Men's Basketball | 11/3/2025 5:19:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Dillon Battie likes knowing where he stands and what is expected. Uncertainty isn't helpful for a basketball player.
 
So, he scheduled a meeting and hand-wrote four questions for Wichita State basketball coach Paul Mills after the scrimmage against Santa Clara in October.
 
"You want to know – 'This is what I need to do,'" Battie said. "What can I take from the scrimmage? Every day, I'm trying to get better."
 
The Shockers open the season vs. UNC Asheville at 6:30 p.m., Monday (ESPN +) at Koch Arena. Mills will start the season with a good feeling about Battie, a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, after that talk.
 
"His ceiling is really, really high," Mills said. "You know a guy is going to be a good player You don't when he's going to be a good player. Progress is made in steps. It's not made in leaps."
 

The meeting is a good sign for Mills, who saw an athlete who wanted to learn, most important, how he can help the Shockers win. Battie, who transferred from Temple, asked what he needed to do to improve and what he needed to do to help the team. He will play more on the perimeter than he did at Temple.
 
"You need somebody with a growth mindset," Mills said. "There's a lot of players that want to be the best player on the team. They don't necessarily want to be the best player for the team. He was asking 'How do I be the best player for the team? What are the things I need to do?'"
 
Battie, from Dallas, played in 20 games for Temple to average 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds. He made 68.3 percent of his shots and took only five three-pointers. His potential is better understood from his time at Lancaster High School, where he earned Texas Class 5A Player of the Year honors. He scored 17 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the 2024 state championship win over Killeen Ellison.
 
"I'm really explosive," Battie said. "I can get to the rim. I have to make the right reads, maybe I draw in two defenders, and I make the right (pass). Then I can become a better scorer, better player."
 
Battie is playing for his third coach in three years, figuring out new terminology, and adjusting to more time outside the paint. As he adjusts, Mills thinks he can add significant scoring to the lineup as he finds the right pace to work in the offense.
 
"What Dillon has to do is play under control," Mills said. "He is such a scorer. You do not want to rewire guys and get them to try to defer."
 
Teammates also see an athlete who can score in a variety of ways.
 
"He is very strong, very good in the post," forward Jaret Valencia said. "When he is posting up, it doesn't matter who it is, he wants to score."
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
 
Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.