Indiana Portal Additions: Tayton Conerway Will Disrupt Opposing Offenses At His Best

Tayton Conerway does many things well, but one thing that makes him fit Darian DeVries system is his ability to force turnovers.

Troy Trojans guard Tayton Conerway (12) drives to the hoop past Kentucky Wildcats guard Collin Chandler (5) and forward Brandon Garrison (10) during the first half at Fiserv Forum. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Editor's note: Hoosiers On SI looks at the Indiana players Darian DeVries has brought to the team from the transfer portal and their best performances.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tayton Conerway, one of Indiana’s new guards, is a multifaceted talent, but what jumps out when you look at his statistics are steals.

Conerway’s career average doesn’t do his thievery justice – even though his 2.5 steals per game is impressive.

Steal rate, which measures how many possessions end in a steal with the player on the floor, is where you can find out just how disruptive Conerway is. He had a steal rate of 5.6% in 2025 – third-best in the nation. That was actually a decline. Conerway was second in the nation in 2024 at 5.8%.

Indiana coach Darian DeVries puts a high value on guards who can force turnovers, so Conerway seems tailor-made for DeVries’ style of play.

Here’s a look at some examples of Conerway when he’s been at his best in his career.

Big Moment

Tayton Conerway (12) shoots during the Sun Belt Conference men's basketball championship game between Troy and Arkansas State at the Bay Center in Pensacola on Monday, March 10, 2025. | Gregg Pachkowski/Pensacola News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Conerway had been named the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year before the Sun Belt Tournament was played in Pensacola, Fla., in March. In the Sun Belt championship game, Conerway proved why he earned that honor.

Top-seeded Troy trailed Arkansas State 43-41 at halftime of the title clash – and only one of them was going to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Conerway took over. Early in the second half, he did it by dishing to his teammates to help the Trojans take the lead.

In the final 8:10 of the game, Conerway delivered a mortal blow to Arkansas State with his scoring. Conerway scored 16 of his 18 second-half points in that stretch as Troy went on to win, 94-81.

In all, Conerway scored 21 points and had six rebounds. Oddly, it was one of his few games without a steal, but he more than made up for it in other areas.

Scoring

Conerway has two years of experience at Troy. His highest-scoring game was a 32-point effort against Arkansas State in January. Conerway scored 32 in an 84-78 loss to the Red Wolves. In the defeat, Conerway was 8 of 12 from the field and 12 of 15 at the line.

Conerway has been an efficient shooter. He’s been at 50% or better in a game 31 times when he’s had at least five field goal attempts. Considering he only had 66 career games under his belt, that’s an impressive level of production. His best percentage game with over five field goal attempts was 5-for-6 against Old Dominion in 2023.

Conerway has made four 3-pointers in a game four times. He was 4-for-4 against Appalachian State in January, a career-best for accuracy from long range.

Conerway is a career 68.9% free throw shooter, but he’s had his moments. He made 13 of 14 in a game against Louisiana in 2024. His best performance without a miss was 6-for-6 against SIU-Edwardsville in 2023.

Other Statistics Of Note

Troy Trojans guard Tayton Conerway (12) drives against Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) in the first half at Fertitta Center. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Conerway has had 11 games with at least five steals. To put that in perspective, none of Indiana’s players had more than four steals in a game last season.

Conerway’s career-high in steals is six. He did it against Louisiana as a freshman and against Merrimack as a sophomore. Conerway has only had four games in his career without a steal.

Conerway is an effective distributor, too. He had a career-high 12 assists in a 77-58 win against Louisiana-Monroe in January. Conerway has had five assists or more in a game 23 times.

A good rebounder for a guard, Conerway has topped five rebounds 22 times in his career. He managed to snare 13 rebounds in a loss to Louisiana in February.

Conerway’s highest game score as determined by sports-reference.com was a 31.9 in that 32-point effort against Arkansas State. The Red Wolves are no doubt happy to see Conerway head to Indiana after his impressive games against them.

Advanced Superlatives

Conerway has a high usage rate, no lower than 27.3% in his career, but that usage rate is a reflection of his multifaceted skill set.

Conerway rates very high in several different categories in his career. His steal rate (5.5%), assist rate (33.2%) and box-plus minus (plus-7.5). Conerway’s steals give him a good defensive box plus-minus of 3.9. During his sophomore season at Troy, Conerway was a 4.4 in defensive box plus-minus.

Conerway has put his name on the early NBA Draft list, but if he comes to Indiana as is expected, the superlatives for Conerway point to a very versatile two-way player who should help the Hoosiers.

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