The American Conference’s postseason honors for the 2025-26 season, which the league’s 13 coaches vote on, were announced Tuesday morning.
Three Wichita State men’s basketball players earned recognition this season.
Kenyon Giles earned First Team All-Conference and was a unanimous pick for the All-Newcomer Team. Karon Boyd earned Third Team All-Conference and Will Berg was recognized as the Sixth Man of the Year.
South Florida’s Izaiyah Nelson earned Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and was also a First Team All-Conference selection. The Bulls’ head coach, Bryan Hodgson, was named Coach of the Year.
Giles, a senior guard who transferred from UNC Greensboro, has averaged 19.4 points per game this season for the Shockers — the most since Jason Perez averaged 20.2 in 1999-00. He also broke the program’s single-season 3-point record with 105 threes and counting.
Giles is the fifth player to make the All-Conference First Team since Wichita State joined the American in 2017. He joins former Shockers Landry Shamet (2018), Shaquille Morris (2018), Tyson Etienne (2021) and Xavier Bell (2025) as First Team selections.
Berg, a junior center, leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game and has been at the forefront of a two-headed rebounding attack with senior Emmanuel Okorafor. Wichita State’s centers have pulled down 408 combined rebounds this season and 165 of them have come on the offensive end.
They’ve helped lead a push that has the Shockers ranked No. 4 in the country in offensive rebounding at 14.81 a game. They’re on pace to shatter the program’s single season record of 13.8 offensive rebounds per game set in 1995-96.
Boyd, a senior forward, has arguably made the most improvements for Wichita State since transferring from East Tennessee State over the offseason.
While still the caliber of defender that earned him the Southern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award last season, Boyd has made tremendous upgrades to his game — primarily on offense. After shooting just 21-for-101 from beyond the arc in two seasons for the Buccaneers, Boyd has drained 36-of-107 from deep this season and his 3-point shooting percentage has risen from 21% to 33.6%.
“There were aspects of his game that we really thought we could tap into,” head coach Paul Mills said in early March. “To Karon’s credit, to our staff’s credit, there was a lot of shot-making that he was committed to doing.
“And he’s become a quality decision maker. So, there’s just been an expansion of his game.”
Defensively, he’s usually tasked with containing an opponent’s highest-volume player. According to CBB Analytics, opponents shoot 42.5% from the field when Boyd is on the court and make assisted baskets just 42.8% of the time. Both stats rate at or above the 80th-percentile compared to the national average.
While the accolades are reminders that the work put in will show in due time, there’s still a greater task at hand for Wichita State.
The Shockers begin their trek at the American Conference Championship at 4 p.m. Saturday as the No. 2 seed in a field of 10 teams. They’ll need to win just two games at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., to raise the trophy and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
American Conference Postseason Honors
Player of the Year
- Izaiyah Nelson, senior forward, South Florida
Defensive Player of the Year
- Izaiyah Nelson, senior forward, South Florida
Freshman of the Year
- Josiah Parker, freshman guard, Florida Atlantic
Newcomer of the Year
- Izaiyah Nelson, senior forward, South Florida
Most Improved Player
- Devin Vanterpool, sophomore guard, Florida Atlantic
Sixth Man of the Year
- Will Berg, junior center, Wichita State
Amir Abdur-Rahim Sportsmanship Award
- Asher Woods, senior guard, Tulane
Coach of the Year
- Bryan Hodgson, first season, South Florida
First Team All-Conference
- Wes Enis, junior guard, South Florida
- Kenyon Giles, senior guard, Wichita State
- David Green, senior forward, Tulsa
- Izaiyah Nelson, senior forward, South Florida
- Jordan Riley, senior guard, East Carolina
Second Team All-Conference
- Chance Westry, sophomore guard, UAB
- Je’Shawn Stevenson Jr., sophomore guard, North Texas
- Rowan Brumbaugh, junior guard, Tulane
- Miles Barnstable, senior guard, Tulsa
- Tylen Riley, junior guard, Tulsa
Third Team All-Conference
- Dezayne Mingo, senior guard, Charlotte
- Devin Vanterpool, sophomore guard, Florida Atlantic
- Joe Pinion, senior guard, South Florida
- Derrian Ford, senior guard, Temple
- Karon Boyd, senior forward, Wichita State
All-Newcomer Team
- Chance Westry, sophomore guard, UAB
- Je’Shawn Stevenson Jr., sophomore guard, North Texas
- Wes Enis, junior guard, South Florida
- Izaiyah Nelson, senior forward, South Florida
- Joe Pinion, senior guard, South Florida
- Derrian Ford, senior guard, Temple
- Miles Barnstable, senior guard, Tulsa
- David Green, graduate forward, Tulsa
- Tylen Riley, junior guard, Tulsa
- Kenyon Giles, senior guard, Wichita State
