A defensive stalwart is coming to Wichita State men’s basketball next year.
Junior forward Karon Boyd committed to Wichita State from the transfer portal on Wednesday morning, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.
Boyd played for East Tennessee State University last season and was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
He averaged 30.5 minutes, 8.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during the 2024-25 campaign. Boyd, who stands at 6-feet-5-inches, is not an efficient scorer. He shot 44% from the field, 24% from 3-point range and 63% from beyond the arc last year.
Boyd played in Charles Koch Arena against the Shockers on Dec. 7. He scored 16 points on eight shots and grabbed five rebounds in an ETSU loss.
Boyd is from Concord, North Carolina, and played for a Division II school, the University of South Carolina Aiken, prior to joining ETSU.
He is the first member of WSU’s 2025 transfer portal class, a group that will likely add six more players as the Shockers replenish a roster that was emptied by transfers and graduations.
Boyd could fill the role left by outgoing forward Ronnie DeGray III: a defense-first wing who operated as a spark plug and glue guy for the team. Boyd is currently the most experienced player on the roster; no other returning player averaged more than 7.4 minutes per game last year.
