life, Clark won’t be rooting for the Shockers. The Wichita State alum won’t cheer when Markis McDuffie hits a tough jumper or when Clevin Hannah makes a highlight-reel pass and he certainly won’t be praying for another SportsCenter Top-10 play from Conner Frankamp in the Elam Ending.

Instead, Clark will be wearing the other team’s colors, sitting on the visiting team’s bench and hoping to spoil the night for a fan base he is a passionate supporter of the other 364 days of the year.

“I’m just sitting here right now looking at all of the seats I’ve sat in for some amazing basketball games over the years,” said Clark, an assistant coach on We Are D3. “This game will be at the top of my list, honestly. To have the chance to step on the court and sit on the bench and help coach this team, it’s going to be really special. I’m conflicted, but obviously I’m all in to win for We Are D3. I just hope my Wichita people will go easy on me if we win.”

Clark developed an unlikely connection with the new TBT team composed entirely of former NCAA Division III standouts last summer when the team was selected to play in the Wichita regional.

In a search to find a vacant gym for his team to practice in, We Are D3 coach Michael Rejniak said he emailed “every directional high school in Wichita.” Clark, the athletic director at West, was the only person to respond.

Clark said he “rolled out the red carpet” for We Are D3 last summer and quickly built a friendship with Rejniak, who he found out is also from Massachusetts. When We Are D3 was picked to return to Wichita, Rejniak asked if Clark would want an expanded role as the director of operations and also an assistant coach for a team that has called West its home base for the past week.

“I really love the way David runs his athletic program,” Rejniak said. “He gives everything to those kids. And he’s given everything to our team, which is why his role has evolved on our team. It means a lot to have people like that who value you in your program. He didn’t look at us as outsiders. He made us feel like family.”

Clark said his “stomach sank” when he learned of the first-round TBT draw for We Are D3.

But the more he was around the team, the more he noticed the same DNA in We Are D3 as his favorite Shocker teams.

“These guys are just a bunch of grinders and they’ve had to work for everything they’ve had in their professional careers,” Clark said. “Nothing is handed to them. Each of our guys had to pay $400 just to be on this team. That’s not the way it is for most TBT teams. Those guys are getting paid to be here. But these guys are the ones who have had to fight and scratch and claw their way to earn a living. They’ve always been the underdog and I love that moxie about them. I’ve drawn to people like that. I like hard work because hard work trumps talent every time.”

Rejniak is confident there is plenty of talent on We Are D3, even if it didn’t play in front of 10,000-plus fans in college or play in some of the top professional leagues in Europe like the AfterShocks.

It’s safe to assume We Are D3 will launch a flurry of shots behind the three-point line and its most dangerous player will be 6-foot-1 guard Eric Demers, who won the Wichita TBT regional three-point shooting contest on Thursday. Demers has earned a spot in the NBA G-League after a standout career at Gordon College, a Division III program in Massachusetts where he led the country in scoring his senior year with a 32.4 average in the 2019-20 season.

“This is going to be the matchup of the first round, mark it down right now,” Rejniak said. “I know the AfterShocks have a lot of talent, but so do we. They’re a known commodity and we’re not. But you’re going to see a good brand of basketball from both sides. I’m looking up at all of the banners (in Koch Arena) right now, so I know they’re going to bring it and I’m expecting it to be a defensive battle.”

We Are D3 played in the game before the AfterShocks last summer, so they saw glimpses of the crowd starting to swell but they have yet to get the full Koch Arena experience.

That’s something, Rejniak admits, We Are D3 won’t fully understand until the opening tip-off.

“I know their fans stand until they score, so I was joking with our coaches about whether or not we should just let them score early so the fans sit down or do we try to hold them off and let them stand and get tired,” said Rejniak, laughing. “But there’s nothing we can do to prepare for that environment. Our players are professionals though, so they’ll get used to it. But this is one of the very best environments in basketball.”

Clark knows that better than anyone on the We Are D3 sidelines, but for one night, he’s hoping to silence the crowd at Koch Arena.

“I think fans can expect a great basketball game,” Clark said. “We have kids that don’t quit and I know the AfterShocks don’t quit. These are two great teams, so I don’t even look at it like a 1-8 matchup. It’s going to be a phenomenal basketball game.”