Kansas State Basketball

Former Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins has reportedly transferred to Kansas State with a lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) deal.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Nate Conley of Court XIV and Aaron Turner of Verus Basketball landed a $2 million NIL agreement for Coleman at Kansas State, which is believed to be the largest NIL deal ever negotiated by a collective in college basketball.

Hawkins, who is a graduate transfer, was rated as a 4-star player and the No. 22 overall player in the transfer portal this offseason by 247Sports.

As one of the most pivotal players on the Fighting Illini roster last season, Hawkins led the team in rebounds per game (6.1), steals per game (1.5) and blocks per game (1.1), plus he was second on the team in assists per game (2.7) and third in points per game (12.1).

The 6'10" forward from Sacramento, California, helped Illinois post a 29-9 record and get to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, which was the program's deepest run since 2005 when it reached the national championship game.

Hawkins will join a Wildcats team that went a somewhat disappointing 19-15 and missed the NCAA tournament last season.

However, Kansas State made it all the way to the Elite Eight in 2023, which was Jerome Tang's first season as head coach.

Few schools have made as sizable of an impact on the transfer market as KSU this offseason, as the Wildcats have landed a total of eight transfers.

Per 247Sports, Kansas State has the 12th-best transfer class in college basketball, and six of its transfers are rated at 4 stars.

Given what he was able to do as an all-around contributor for a top team in Illinois last season, Hawkins figures to step in and instantly be one of Kansas State's best players in 2024-25.

Hawkins initially declared for the 2024 NBA draft, but he decided to withdraw and enter the transfer portal instead.

With one more productive season in a new environment, Hawkins could solidify his status as a likely selection in the 2025 NBA draft.

Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang's anger that seemed directed at the crowd during Wednesday's loss to Iowa State was actually due to concerns the Cyclones were trying to steal information from his team's huddle.

Per Kellis Robinett of the Wichita Eagle, Wildcats coaches were worried Iowa State "placed managers and/or other team representatives in spots behind the visiting bench" to potentially view, "or even record," their huddle.

"The sources said K-State's coaches were worried about those observers quickly passing information to the Iowa State bench via text messages," Robinett wrote.

The situation occurred during a television timeout with just under eight minutes remaining in the second half. Tang was pointing at something in the crowd at Hilton Coliseum, which Robinett noted was initially assumed to be related to the behavior of fans.

Tang walked over to Iowa State head coach TJ Otzelberger at midcourt to tell him something.

After the game, the two coaches had a prolonged exchange in the handshake line with Tang appearing to be upset as he was talking to Otzelberger.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Tang downplayed the issue by saying "nothing happened" and they were discussing something that took place during the game which Otzelberger said he would look into.

Chris Williams of Cyclone Fanatic, who was in attendance covering the game, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, he overheard a Kansas State assistant point at some of Iowa State's managers while they were sweeping the floor and appearing to yell "cheating motherf--kers"

Robinett also noted ESPN's cameras caught Tang appearing to tell lead official Gerry Pollard that Iowa State had people "filming our huddle" during one of the final media timeouts.

It's unclear at this point if the Big 12 is going to investigate the situation. Iowa State ultimately won the game, 78-67.

An overtime battle between the Kansas State and Providence men's basketball teams turned physical Friday night.

Kansas State freshman guard Dai Dai Ames and Providence freshman guard Garwey Dual were ejected from the game after fighting during extra time.

After several instances of Ames making contact with Dual on the court, Dual turned around and hit Ames in the face.

The two were then physically separated by Providence head coach Kim English and other members of the coaching staff.

Kansas State won 73-70 as David N'Guessan scored six points in extra time.

The contest was a neutral-site game held in Nassau, Bahamas as part of the first round of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship.

Ames and Dual are each slated to serve automatic one-game suspensions following their ejections, according to Fox's John Fanta.

Dual will miss Providence's Sunday game against Georgia, while Kansas State will take on Miami the same day without Ames.

Kansas State is making sure its basketball coaching is solidified through the remainder of the decade.

The University announced that it had extended head basketball coach Jerome Tang through the 2029-30 season. ESPN college basketball insider Jeff Borzello reported that the seven-year deal begins with Borzello making $3 million in 2023-24 and will increase by $100,000 each season following.

