Wichita State’s Kenyon Giles shines in March reunion with childhood teammate
Kenyon Giles saw the shot splash through and couldn’t help but glance back at the defender trailing him.
Kanye Clary could only tilt his head and shake it again.
He had seen this before.
The two were former childhood teammates from Virginia’s famed 757 area, but were now cast as March opponents with Wichita State and Oklahoma State’s seasons hanging in the balance in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
They battled shot for shot, but in the end, it was Giles with his game-high 28 points, including eight 3-pointers, that topped Clary and his 19 points in WSU’s 96-70 rout of Oklahoma State on Sunday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The win sent the Shockers (24-11) into Tuesday’s regional final at Tulsa with a trip to the NIT FInal Four in Indianapolis on the line.
But Sunday night was never about a rivalry between the two former teammates.
It was about history. It was about shared roots. And it was about two boys who once ran around on the same elementary school AAU team — the Virginia Beach Knicks — now meeting in the college basketball postseason all these years later.
When Clary was asked about Giles after the game, his face lit up immediately.
“That’s my guy,” Clary said.
Then he started fumbling with his phone, eager to show off the picture his mom had just sent him during the game — an old snapshot of Clary and Giles as kids on the Virginia Beach Knicks, a reminder of how far they had come from those early gym days.
Before they were high-level college guards carrying major roles for postseason teams, they were just two kids from neighboring cities in coastal Virginia learning the game together. Clary grew up in Virginia Beach. Giles grew up in Chesapeake, about 25 minutes away. Around there, everybody simply calls it the 757.
That connection still matters.
Both said there’s a brotherhood among players from that area, a bond formed by countless workouts, open gyms and battles against one another over the years. So even with Clary trying to end Giles’ season Sunday — and Giles doing plenty to wreck Oklahoma State’s — there was no bitterness attached to the moment.
“No bragging rights here,” Giles said with a laugh. “In the 757, we stick together. It’s all love between us.”
That feeling goes back to when Giles first arrived in Virginia.
His family had moved from Hawaii and Giles remembered being unsure of how he would fit in. Basketball helped. So did Clary.
Giles said Clary was one of the first friends he made in the area and one of the first players who truly opened his eyes to the kind of talent and creativity that defined 757 basketball.
“Kanye was the first shifty guard that I ever really ever saw,” Giles said. “He was the one who really introduced me to 757 basketball.”
Clary’s father, Anthony, coached the team they played on together and Giles used to work out with him while growing up in Virginia. Giles and Clary spent two seasons together on that Virginia Beach Knicks squad in the third and fourth grade, then continued crossing paths for years after that.
Even after they split to different teams, the connection never disappeared. They still stayed in touch. They still competed against each other. They still worked out together through middle school and high school. And as their basketball paths kept rising, they kept following one another from afar.
Giles rooted for Clary as he became a high-major recruit. Clary followed Giles through his winding college path and was thrilled to see him break out this season at Wichita State.
“There’s a lot of good basketball players from the 757, so we all kind of watch one another,” Clary said. “And then when we go home in the summer, we all play together in open gym. We all want to see each other do good when the season comes.”
That mutual respect was obvious Sunday night, even as the game turned into a show of shot-making and tough-shot responses between the old friends.
Giles came out firing, scoring eight quick points to help Wichita State seize control early. Clary answered with 14 points in the first half to keep Oklahoma State within striking distance.
For a while, it felt like they were taking turns reminding each other who they had become.
“I was kind of thinking in my head, ‘Uh oh, Kanye is cooking right now,’” Giles said. “It was a bittersweet moment, you know? Because when you’re from where we’re from, you always cheer for your guys. So seeing him out there doing good, thriving, it was awesome.”
Then came the more painful part for Clary.
At one point, he fought over a screen and did enough to take away Giles’ first look, only to watch Giles step back and drill a fading jumper anyway. Another time, Clary helped just a step too far off Giles and turned in time only to see the ball dropping through the net. Later, with 1.7 seconds left on the shot clock in the second half, WSU drew up a play for Giles in the corner, where he flipped in another circus shot over Clary’s contest.
Each time, Clary had the same reaction: disbelief mixed with admiration.
“He’s one of the hardest players I’ve ever had to guard,” Clary said. “His shot-making ability is incredible. He don’t get tired. Ultimate confidence in himself. He’s going to continue to do big things.”
The respect goes both ways.
“You know how people always ask you, ‘Who’s the hardest player you’ve ever had to guard?’” Giles said. “I always tell people, ‘Kanye Clary.’ And my answer has never changed.”
That is what made Sunday’s matchup so unusual.
For stretches of the first half, Giles admitted he felt conflicted watching Clary get going offensively. Part of him was impressed. Part of him was proud. And part of him knew he had to shut those feelings off and go win a postseason game.
Clary said he felt the same tension from the other side.
“It got competitive there when you’re playing each other with your season on the line,” Clary said. “But man, that kid is special. He deserves every bit of this success, too. I’m happy for him.”
There was no trash talk to settle. No score to hold over the other guy. No need to claim ownership of the moment.
Instead of a rivalry, they viewed it as a celebration.
“It really felt bigger than basketball to me,” Clary said. “Seeing a childhood friend on the big stage like this, getting to play each other at this level… that’s like what most kids dream about. So it’s just a reminder of how far the game of basketball can take you.”
To everyone else, it was just another NIT game and another electric scoring performance by Giles in Wichita State’s emphatic march on.
But to Giles and Clary, it was also a full-circle moment.
Two kids from the 757, who once shared a team, shared a coach and shared basketball dreams, found themselves sharing the court one more time with March on the line.
On Sunday, one had to win and one had to lose.
But both walked away reminded of where they started — and why they still root for each other now.
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 7:06 AM.
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