What Paul Mills has to say on seven new Wichita State basketball players
As the calendar has flipped over to May, Wichita State men’s basketball coach Paul Mills almost finished putting the final touches on the team’s roster for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
As a quick refresher for Shocker fans, here is the updated roster movement from last season’s team:
- Xavier Bell, Harlond Beverly, Matej Bosnjak, Bijan Cortes, Ronnie DeGray III, Justin Hill, A.J. McGinnis and Zane Meeks have all exhausted their eligibility and their college basketball careers are likely done. Bell, Bosnjak, DeGray, McGinnis and Meeks have entered the transfer portal with the slim hopes of playing another season if legislation this summer changes eligibility rules.
- Senior center Quincy Ballard (Mississippi State), senior forward Corey Washington (SMU) and sophomore wing Yanis Bamba (Maine) have all departed through the transfer portal. Sophomore point guard Zion Pipkin entered the transfer portal, but remains uncommitted. He is able to return to WSU, but the Shockers no longer have to hold a scholarship for him.
- The returners include junior wing Joy Ighovodja, redshirt freshman wing T.J. Williams and junior walk-on Henry Thengvall. The trio combined to play 95 total minutes, or 1.4% of last season.
With eight players exhausting eligibility and four more players gone in the transfer portal, that left Mills with just two scholarship players returning for the upcoming season. He did have an early start to the 2025 recruiting class by signing Barton Community College point guard Keandre Kindell, the No. 13 JUCO recruit in the country, and high school senior Tyrus Rathan-Mayes, a 6-foot-6 wing who was a 3-star prospect.
But rosters are expected to expand to up to 15 scholarship players, which meant Mills has as many as 10 openings to fill this spring. The Shockers have officially announced seven players this spring with another one committed, leaving either two or three roster spots still remaining for Mills to work with in the transfer portal.
Here is a recap of the players Mills has inked so far this spring with a quote from the coach to give Shocker fans an idea of what type of players will suit up inside Koch Arena next season.
Dillon Battie
Vitals: 6-foot-8 sophomore forward from Dallas, Texas
Transfer from: Temple (17-15, American Athletic Conference)
Stats: Started one game and played 7.9 minutes per game with averages of 3.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.2 steals and 0.3 blocks. Shot 68.3% from the field, which included a 75% mark on 2-pointers, and made 68.2% of his free throws. Posted an impressive 146.3 offensive rating in limited minutes on a 17.7% usage rate with strong rebounding rates, particularly on the offensive end (11.7%).
Mills’ take: “I’ve had the privilege of being able to follow Dillon’s journey since he was a young kid. I watched him win a state championship and be named Texas Player of the Year during his senior season at Lancaster High. He has elite acceleration, great length, can defend multiple positions, rebound outside of his area and has a passion for the work that’s required to be a great player. He comes from a rich basketball family and has been coached well during his career so his adjustment to our style of play will be minimal.”
Will Berg
Vitals: 7-foot-2 junior center from Stockholm, Sweden
Transfer from: Purdue (24-12, Big Ten)
Stats: Started three games and played 6.1 minutes per game in 22 appearances with averages of 1.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.2 blocks. Made 84.2% of his shots, but only attempted 19 total with almost all of his 16 baskets coming on dunks. In the limited minutes he was on the floor, Berg posted a 14.9% usage rate, 8.6% offensive rebound rate, 17.9% defensive rebound rate and a 84.2% free throw rate.
Mills’ take: “Our staff was looking for an interior player who embraced physicality, could finish at the rim, rebound on both ends and execute perimeter actions with the guards on our roster. We believe we found a perfect fit in Will. Will has really developed the past couple of years while being at Purdue and everyone I spoke to has raved about his work ethic. He will be a force for the Shockers this upcoming season.”
Karon Boyd
Vitals: 6-foot-5 senior forward from Concord, N.C.
Transfer from: East Tennessee State (19-13, Southern Conference)
Stats: Started 27 games and played 30.5 minutes per game with averages of 8.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks. Posted a 17.2% usage rate with a 105.9 offensive rating, including 43.5% shooting, 24.1% 3-point shooting and 62.6% foul shooting. Named the 2024-25 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year.
