The Wildcats are coming off their first losing season 2022, when Bruce Weber was still the coach, and their second consecutive year without a postseason bid. High-profile transfers Coleman Hawkins and Dug McDaniel largely failed to live up to expectations, so coach Jerome Tang retooled by landing six transfers headlined by American Conference player of the year PJ Haggerty of Memphis.
Haggerty will get all the headlines after averaging 21.7 points,
5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Tigers last season. But keep an eye on Andrej Kostić, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard who played for Dynamic Belgrade last season, and who could be one of the biggest surprises not only in the Big 12 but the entire nation.
Hawkins and veterans David N'Guessan and Max Jones graduated, and McDaniel headed to Memphis, while guard Brendan Hausen transferred to Iowa. Most of their depth inside also departed with Achor Achor going to Mississippi State, Baye Fale going to Rutgers, Macaleab Rich heading to UTSA and Ugonna Onyenso transferring to Virginia.
Haggerty and Kostić will be expected to carry the load. But the Wildcats also landed high-scoring Abdi Bashir Jr. from Monmouth, picked up Nate Johnson from Akron and supplemented the front court with Khamari McGriff from UNC-Wilmington and Tyreek Smith from Memphis.
Kansas State opens Nov. 4 against UNC Greensboro, but the first real test will come the following week against California. Other big-name opponents include Mississippi State in the Hall of Fame Classic, Indiana on the road, Seton Hall at home and a trip to Creighton in December.
The Wildcats have a brutal start to Big 12 play against BYU at home and Arizona on the road. There is also a tough midseason stretch with Kansas and Iowa State bookending a game against West Virginia.
Kansas State lost 17 games last season, matching its most since going 9-20 under Weber in 2021. ... Kansas State has had one winning Big 12 season since 2019, going 11-7 in 2023, when it made the Elite Eight of the NCAA tourney in Tang's first season. ... Haggerty is on his fourth team in four years after also playing at TCU and Tulsa. The Wildcats play both of those teams this season. ... Kostić played on Serbia's under-19 national team that played in the World Cup this past year.
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