Wichita State Professional Athletes

Two Wichita State alumni are entering the 2026-27 NBA season at very different crossroads — one riding the high of a championship, the other trying to reclaim his career. Both storylines are worth watching.

Shamet's Preseason Is a Proving Ground

Landry Shamet isn't just coming off a good season — he's coming off a title. The Knicks' championship run last year was fueled in part by contributions from Shamet, a pre-training camp signing who turned a quiet roster addition into something meaningful. Now, the question facing the Wichita State product heading into preseason isn't whether he belongs on an NBA roster — it's whether last year was a ceiling or a floor.

According to Sports Illustrated, Shamet's upcoming preseason carries significant weight in determining whether his breakout was sustainable or situational. The Knicks, for their part, are already staging another training camp competition for the final roster spot — CBS Sports noting that last year's version of that battle helped deliver them a championship. Shamet is the proof of concept. The pressure, however subtle, is real.

For Wichita State fans, the stakes are easy to understand: Shamet is no longer an afterthought signing — he's a defending champion trying to hold his ground on a team that will have high expectations from day one.

VanVleet's Return Has Houston Buzzing

Fred VanVleet's 2025-26 season never happened. A torn ACL wiped out the entire campaign, leaving the Rockets to piece things together without one of their most experienced floor generals. Houston leaned heavily on Amen Thompson, who responded with career-best numbers — 18.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game — but the Rockets were still ousted in the first round, with one anonymous scout telling Sports Illustrated the team was "way too reliant" on Kevin Durant.

VanVleet's return is expected to change that calculus. Head coach Ime Udoka told reporters that VanVleet is doing "great" in his recovery process ahead of training camp, per Heavy Sports — an encouraging signal that the Rockets' veteran point guard could be close to full strength when the season tips off. The expectation is that his playmaking will redistribute offensive responsibility and ease Durant's burden as the primary initiator.

For a Rockets squad trying to take a step forward in the Western Conference, a healthy VanVleet isn't just a nice storyline — he's a structural necessity. The Wichita State product spent his lost season watching from the sideline while his team figured out how to survive without him. Now he gets a chance to show what they've been missing.

The Shockers' NBA Footprint

Beyond the two headliners, Wichita State has additional alumni on NBA rosters — Tyson Etienne with the Nets, Craig Porter Jr. with the Cavaliers, and Dexter Dennis with the Mavericks — though none entered the week generating comparable headlines. The Shamet-VanVleet pairing remains the program's most prominent NBA presence, and both are positioned to make news once training camps get underway in earnest.

It's a good week to be a Shocker fan watching the league.

The Wichita State NBA Report | Sept. 6–12, 2026

Two of Wichita State's most prominent NBA exports are making headlines this week for reasons that couldn't be more different — one is snapping photos at a tennis Grand Slam, the other is grinding through one of basketball's most grueling recoveries.

Shamet, Championship Ring and Camera in Hand

Landry Shamet has never been content to do things the ordinary way, and this offseason is no exception. The Knicks guard — fresh off New York's championship run and the contract extension that followed — was spotted at the 2026 US Open working not as a celebrity guest, but as a photographer, camera in hand, shooting the action from the grounds.

It's an eyebrow-raising scene for any NBA player, let alone one who just helped deliver a title to Manhattan. Shamet's hot shooting was central to the Knicks' playoff push, endearing him to a fanbase that rewards clutch performers with genuine devotion. The contract extension cemented his place in New York's future. And yet, with training camp still weeks away, he was at Flushing Meadows chasing a different kind of shot.

The scene has predictably lit up NBA social media. It's the kind of offbeat story that follows a player for a career — simultaneously humanizing and bizarre, the sort of thing that only adds to a guy's legend in a sports city hungry for characters. Whether the side hobby raises any eyebrows in the Knicks' front office is another matter, but Shamet has earned the latitude.

VanVleet's Road Back

The mood is considerably more serious in Houston, where Fred VanVleet continues his recovery from an ACL injury. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka has been tracking the veteran guard's progress and recently offered an update on VanVleet's timeline — though the path back from a torn ACL is rarely linear, and patience will be required.

VanVleet has long been one of Wichita State's most decorated NBA success stories, forging himself from undrafted prospect into a legitimate starter and now a key piece of Houston's rebuild. The ACL is the defining obstacle of his immediate future. How the Rockets manage his return — and how close to his former self VanVleet can get on the other side — will be one of the more closely watched storylines in the Western Conference heading into the new season.

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Two Shockers, two very different offseasons. Shamet is living large after a championship and moonlighting with a lens. VanVleet is doing the hard, unglamorous work of getting his knee right. Both stories are worth following as the 2026–27 NBA season approaches.