The 5-9 problem solver: How Kenyon Giles could be Shockers’ missing piece
Wichita State men’s basketball coach Paul Mills didn’t blink when he signed a 5-foot-9 guard to help solve the team’s biggest problem.
Mills has built a reputation developing undersized guards and Kenyon Giles might be the next success story.
“I think little guys like that have a chip on their shoulder,” Mills said. “And he’s one of those guys.”
Giles arrives from UNC Greensboro, where he transformed into one of the Southern Conference’s most efficient scorers. He averaged 15.3 points and earned all-conference honors — but it was how he scored, and how often, that made him a priority for the Shockers.
After two high-volume seasons at Radford, Giles made a major leap at UNCG. He drilled 80 triples at a 40.2% clip, posted a 118.4 offensive rating and committed just 22 turnovers in 887 minutes — an elite mix of shooting and control.
Wichita State has been among the worst 3-point shooting teams in college basketball in recent years and turnover issues haven’t helped. In Giles, Mills sees everything the Shockers have been missing: deep range, clean decision-making, and a fearless scoring mentality.
“We want to play with a lot of force at the rim and people aren’t just going to let you get shots at the rim,” Mills said. “Defenses are going to collapse and when you spray it out, you have to have people who can make them pay. We just haven’t been able to do that. So we’ll see. It feels like this team is capable.”
Giles isn’t the only reason Mills is bullish on this group. He also added Mike Gray Jr. (40.9% from 3 at Nicholls), Brian Amuneke (40.7% at Fresno State), and Jaret Valencia (37.9% career shooter from Monmouth). Combined with Giles’ improved off-ball movement, it’s the blueprint for an offense that can finally punish collapsing defenses.
One key to Giles’ breakout at UNCG? Playing more off the ball. That gave him cleaner looks, especially off the catch, where Synergy ranked him in the 96th percentile nationally. He was nearly as deadly off the bounce, ranking in the 93rd percentile on pull-ups.
At 5-foot-9, Giles shouldn’t be this effective over defenders, but contests rarely faze him. He hit 65% of his two-point jumpers last season, using bumps, fades, and crafty angles to neutralize length. He might be the best tough shot-maker at WSU since Markis McDuffie.
Giles is a nightmare for defenses that sag — a key addition for a WSU team that struggled mightily against drop coverage last season. He snakes screens, steps into rhythm pull-ups, and rises without hesitation. His bag of tricks runs deep: nudging defenders into screens, using his off-arm for space, and putting defenders “in jail” by keeping them on his hip as he surveys the floor.
That versatility will serve him well at WSU, where he’s expected to play both on and off the ball. He’s just as dangerous curling off screens and spotting up as he is bailing out a broken possession with a tough, off-the-dribble jumper.
“He’s done a really good job navigating the pick and roll,” Mills said. “And that’s something that I didn’t know about. It’s better than what I anticipated. But we’re not the best right now at pick-and-roll defense, so I don’t know how much of that can be attributed to porous defense.”
The blend of footwork and shooting touch makes Giles a tough cover, even for someone like WSU teammate Karon Boyd, who guarded him while winning Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year at East Tennessee State.
“Guarding him is honestly really hard,” Boyd said. “You don’t want to go over the screen because he’s going to reject it and go to the basket. He knows how to create that space and draw fouls. It’s really hard to stay in front of him and not foul him.”
Giles embraces his score-first label, but he knows he still has to earn his teammates’ trust. This summer, he’s focused on proving he’s a team-first player with a shoot-first mentality.
“With me being a score-first guard, I’ve got to get that respect from my teammates,” Giles said. “I’m always going to be trying to get my shot first because that’s what I’m known for, but I’ve got to earn that trust and let my teammates know that I’m still going to be looking for them if they’re open. But if they’re not open, I want to shoot that shot. So right now it’s a lot about getting on the same page and me understanding them and them understanding me.”
After a 20-win season at UNCG, Giles is hungry to win again and reach the NCAA Tournament.
He’s already fired up by Mills’ intensity and can’t wait to experience Koch Arena. Giles wants his final college season to be a special one.
“The biggest thing about this group is that we just want to win,” Giles said. “Nobody is worried about individual accolades or stats. We want to win the American. Every time we bring it in, we always go, ‘AAC champs’ and nothing else.”
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