Kansas State Athletics
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang added yet another talented wing to his 2024-25 roster with the signing of 2024 All-Big Ten selection Coleman Hawkins (Sacramento, Calif./Prolific Prep/Illinois) to a Financial Aid Agreement on Tuesday (June 18).
A 6-foot-10, 230-pound wing, Hawkins arrives at K-State after spending the last 4 seasons (2020-24) at Illinois, where he was apart of 96 wins, 4 Big Ten Championships (2 regular season and 2 tournament titles) and 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2023-24. He was a key part of the Fighting Illini’s first run to the Elite Eight since 2005, leading the team in rebounding (6.1 rpg.), steals (1.5 spg.) and blocks (1.1 bpg.) and ranking third in scoring (12.1 ppg.) en route to earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors from the AP.
Following his senior season, Hawkins declared for the 2024 NBA Draft and was invited to the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, where he was among a group of standout performers out of 120 prospects. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting in his final scrimmage. He withdrew from the draft before the deadline on May 29.
Hawkins will have one season of eligibility remaining after the NCAA granting student-athletes who played during the 2020-21 athletic season an extra season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a great day to be a Wildcat, as we’re excited to welcome Coleman and his family to K-State,” said head coach Jerome Tang. “He is a winner. He has won everywhere he has been whether it’s a national championship in high school to winning 4 Big Ten titles and going to 4 NCAA Tournaments, including the Elite Eight this past season, at Illinois. He obviously can score but he impacts winning in a variety of ways. He is a terrific teammate who is very smart and only makes his teammates better. He plays with JOY and passion and has an engaging personality that I know our fans are going to love.”
Hawkins has scored nearly 1,000 career points in his college career, which includes 126 games at Illinois (2020-24) with 82 starts. He has totaled 979 career points on 44.2 percent (345-of-781) shooting, including 31.9 percent (118-of-370) from 3-point range, and 69.8 percent (171-of-245) from the free throw line, with 581 rebounds, 256 assists, 115 steals and 102 blocks in 2,964 minutes played. He is the only player in Illinois school history with at least 900 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 blocks and 100 steals in a career.
Among Hawkins’ 979 career points were 592 in Big Ten play, coming on 44.3 percent (208-of-470) shooting. In addition, he has tallied double figures in 5 of his 8 career NCAA Tournament games, averaging 7.6 points on 41.8 percent (23-of-55) shooting with 4.6 rebounds per game. For his career, he is averaging 7.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks in 23.5 minutes per game.
Hawkins has collected 6 20-point games and one 30-point game in his career, along with 6 double-doubles and one triple-double. He scored a career-high 30 points in the Illini’s win against Iowa on Feb. 24, 2024, connecting on 9-of-11 field goals, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, in less than 30 minutes of action. He tallied the fifth triple-double in Illinois history on Nov. 29, 2022, with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Syracuse.
The bulk of Hawkins’ production has come in the last 2 seasons (2022-24), in which, he has posted 749 points (11.0 ppg.) on 44.7 percent (267-of-598) shooting, including 32.9 percent (96-of-292) from 3-point range, with 419 rebounds (6.2 rpg.), 195 assists (2.9 apg.), 87 steals (1.3 spg.) and 76 blocks (1.1 bpg.) in 2,180 minutes played (32.1 mpg.) while starting 68 of the Fighting Illini’s last 71 games. In that span, he scored in double figures 38 times with 6 20-point games, one 30-point game, 6 double-doubles and one triple-double.
Hawkins’ scoring ability increased each season at Illinois capped by his 12.1 points per game average as a senior in 2023-24 in which he posted career-bests for field goal percentage (45.1), 3-point field goal percentage (36.9) and free throw percentage (79.2). He scored in double figures in 22 of 35 games played with 4 20-point games highlighted by his 30-point effort against Iowa on Feb. 24. He also had a pair of double-doubles in road games at Michigan (21 points, 10 rebounds; Jan. 18, 2024) and Northwestern (22 points, 13 rebounds; Jan. 24, 2024).
As a senior, Hawkins led the Fighting Illini in rebounding (6.1 rpg.), steals (1.5 spg.) and blocks (1.1 bpg.) while he was third in scoring and 3-point field goal percentage (36.9). He was named to the watch list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award before earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors from the AP, third team honors from the media and honorable mention accolades from the league coaches.
Hawkins jumped to the forefront as a junior in 2022-23, leading the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg.) and assists (3.0 apg.) while placing second in blocks (1.2 bpg.) and third in scoring (9.9 ppg.) in starting all 33 games. He had 16 double-digit scoring games, including a pair of 20-point efforts, to go with 3 double-double and his first career triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Syracuse on Nov. 29, 2022. He opened the season with a 23-point, 12-rebound performance against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 7, 2022.
Hawkins began his ascension as a sophomore in 2021-22, averaging 5.9 points on 44.2 percent (68-of-154) shooting with 4.3 rebounds in playing in all 33 games with 14 starts. He started the first 10 games of the season, which included his first career double-digit scoring game (13 points vs. Jackson State, Nov. 9, 2021) and first double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds vs. Arkansas State, Nov. 12, 2021). He played nearly 25 minutes in the Illini’s win over K-State at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, posting 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. His season-high 18 points came against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament on March 11, 2022, while had a near double-double (10 points, 8 rebounds) in the Illini’s NCAA First Round win over Chattanooga on March 18, 2022.
Hawkins played in 25 games off the bench as a true freshman in 2020-21 for an Illinois squad that won the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. He scored in 12 games, including a 5-point, 4-rebound and 2-assist effort in his first career game against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 25, 2020.
A native of Sacramento, Calif., Hawkins played his high school basketball at prep powerhouse Prolific Prep in Northern California, leading his team to a 31-3 overall record and the program’s first-ever Grind Session Championship prior to the cancellation of GEICO Nationals due to COVID-19. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and a team-high 6.5 assists as a senior in 2019-20.
Hawkins comes from a basketball family, as his father, Rodney, played at San Diego State (1987-88) while his 3 older sisters (Ashley, Taylor and Bailey) all played at the collegiate level. His father started his college basketball career at Colby Community College in Colby, Kan., before joining the Aztecs.
Hawkins is the 10th player to sign with the Wildcats for the 2024-25 season, including the eighth Division I transfer.
The full list includes:
· Achor Achor (Melbourne, Australia/Greenforest McCalep Academy/Chipola College/Samford)
· Baye Fall (Dakar, Senegal/ Accelerated Prep [Colo.]/Arkansas)
· Brendan Hausen (Amarillo, Texas/Amarillo/ Villanova)
· Coleman Hawkins (Sacramento, Calif./Prolific Prep/Illinois)
· Mobi Ikegwuruka (Galway, Ireland/Ellsworth [Iowa] Community College)
· C.J. Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis/UIC)
· Max Jones (Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater/University of Tampa/Cal State Fullerton)
· Dug McDaniel (Washington, D.C./St. Paul VI Catholic VI/Michigan)
· Ugonna Onyenso (Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria/NBA Africa/Putnam Science Academy/Kentucky)
The nine transfers join top-50 high school prospect David Castillo (Bartlesville, Okla./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]), who signed during the early signing period on Nov. 8.
K-State finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-15 record, including a tie for ninth in the Big 12 with an 8-10 mark, and advanced to the NIT. Among the Wildcats’ 19 victories were 4 over Top 25 teams, including 3 in the Top 10. The team has won 45 games in head coach Jerome Tang’s tenure, including consecutive postseason appearances.