Wichita State men’s basketball added another player from the transfer portal, this time from an American Athletic Conference opponent.
Dillon Battie, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward from Temple, announced his commitment to WSU on Thursday afternoon via a post from his agency on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Battie will join forward Karon Boyd, who played for East Tennessee State last season, and guard Kenyon Giles, who played last season for UNC Greensboro, at WSU.
The Shockers beat Boyd and ETSU last season, 96-87. They started conference play with a loss against Battie and the Owls. Battie did not play in the game.
WSU head coach Paul Mills recruited Battie when he came out of high school.
According to an article by The Wichita Eagle, “Battie was slated to take an official visit to WSU in September 2023, but did not end up on campus.”
Battie, from Dallas, will come into the Shockers’ frontcourt as a sophomore with at least a couple of years of eligibility ahead of him.
Out of Lancaster High School, Battie was the No. 40 power forward in the country and No. 12 player in Texas according to 247Sports.
Battie averaged 7.8 minutes per game in his freshman season at Temple and started a game once, against South Florida. He averaged 3.6 points per contest and knocked down 68.3% of his shots.
Battie can prove to be a 3-point specialist from the forward position, as more than half of his shot attempts last season (22-41) were from behind the arc. He shot 68.2% in his long-range attempts and only missed seven shots from that area.
He tallied a season-high 16 points and eight rebounds in a blowout win against Monmouth last November. His performances against Monmouth and Sacred Heart earned him the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week.
With the transfer portal closing on April 22, WSU head coach Paul Mills still has four roster spots available to complete his 15-man squad.