Mills’ take: “Karon is exactly what we were looking for when we thought about beginning this transfer class. He’s proven himself as the top defender in a difficult conference, possesses competitive integrity to influence a locker room in the right direction and has an extremely high motor on both sides of the ball. I’m excited about his potential and confident in his ability to add value the second he steps on campus this summer. Karon is a wonderful addition to our team.”
Pierre Couisnard Jr.
Vitals: 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Houston, Texas
Signed from: Legacy The School of Sport Sciences
Stats: The son of former Shocker great P.J. Couisnard, Pierre recovered from a catastrophic knee injury to return to the court for his senior season. WSU has not officially announced his signing, which means it is still unclear on what capacity he will be joining the team.
Kenyon Giles
Vitals: 5-foot-9 senior guard from Chesapeake, Virginia
Transfer from: UNC Greensboro (20-12, Southern Conference)
Stats: Started 28 games and played 29.6 minutes per game with averages of 15.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals. Posted an impressive 118.4 offensive rating on a 23.4% usage rate with a minuscule 6.8% turnover rate, which ranked 16th-best in the country. Name first team all-conference after making 2.7 3s per game and 80 total, which included a career-best shooting performance from the field (44.9%) and the 3-point line (40.2%) to go along with 78.9% at the foul line.
Mills’ take: “As a coaching staff we are always looking for players who love basketball versus players who like basketball. Kenyon loves the game of basketball and being a part of a team. How he has enhanced his game every single year is a testament to how much he loves the game and evidence of his dedication. He has made himself into a phenomenal shooter but he is a more than that given the attention he commands for so many other aspects of his game. I’m extremely excited about welcoming Kenyon to Shocker Nation.”
Noah Hill
Vitals: 6-foot-8 freshman center from Frisco, Texas
Signed from: Sunrise Christian Academy
Stats: Reclassified from 2026 to sign with the Shockers in 2025. He is rated the No. 188 prospect and the third-ranked player in Kansas in the 2025 class rankings by 247Sports.
Mills’ take: “The intangibles that are required in order to win a basketball game are what our staff is always on the lookout for when we are attempting to identify potential Shockers. Noah’s intangibles are loud. He plays with a high motor, is relentless as a rebounder, has terrific length and possesses a strong character to influence the locker room in the right way. His growth as a player has been impressive the past couple of years and it’s only going to improve while he’s here. Noah will represent Shocker Nation well.”
Emmanuel Okorafor
Vitals: 6-foot-9 senior center from Abia, Nigeria
Transfer from: Seton Hall (7-25, Big East)
Stats: Started nine games and played 10.8 minutes with averages of 2.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.3 blocks. He made 52.7% of his shots and 40% of his free throws last season. He posted a 97.4 offensive rating on a 15.9% usage rate, while posting strong rebounding rates of 9.6% on offense and 15.9% on defense.
Mills’ take: “I first watched Emmanuel when he was at the NBA Academy Showcase as a high school player and was astounded at the physicality he played with at such a young age. He has maintained that physicality while adding to his rebounding, mobility and finishing skills during the past three seasons as a player at Louisville and Seton Hall. He also possesses wonderful leadership skills to ensure our locker room continues to be about the right things. Emmanuel will play a big part to our success this upcoming season.”
Jaret Valencia
Vitals: 6-foot-9 junior forward from Quibdo, Colombia
Transfer from: Monmouth (13-20, Coastal Athletic Association)
Stats: Started 13 games and played 22.9 minutes with averages of 6.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.6 steals and 1.2 blocks during an injury-plagued season. Was named on the all-freshman and all-defense CAA team during the 2023-24 season. A career 37.9% 3-point shooter on low volume, although his accuracy dipped to 34.1% on just 1.5 attempts per game last season. Posted an offensive rating of 102.2 on a 16.8% usage rate to go along with an impressive 6.2% block rate (top-115 nationally).
Mills’ take: “I’m thrilled to welcome Jaret to Shocker Nation. His defensive ability is elite given that he can guard multiple positions and rim protect at a really high rate. He also gives us size on the perimeter and will enhance our rebounding on both sides of the ball. His strong desire to improve aligns perfectly with our program’s commitment to player development and competitive excellence. Jaret will make an immediate impact for us.”
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