Tang was hired by the Wildcats in March 2022 after he had spent 19 seasons as an assistant coach at Baylor. He led Kansas State to a 26-10 record and an Elite Eight appearance at the 2023 NCAA Division-I Men's Basketball Tournament.

Tang's original deal ran through 2027-28 and had a maximum value of $2.6 million. The negotiations on a new contract had been worked through all Summer and now is finalized.

This is Tang's first head coaching gig but his work at Baylor is significant. He, alongside head coach Scott Drew, led the Bears to new heights, including a national championship in 2021 and 397 total wins.

He won the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year and was the runner-up for the AP National Coach of the year. The trip to the Elite Eight was the first since 2018 for the Wildcats and the third time they had reached that round in the 21st century.

The next step would be to reach the Final Four, which the program has not done since 1964, and then to win a National Championship, something no team in Kansas State Athletics history has ever done.

Arthur Kaluma is moving from the Big East to the Big 12.

The former Creighton Blue Jay has committed to continue his collegiate basketball career with Kansas State.

Kaluma was rated as the second-best player available in the transfer portal and helped lead Creighton to the Elite Eight in the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament. The rising junior has averaged 11.1 points and 5.7 rebounds in his two-season career.

Kaluma possesses a 6'7", 220-lbs frame and had been rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 51 overall prospect in the Class of 2021. He had been linked various schools since entering the portal in May, including Kentucky and Alabama. He also had declared for the 2023 NBA Draft, but withdrew his name at the early entry deadline.

In the end, he ends up in Manhattan, Kansas, where he will try to lead the Wildcats to a national championship. Kansas State also reached the Elite Eight in this year's March Madness, losing to Florida Atlantic 79-76.

The Wildcats have made strong use of the portal in the past, as they added Keyontae Johnson before the 2022-23 season and he would go on to be named a third-team All-American.

It appears that the collegiate career of Kansas State forward Keyontae Johnson could be in the rearview mirror.

The senior guard announced his intention to declare for the 2023 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility.

Johnson averaged 17.4 points and 6.8 rebounds across 36 games for the Wildcats, helping the team reach the Elite Eight round of the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

Johnson can retain his collegiate eligibility as he has not hired an agent.

Johnson began his collegiate career at Florida and was a 4-star recruit in the class of 2018. He played two full seasons for the Gators but collapsed on the court during a game in 2020 with acute myocarditis.

Johnson did not play in the rest of the 2020-21 season and missed the entirety of the 2021-22 season. He was medically cleared and transferred to Kansas State ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Johnson possesses a 6'6", 230-pound frame and is rated as a potential second-round pick. He would be eligible to declare for a medical redshirt if he were to decide to come back for an additional season with Kansas State.

Kansas State's Jerome Tang was the best coach in men's college basketball during the 2022-23 season.

Tang took home the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year award Sunday and defeated fellow finalists Matt Painter of Purdue, Kelvin Sampson of Houston and Shaka Smart of Marquette.

"I'm honored and blessed to be named the Werner Ladder Naismith Men's Coach of the Year," Tang said in a press release. "There have been a lot of great coaching jobs this season, and to be recognized among them is truly a humbling experience for me. I want to first thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ for all the blessings in my life. I also want to thank our players and staff.

"I can't begin to express my appreciation to them for all their hard work and sacrifice this season. I'm blessed and honored that I get to live life with these incredible men and women every day. Additionally, I want to thank our administration for giving me the opportunity to be at K-State, and of course, I'm not here today without the love, support and sacrifice of my family. I share this tremendous honor with all these individuals."

While the NCAA men's tournament has been defined by chaos, these four coaches led excellent teams during the regular season.

Painter's Boilermakers went 29-6 and took home the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles during a run of dominance. That they started the season unranked in the Associated Press poll just to reach No. 1 in the country made the showing all the more impressive.

Big man Zach Edey was unstoppable down low, and Purdue earned the No. 1 seed in the East Region.

Its national championship hopes came to a shocking end with a loss to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round.

