Portal Paul’s next trick? Keeping Wichita State basketball’s core intact
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Paul Mills will meet players individually to preserve the program’s belief and foundation.
- Preserving belief and the foundation seeks to build on recent momentum.
- Coach says coming days will determine keeping the foundation before seeking newcomers.
Wichita State’s offseason won’t begin on April 7 when the NCAA transfer portal officially opens.
It will begin on Wednesday in Wichita when Paul Mills sits down with each of his players one by one and tries to preserve the most important thing his program built over this past season: belief.
After a 24-win season, a runner-up finish in the American Conference and a trip to the conference tournament championship game, Wichita State finally feels like it has momentum again. The Shockers finished at No. 73 in KenPom, won 14 of their final 18 games and gave the fan base something it had been craving: a reason to believe the program was trending back toward relevance.
But when the season ended Tuesday night in an 83-79 loss at Tulsa in the NIT regional final, Mills made it clear he does not view this season as some grand arrival.
It’s just the starting point.
“We’re going to be a top-25 team,” Mills said matter-of-factly. “It’s gonna happen.”
Leading WSU to the program’s highest win total since 2018 was nice, but it doesn’t satisfy a coach who wants the Shockers back in the national conversation. And soon.
That ambition is why the most important part of the next two weeks may not be who Wichita State adds. It may be who stays.
Mills knows the reality of the modern sport as well as anyone. Roster retention now requires almost as much work as roster construction. But this time, unlike a year ago, WSU is not heading into the offseason from a place of desperation. It is coming off a breakthrough season with a core that Mills said was assembled with this exact moment in mind.
“It was pretty intentional on our part a year ago,” Mills said. “We didn’t want to be in the same position that we were in last year, losing eight seniors. So we were really mindful about finding juniors and sophomores who we believed could contribute.”
That is what makes this offseason so fascinating.
The only two certain departures are also the two leading scorers. Kenyon Giles, the dynamo who averaged 19.1 points per game and shattered the school record with 125 made 3-pointers, is out of eligibility. So is Karon Boyd, the dependable two-way force who averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds while improving into a credible perimeter shooter, knocking down 46 3s at a 35.1% clip.
Giles was the offensive engine, the player who bent defenses and changed games with his shot-making. Boyd was the Swiss Army knife, a versatile defender and rugged rebounder who grew into one of the team’s most indispensable players.
Those are not easy pieces to replace.
But the encouraging part for WSU is that nearly everybody else in the rotation could return. That includes some obvious priorities.
Senior center Will Berg is one of the most important retention pieces on the roster after giving the Shockers size, rim presence and frontcourt production. Junior forward Dillon Battie emerged as another key piece with his athleticism, toughness and upside. Sophomore wing T.J. Williams remains one of the more intriguing long-term pieces in the program — and a player who can take on a much larger role moving forward.
Wichita State would also like to bring back returning starters in senior center Emmanuel Okorafor, who still needs an NCAA waiver to gain another season, and senior guard Mike Gray Jr., whose experience and steadiness were valuable even when his shooting came and went.
Then there is the next layer of the roster: senior point guard Dre Kindell, junior forward Jaret Valencia, junior wing Brian Amuneke and sophomore center Noah Hill. All represent the kind of depth and developmental value that matter when building a winning program over time.
A lot can change in the next two weeks, but for now, Mills spoke on Tuesday like a coach confident in who was coming back.
“I feel really good about the group that we have and what’s gonna end up returning,” Mills said.
It is also why Mills leaned back into one of the more memorable lines of his WSU tenure. After last season’s NIT loss, Mills jokingly dubbed himself “Portal Paul,” a nickname that quickly took off among the fan base and spread across social media in meme form. On Tuesday, Mills revived it.
“You go into the next room, you change your clothes and Portal Paul emerges,” Mills said.
The line got the response he was looking for, as Giles busted out in laughter and Williams, who remembered the viral clip from last season, shook his head.
“Xavier Bell laughed last year when I said that too,” Mills said with a smirk.
The humor played well because the results backed it up.
Mills’ portal work last offseason helped transform WSU from a middle-of-the-pack team that backdoored its way into the NIT into one that elevated itself into a true contender for the final two months of the season. The Shockers not only won 24 games, but did so with a style and an edge that started to feel sustainable. They rebounded at a high level, defended with more consistency late in the year and developed the kind of late-season chemistry that had the locker room talking openly about how much they enjoyed playing together.
