Given second chance, Wichita State lands Temple transfer Dillon Battie
When Dillon Battie arrived for his recruiting visit to Wichita on Tuesday, WSU men’s basketball coach Paul Mills greeted him with a straightforward message.
“I missed out on you last time,” Mills told him. “I’m going to get you to be a Shocker this time around.”
True to his word, Mills’ presentation to the 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward was convincing enough to land a commitment from Battie on Thursday.
After missing out on the services of the former top-150 recruit in the class of 2024 last year to Temple, WSU made the most out of its second chance with Battie entertaining offers in the transfer portal this spring.
“I wanted to find a school that really believed in me and wanted to help me develop into a really good basketball player,” Battie said. “I had a really good connection with coach Paul Mills. He showed me the plan and I loved it and I bought into the plan.”
Battie playing sparingly in his freshman season at Temple, where he averaged 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per game.
He offers a high-upside play for the Shockers at a position of need in the frontcourt, as Battie is the prototypical stretch forward for American Athletic Conference play.
In high school, Battie flashed top-notch athleticism with a smooth outside stroke while playing for Team Trae Young on the Adidas 3-Stripes Select Basketball circuit in 2023. He attracted interest from several power-conference programs, while he took an official visit to San Jose State earlier this spring before committing to WSU.
The challenge for Mills will be to extract that potential from Battie, a process that the player seemed excited to begin in Wichita in June.
“Paul Mills is a great developmental coach and I can’t wait to get there and start working,” Battie said. “I like the way he handles business. He’s straight to the point and that’s the type of coach that I like. I think with the pieces that he’s bringing in, we could be really good and I want to help and be a part of that.”
Battie joins UNC Greensboro guard Kenyon Giles and East Tennessee State wing Karon Boyd as additions from the transfer portal, while WSU has also signed Barton Community College guard Keandre Kindell and high school products Tyrus Rathan-Mayes, Noah Hill and Pierre Couisnard Jr.
With potentially four spots on the 2025-26 roster still remaining and no veteran experience in the frontcourt, Battie could be the first of several big-man additions for Mills.
“I think they liked my ability to rebound the ball and go out there and defend and play hard,” Battie said. “And there’s still so much more I can develop. I can’t wait to continue to get better there.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 5:03 PM.
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