© Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Kansas State basketball team spent big to land transfer forward Coleman Hawkins in the transfer portal this past offseason. Unfortunately, that investment didn’t pay out as highly as the Wildcats had hoped.
Hawkins failed to meet the lofty expectations that came along with his price tag while the team struggled on the court. The veteran spoke on the disappointing year after the fact.
Kansas State’s season came to an end on Wednesday with a Big XII Tournament loss to Baylor. The Wildcats finished 16-17 and will miss out on the Big Dance.
Those results fell well below expectation given the offseason movement seen by the team in the transfer portal. Jerome Tang brought in eight newcomers from old schools, which came from stops like Michigan, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Florida. Coleman Hawkins headlined them all.
Across his last two seasons with Illinois, he started a combined 68 games. He averaged double figures while helping the Illini make a deep NCAA Tournament run last March. He was not, however, the team’s top offensive option.
His numbers with the Wildcats were largely similar to what was seen in his final year in Champaign. He scored 10.7 points a night while setting career marks in steals, blocks, assists, and rebounds.
Still, it wasn’t as large of an impact as many expected. Much of that came due to his $2 million NIL bag.
Hawkins limped into the season, getting off to a poor shooting start. He picked up his play as the year went on but was never able to achieve the goals many had set.
He dealt with fan abuse as a result, something he spoke further on at season’s end.
K-State senior Coleman Hawkins spoke through tears for a minute and a half after the loss to Baylor
“These guys haven’t experienced some of the things I experienced. I really wanted to come in an impact the program. I’m sorry for crying, but shit, this shit hurts” pic.twitter.com/YxJsR13TTR
— Landon Reinhardt (@landonian87) March 13, 2025
“These guys haven’t experienced some of the things I experienced,” he said. “I really wanted to come in an impact the program… I feel like I let a lot of people down.
“I feel like I did a poor job of letting people talk about me. It affected my play. I wish I could just go back and block out everything, not for myself, but for my team.”
Right or wrong, with boosters shelling out top dollar to better their rosters, it’s a response likely to continue when the investment doesn’t pay off. The noise affected Coleman Hawkins in a negative way, and he clearly feels responsible for the team’s poor play.
Hawkins’ career now comes to a close. He’ll be home for the postseason after four straight trips at Illinois. He doesn’t regret his decision to transfer, but he wishes things would’ve ended on a higher note.