Marquette was the No. 2 seed in that region after Smart led the Golden Eagles to a 29-7 mark and regular-season and conference tournament titles in the Big East. He was named the conference's Coach of the Year, continuing a successful career that has included stops with VCU and Texas.

Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, their time in the Big Dance also came to a quick end when they lost to seventh-seeded Michigan State in the second round.

Houston also went home earlier than expected with a Sweet 16 loss to Miami as the top seed in the Midwest bracket.

Yet it was another successful campaign for the Cougars under Sampson, as they took home the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship before losing to Memphis in the conference tournament title game.

Sampson has been with Houston for nine seasons and now has four AAC regular-season championships, a Final Four and a 232-74 record for a program he has built into a modern-day powerhouse ahead of its move to the Big 12.

Tang's Wildcats will be waiting for the Cougars in the Big 12.

Kansas State hired its head coach just last year, and he wasted no time finding immediate success. The team went 26-10, reached the top five in the AP poll at one point and tallied a number of notable wins over Kansas, Texas, Baylor, TCU and Iowa State.

It also found success in the Big Dance and advanced to the Elite Eight as the No. 3 seed of the East Region. Even though a loss to Florida Atlantic prevented the program from reaching its fifth Final Four, it was still quite a way for Tang to start his head-coaching career.

And now he has the award to prove it.

Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.

Following a stellar run in the NCAA tournament, Kansas State point guard Markquis Nowell is declaring for the 2023 NBA draft.

Nowell officially announced his decision with a statement on Twitter:

A two-year starter for the Wildcats, Nowell was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team in back-to-back seasons. He was a third-team All-American selection by the Associated Press for the 2022-23 campaign.

Nowell led Kansas State to 26 wins this season, its most since 2012-13 (27). The team advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in five years, with Nowell having a historic performance in four tournament games.

His 19 assists in a Sweet 16 win over Michigan State broke the NCAA men's tournament record. The previous single-game record of 13 assists was done four times, most recently by Davidson's Jason Richards in 2008.

Overall, Nowell averaged 23.5 points on 41.9 percent three-point shooting and 13.5 assists in four NCAA tournament games. He set career-highs with 17.6 points, 8.3 assists and 2.6 steals per game in 36 starts during the 2022-23 season.

The two biggest concerns for Nowell as he prepares for the NBA draft are age and size. He's a fifth-year senior who played his first three college seasons at Little Rock before transferring to Kansas State.

Nowell will turn 24 on Christmas Day and is listed at 5'8", 160 pounds by Kansas State's athletic website.

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman doesn't have Nowell ranked among the top 50 prospects in the 2023 draft class.

Nowell's impressive performance in the spotlight of the NCAA tournament will likely get him a roster spot for some team during Summer League, but it could be an uphill climb for him to play in the NBA next season.

Markquis Nowell's historic performance against Michigan State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament almost didn't happen after the senior guard went down with an ankle injury early in the second half.

He rolled his ankle while driving to the rim and was on the floor for several minutes before getting taped up on the end of the bench and returning to the game.

"It was a scare," Nowell said. "I tweaked it a little bit, but it feels good now. Just been icing it, elevating it, stuff you do with a rolled ankle."

The first-team All-Big 12 guard ended up dropping 20 points and an NCAA tournament-record 19 assists as he drove the Wildcats to the win and an appearance in the Elite Eight.

Now, ahead of Kansas State's matchup against Florida Atlantic on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four in Houston on the line, Nowell said he is feeling about as healthy as he can, with his ankle at about 85 to 90 percent.

Nowell has arguably been the best player in the tournament, as he is averaging 21.3 points, 14.0 assists and 3.7 steals in three tournament games. As a New York native, he'll have one more opportunity to impress in front of his hometown crowd at Madison Square Garden against the Owls.

"You don't shut him down," FAU head coach Dusty May said of Nowell. "You try to make him score inefficiently. You try to challenge every pass, every passing lane with anticipation, with our athleticism. But you don't stop a guy like that. You just hope to make him inefficient on that particular night."

It'll be a tough matchup for the ninth-seeded Owls, who have yet to face a guard as dynamic as Nowell in the tournament. They are not to be underestimated, however, as they just eliminated a talented fourth-seeded Tennessee team for the program's first-ever trip to the Elite Eight.