The RoundHouse | 12/22/2025 10:22:00 AM
By
Paul Suellentrop
Karon Boyd's green Grinch Nikes highlight the defensive identity he values. The shoes, custom made by his girlfriend, feature the warnings "Steal their joy," and "Off night," on the toes.
On Sunday, he stole the joy from Eastern Kentucky with his shooting and ended Wichita State's non-conference schedule with his best scoring night as a collegian. Boyd, a senior forward from Queens, N.Y., led the Shockers (8-5) with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting in an 88-57 win at Koch Arena.
It was quite an identity switch for Boyd, who earned Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors at East Tennessee State last season.
"Early in the year, I was doing an interview, and I was talking about how I pride myself on defense and I just want to steal their joy," he said. "People started making a thing about it on Twitter, so I decided to make custom shoes."
Boyd made 21 of 110 three-pointers (19.1 percent) in two seasons at ETSU. For the Shockers, he is the player teams often leave open in the corner as they focus defense on guards
Kenyon Giles and Michael Gray, Jr., two proven shooters. Defenses must also account for centers
Will Berg and
Emmanuel Okorafor. Forward T.J. Williams gets their attention with his slashing to the basket.
"My teammates (are) constantly telling me to shoot," Boyd said.
Boyd is 17 of 42 from three-point range this season after Sunday's 4-for-8 performance. For Wichita State's offense to click, it is important for Boyd to make defenses rethink their strategy. To that end, he said a focus on shooting with extra practice helped.
"This summer, it was a really big key of mine to get my offensive game going," he said. "Get my shooting percentages back up. I shot a lot of threes during the summer with the coaches. Constant repetition and keeping the shot the same."
The Shockers discussed two themes heading into Sunday's game vs. the Colonels (4-9) – celebrating Christmas after a win and throwing the first punch to correct a trend of early deficits.
The offense clicked immediately with Boyd making his first four threes, Giles operating as a passer and decoy and guard
Dre Kindell playing his usual sparkplug role off the bench. Berg scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Brian Amuneke matched his Shocker high with 11 points and made 3 of 6 threes to improve for 8 for 18 over his past six games. Giles heated up in the second half to finish with nine points and three assists. He didn't take a shot in the first half while WSU steamed to 44 points on 16-of-30 shooting.
"It showed our chemistry," Amuneke said. "You try to get somebody else going, and that gets us going."
Boyd promised more custom sneakers this season from Mary Oakley Robertson of MoakleyCustoms. While he wants to keep the look a secret, one that celebrates his scoring would be a good sign for the Shockers.
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.
