Markus Crider and T.J. Shipes will play their final game at the GSU Sports Arena on Saturday when the Panthers host Appalachian State.
They arrived four years ago as part of coach Ron Hunter’s first recruiting class, have started many games since, and will leave as two of the winningest players in the program’s history.
Self-nicknamed the “Bruise Brothers” because Crider is a 6-foot-6 forward and Shipes a 6-7 forward/center, they have been part of two Sun Belt regular-season titles, a Sun Belt tournament title and a famous win over Baylor in the NCAA tournament. To have a chance to at least equal those last two accomplishments, the Panthers (14-12, 7-10) need to defeat the Mountaineers (7-21, 5-12) to keep alive the possibility of making it to the conference tournament in New Orleans. Crider, Shipes and the rest of Georgia State’s team are in a three-way tie for sixth in the Sun Belt, far below the preseason expectations.
“I’d obviously like to win not just for personal reasons, but for the team so we can get playing better going into conference tournament and win that again,” said Shipes, who will have several family members and friends at Saturday’s game.
Crider, who will have as many as 12 family members or friends at the game, will tie the school record Saturday for most games played (125). That’s one of several school top-10 lists that he is a part of. He said those rankings are nice, but are meant to be surpassed.
He and Shipes are tied for fourth in school wins (79), just eight behind the mark set last year by Ryann Green. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the duo would take that record over this season, but things haven’t gone as expected, just another in the highs and lows that they have experienced while on Decatur Street.
The highs first:
Shipes said his career moment came in the win against Baylor and then the loss in the next game against Xavier. He was proud that the Panthers kept it close despite the Musketeers shooting 81.3 percent in the second half of the 75-67 victory.
Crider said his career moment came in the game before the win against Baylor. Just before R.J. Hunter’s free throws capped the Panthers’ 38-36 win over Georgia Southern, it was Crider’s defensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer that give the Panthers the ball and a chance to win. It was a typical hustle play made by the undersized forward.
“We were in the huddle, I looked at Ryann, R.J. and said do anything possible to get this win,” Crider said. “I didn’t understand how big that rebound was until the game was over. I knew that anything was possible.”
The on-the-court lows have been obvious, starting with this preseason when the team was picked by the league’s coaches to finish second, but the team has struggled for months on offense, and sometimes in key moments in games on defense.
The years and those types of plays have enabled Shipes and Crider to bring an analytical view to the troubles the team has had this season replicating the form of the previous two years when they went 50-19.
Both said it comes down to chemistry. This season’s team has spent months trying to incorporate several new players, including starters, and it takes time. Some teams bond quicker than other’s.
“This season has been the definition of a roller coaster for me,” Shipes said. “If it’s not one thing it’s another thing each game.”
Shipes and Crider have done their best to try to teach those in the classes behind them how to handle themselves on the court and off so that next season’s team won’t repeat this season’s experiences.
Crider draws from an injury he sustained as a sophomore. He said before the injury he was treating college basketball too much as a business, and needed to learn to have some fun.
Shipes has drawn from the experiences of the deaths of several close friends over the years to learn how to stay in perspective instead of to regain perspective. He’s also used his verbal altercations with Hunter during practices as a tool.
“I’ve worked on learning to listen to what he’s seeing instead of how he’s saying it,” Shipes said. “He knows what he’s talking about. A lot of these guys, they shut down mentally and go in the opposite direction of what he’s trying to do, and then they keep compiling mistakes. Look at it positively so they don’t keep making the same mistakes.”
Both have plans after the season ends.
Crider will rest his body and then see if there are opportunities to play professionally. He has several business interests that he would like to start.
Shipes said he is going to finish his degree in economics and will then pursue a master’s degree in accounting.
But there are still games to play.
“The season isn’t over,” Shipes said. “We have to pull together and finish strong.”
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