Paul Mills is no stranger to good guard play. 

While as an assistant at Baylor, he coached the likes of LaceDarius Dunn and Pierre Jackson, two elite-level scorers. Max Abmas was the star under Mills at Oral Roberts, who led the NCAA in scoring with 24.5 points a game in 2020.

Now at Wichita State, he has himself another scoring dynamo in Kenyon Giles. It was never a doubt when the senior transferred from UNC Greensboro over the offseason that he was going to provide a much-needed scoring punch in the Shockers’ backcourt.

“What I’m impressed by is KG’s always been able to handle and shoot,” Mills said. “But the fact that he’s assertive; what you see when he shoots is five men have to go up. So whoever’s trying to be involved in the pick-and-roll coverage, they have to move up and be able to contest a shot on account of the screen to the guard out.

“And then what you’re seeing is our bigs (centers) getting to the rim and being able to offensive rebound.”

That’s why Giles is one of, if not the most, valuable pieces for WSU’s offense. His status is nearly solidified since American Conference play has started.

Another prime example came Wednesday night.

Giles eclipsed 150 points in seven games against conference foes and boosted his season total to 368 after pouring in 27 during a 77-60 drubbing over East Carolina in which the Shockers never led by less than double digits after seven minutes had passed. His 150 points in the league lead the American.

It isn’t just luck. Teams know he’s a volume-scorer and usually tailor their defensive game plan around him. 

But he’s scored fewer than 10 points just twice in 20 games so far: a nine-point outing against Eastern Kentucky in late December, then a season-low two points against Florida Atlantic last Thursday in WSU’s most lopsided loss of the year.

As a 5-foot-10, 172 pound guard, Giles has to rely on craftiness, spacing, and a soft touch to make shots fall over defenders sometimes a foot taller than him.

Before every game, Giles said he makes anywhere between 100-200 shots during shootarounds. Yes, makes.

How many he drains consecutively, we may never know. Either way, the practice pays off — big time. 

He’s already scored 20 or more points on nine different occasions this year, including a career-high 33-point explosion to help WSU past North Texas earlier this month. Against UAB in the conference opener, Giles drilled eight 3-pointers — the most in a single game since Joe Ragland’s octet of triples in 2011 against UNLV — to help the Shockers complete a double-digit comeback in the second half.

When asked if he’s found new motivation with this being his final season of collegiate basketball, or if the people around him give him the most confidence, Giles humbly chose the latter.

“The guys around me and the trust that the coaches give me,” he said after the game against the Pirates. “I miss a shot, and they’re like, ‘KG, shoot it again.’ … That has a big part to do with it, you know, they give me a lot of confidence.”

“KG, shoot it again,” must’ve been the tune that played in his head all night against ECU because not even two minutes into the game, Giles found space and converted a second-chance opportunity in the paint after sophomore Dillon Battie grabbed an offensive rebound.

A little later, back-to-back threes in 30 seconds — including one from the logo — helped WSU open up a 26-8 advantage, which made a game already teetering toward the Shockers point fully in their direction.

In the blink of an eye, Giles tallied 15 points at halftime on 6-of-11 shooting and drained three 3-pointers. He also made the Pirates cough up the ball three times and dished two assists. 

Giles scored five more within five minutes of the second half.

And with ECU creeping up to try and deny another 3-point attempt from Giles on WSU’s next possession, he found a cutting Karon Boyd with a 22-foot bounce pass, who then slammed home an uncontested dunk to put the Shockers up 56-40.

“I loved it,” Boyd said about the play. “I saw it wide open, saw they were doubling him and they just left me open. So, just trying to help KG out with a cut and make it easy for him. Then as soon as I saw the lane, I just went up and dunked it.”

Plays like that will keep a defense guessing. In turn, it’ll create more opportunities for both Giles and the rest of the offense.

“We have a lot of guys. It’s my job,” Giles said of if he needs to create plays, too. “Where if I have so much gravity, just find the guys that are open. It makes it easier in my scoring to find these guys because teams are so worried about me. … It really simplifies the game the way they’re guarding me.”

With Giles leading the way and creating space for others, he isn’t just the Shockers’ most versatile guard — he’s the one player on the court who can flip a game on its head when the ball finds his hands.