Men's Basketball | 3/22/2026 9:59:00 AM

 Listen to assistant coach Josh Eilert talk about rebounding at Wichita State

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Dillon Battie has never met anyone who loves rebounding more than Wichita State coach Paul Mills. Mills talks about it, teaches it, starts practices with drills and starts video with rebound reviews.
 
"He's super big on it, and I love it," Battie said. "That's the reason we're top of the country at that."
 
Wichita State (23-11) plays at Oklahoma State (20-14) at 7:30 tonight (Sunday, ESPN2) in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. The winner advances to face either Tulsa or UNLV, who play at 6 p.m., in a quarterfinal on March 24 or 25.
 
Win or lose, Mills will address Wichita State's rebounding performance. That effort and those numbers are the building block for everything.
 
On defense, it deprives the opponent of possessions and points, often coming from high-percentage shots around the rim or three-pointers after the rebounder passes to open shooter. On offense, a rebound tires the defense, draw fouls and gives your team opportunities for high-percentage points. On a bad shooting night, offensive rebounds can cover up that problem.
 
 

That's 8 points and 4 boards for DB.@BattieDillon | ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Gea2uvxacL

— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) March 2, 2026

"These are possession games," Mills said. "You have to win the possession battle. The way you win the possession battles is you rebound and you take care of the basketball."
 
Four times this season has an opponent grabbed more total rebounds than the Shockers.
 
WSU has taken more shots than 20 of its opponents and the same number in three. That edge comes from Mills' favorite stat – offensive rebounds, or "O boards," as he says.
 
The Shockers grab 14.8 a game, fourth nationally. While that stat can indicate poor shooting – lots of missed shots to grab – Mills often refers to percentage of offensive rebounds. His goal is to grab 40 percent of available missed shots on offense and the Shockers at 38.3, according to Ken Pomeroy's statistics, which also ranks fourth nationally.
 
On defense, the Shockers grab 71 percent of available missed shots by opponents, a number Mills would like to see rise to around 75 percent.
 
The Shockers grabbed 17 offensive rebounds in Tuesday's 74-70 win over Wyoming, 40.5 percent. That continues their nation's best streak of 28 games with 10 or more offensive rebounds.
 
"If you watch film with us, that's the very first thing we cover," Mills said. "The first slide is 'We rebound the ball, and did you do your job.' It's really about desire. You have to have guys on the court who have a hunger."
 
WSU's rebounding numbers start with center Will Berg, who averages 8.2 rebounds and 3.36 offensive rebounds. His offensive rebound percentage rate of 16.4 ranks No. 12 nationally. Berg is 7-foot-2, which helps, but he is also relentless in pursuing the ball. His presence demands block-outs from opponents, which often opens lanes for other Shockers to go to the glass.
 
"He can go fetch it," Mills said. "He can go high point at a place that's different than a lot of other players."
 
Berg, Emmanuel Okorafor (12.6), TJ Williams (8.5) and Karon Boyd (7.8) all rank in the top 25 of American Conference. Battie (8.3) would, but he doesn't meet the minimum number of minutes played.
 
"It's all about positioning," Berg said. "I tend to do most of the work even before the ball hits the rim or even leaves the hand of the shooters."
 
While the big men grab most of the rebounds, Mills often mentions improved rebounding by the guards as critical. When the big men box out, rebounds often find their way to smaller players. Guard Michael Gray Jr., averages 3.4 rebounds with a season high of 10 vs. Rice. He grabbed six in recent wins over UTSA and Tulsa.
 
The Shockers start the quest for rebounds with two strategies. Get opposite the shooter, because most basketballs bounce off the rim and head away from the shooter. Box out your opponent as far from the rim as possible to expand the area to cover.
 
"Keep your rebound radius, as in don't just run under the basket," Battie said. "Most shots are going to bounce long in a certain radius."
 
Mills' goal is to turn those bounces into a winning statistic for the Shockers.
 
 

E with the board leading to a wide open Mike 3 pic.twitter.com/vifXJuEKbe

— Wichita State Men's Basketball (@GoShockersMBB) March 7, 2026

Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.