“Because of the players,” Mills said when asked about where his confidence stems from. “We’ve got really good players. I don’t think you can go through a single guy in our locker room that did not get better through the course of the year. It’s fun to watch their growth. It’s why you do it. But more importantly, I really, really believe in the character in the room. You can have talented players, but if you have knuckleheads, there’s a lot of uncertainty. But I coach really good guys and good people make good players. We have a tight-knit group and you’ll see us emerge here nationally in the very near future.”
Talent matters. Portal evaluations matter. NIL matters. But Mills believes the internal culture now matters, too. That is what he is trying to protect.
And in the modern game, culture only survives if the right players choose to come back.
There is no guarantee WSU will keep every player it wants. That is not realistic in 2026 college basketball. Players have options. Agents and third parties will make pitches. Money talks louder than ever. The portal is no longer a last resort for unhappy players — it is part of the annual calendar for nearly everybody.
Still, the tone from Mills suggested he believes Wichita State is in a strong position.
Part of that is roster fit. Part of it is role clarity. Part of it is the upward trajectory of the program. And part of it may be the growing financial support behind the scenes.
WSU athletic director Kevin Saal has been careful not to publicly reveal exact figures tied to NIL and revenue sharing for men’s basketball, but multiple donors to the program have told The Eagle they expect that number to rise, maybe by as much as 50%, after the Shockers’ late-season push and the renewed confidence in Mills. It is difficult to pin down an exact number, but it is reasonable to believe WSU will have the strongest financial backing it has had in the NIL era heading into the 2026-27 season.
That matters, especially if Mills is trying to do two things at once: retain the right pieces from a winning core and supplement them with proven, win-now help.
If WSU can keep most of its main rotation intact, the shopping list becomes much more focused. The most obvious need is a scoring guard capable of helping replace what Giles brought to the offense. Mills has now overseen star turns from undersized scoring guards such as Max Abmas and Giles, which should make WSU an attractive destination for the next player in that mold.
Finding another player like Boyd will also be difficult. Tough, physical defenders who can rebound, guard multiple positions and space the floor do not come cheap or easy. But if Mills can sell recruits and portal targets on a returning core, an energized fan base and a realistic path to contention, WSU starts to look like a more compelling destination than it did even a year ago.
The players still in the program seem to sense that.
“Hopefully this momentum just rolls over,” Williams said. “And the fans believe in us and in Portal Paul and they show up again for us next year.”
Williams, a Wichita native, also spoke like someone excited about what is coming, not someone uncertain about it.
“Really excited,” Williams said about WSU’s future. “We’ve got really good players in the locker room and we know that. I’m excited to see what comes in June.”
Even the players who are leaving spoke about Wichita State as if their emotional investment in the program would not end with their eligibility.
“I’ve got full belief when he says he’s going to make it happen,” Giles said. “This is a program that’s all about action. You’re going to see it soon.”
Boyd sounded much the same.
“I was proud to wear this jersey and help bring the program back to life,” he said. “But I know next year, we’re going to turn it up a notch. I’m glad to be a part of it. But they’re going to take it to the next level.”
Those are striking endorsements from two players who only spent one season in Wichita, yet left sounding like lifers.
That says something about what Mills has built, or at least about what he has started to build.
“Progress is made in steps, it’s not made in leaps,” Mills said. “Having been a part of programs, whether it was at Baylor or Oral Roberts, you watch the progress happen little by little. I wish it was made in leaps, but it just isn’t. And that’s the way our lives work. That’s the way that building a basketball team works.”
This season was a step. A significant one, which the program desperately needed, but still just a step. Even with all of their progress, the Shockers were still well outside the at-large picture for the NCAA Tournament.
“The foundation is important and the people are important,” Mills said. “We have a wonderful administration and we are extremely supported. We have wonderful players and all of that is going to lend itself to putting Wichita State back to where we’re winning and competing for championships.”
The next step will be determined over the coming days.
Before Portal Paul starts hunting for newcomers, Mills first has to make sure the foundation stays put. If he can keep the right players from a team that finally made WSU feel relevant again, then his lofty postgame proclamation will sound less like a boast and more like a blueprint.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 7:01 AM.
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