The fourth-ranked Wichita State University Shockers men’s basketball team, which beat Drake over the weekend to run its record to 21-0, has become a marquee opponent on everybody’s schedule. Along with top-ranked Arizona and No. 2 Syracuse, the Shockers are among three unbeaten teams left in men’s Division I basketball. Considering the weakened state of the Missouri Valley Conference and the schedule they still have left, there’s a good chance Wichita State will become the first team to enter the NCAA tournament with an unblemished record since UNLV in 1991.
Regardless with which university our loyalties lie, the Shocks’ success makes us Kansans swell with pride. Add to this that KU and K-State are in the top 25, and we have much to be excited about in the Sunflower State.
But, wait. There is more.
In the festivities during the week leading up to the Super Bowl Sunday and the on-going march to March Madness, it is easy to think that premier sports is all we have to offer. That is not the case.
Wichita State University’s symphony orchestra has been invited to represent Kansas at a musical festival in Europe. However, The ensemble may have to forgo the trip because of the cost.
The 2014 American Celebration of Music asked the orchestra to perform in Vienna and Salzburg in Austria, as well as Prague in the Czech Republic. But the trip would cost about $3,500 for each of its 60 student members, said Mark Laycock, director of orchestras and associate music professor at Wichita State.
With all this money floating around for the basketball team, it is a shame, money can’t be scraped together for these young musicians.
Dale Hogg