Former Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins has transferred to Kansas State, he announced on social media Friday.
Hawkins was the top available player left in the transfer portal, according to The Athletic’s rankings, and has one season of eligibility remaining. Given his talent, his late entry to the transfer portal and the position he plays, Hawkins should be among the highest NIL earners in college basketball next season.
🙂↕️ pic.twitter.com/0TaUXhOVrB
— Coleman Hawkins (@colehawk23) June 14, 2024
The 6-foot-10 forward spent the last four seasons at Illinois, but was clearly his best as a senior this year, when he averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting a career-best 36.9 percent from 3 and 79.2 percent from the free-throw line. Hawkins has long had stretch-big potential, but it took until this season for him to fully actualize it. Once he did, though, he became integral to the Illini finishing with the nation’s third-best adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom, and he earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in the process. Brad Underwood’s team wouldn’t have made the Elite Eight without him.
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This offseason, Hawkins initially declared for the NBA Draft before entering his name into the transfer portal just before the deadline to do so — although when he did, he said his “intention is 100 percent to stay in the draft.” But when it became apparent that he wasn’t a surefire draft pick, Hawkins opted to consider his collegiate options, noting he didn’t want to transfer within the Big Ten and did want to go to a school with a legitimate football program. (Kansas State football won the Big 12 in 2022 and has finished in the top-25 each of the last two seasons.)
At Kansas State, he’ll be a key piece of Jerome Tang’s attempted turnaround in Year 3. Tang took the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in his first season before missing the NCAA Tournament altogether in his second. Hawkins is KSU’s eighth portal addition this spring, joining Ugonna Onyenso (Kentucky), Achor Achor (Stamford), Dug McDaniel (Michigan), Max Jones (Cal State Fullerton), Baye Fall (Arkansas), CJ Jones (UIC) and Brendan Hausen (Villanova).
How Hawkins fits at Kansas State
Considering his production and how late he entered the transfer portal — and the fact that experienced frontcourt talent was the most valuable commodity this spring — Hawkins represents a huge win for Tang and his staff. He’s expected to earn around $2 million next season — that’s the number schools who inquired about him in the recruiting process were told — and will be worth the investment if he leads the Wildcats back to the NCAA Tournament.
The question here isn’t about talent, but fit. In Onyenso, Hawkins and Achor, Tang and his staff brought in three starting-caliber bigs who seemingly overlap positionally. Is it possible to play all three together, with Hawkins as a supersized 3-man, Achor as the stretch-4 next to him and Onyenso at center? It’s not inconceivable — those three are probably amongst Tang’s five best players — but actually making those pieces work on the court could be difficult. McDaniel at least provides the Wildcats a proven high-major point guard, someone who can shoulder the bulk of the ballhandling and set-up responsibilities.
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Regardless, Hawkins is going to be a pivotal piece for Kansas State next season, especially in what has been the best conference in America for the last five seasons. He’s good enough to help get the Wildcats back to March Madness, but Tang will have to get creative with the glut of talented bigs he’s signed.
Required reading
- Ranking the best players in the NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal
- NCAA agrees to end transfer rules permanently; athletes who lost eligibility will have year restored
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
