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NIT Could Signal New Era for Shockers
Published: 4/1/2011 10:30 AM
Last Modified: 4/1/2011 10:30 AM

Wichita State added to the idea that this could be the year of the mid-major in college basketball.
The Shockers, bringing back wonderful memories for Tulsa basketball fans, won the National Invitation Tournament.
With VCU and Butler in the Final Four, this has been a fabulous year for the so-called mid-majors in college basketball.
Along the way, the Shockers knocked off the Big 12, ACC, Pac-10 and SEC. In the final, against a team many considered among the most talented in the country, Wichita State simply ran over Alabama, 66-57.
Tulsa had a similar unexpected run in 1981, Nolan Richardson’s first year as TU coach, and the Golden Hurricane used that as a springboard for an unprecedented level of success over 25 years.
This NIT title might or might not signal something bigger for the Shockers.
However, as Golden Hurricane fans know from two NIT championships in a 20-year period (1981 and 2001), winning the final game of the season, whether at the Final Four or in the NIT, is a wonderful feeling.
The Shockers, like Tulsa, have plenty of basketball history. They reached the 1965 Final Four and the Elite Eight in 1981 and the Sweet 16 in 2006.
Wichita State, who had a memorable and high-level rivalry with Tulsa during the 1980s, is back on the national college basketball stage.
Perhaps, as it did for Tulsa, this could be the start of something big for the Shockers.



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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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