College Hoops Top 50

Last Year: 19-15; 8-10, Ninth in the Big 12 Conference, lost in the first round of the NIT

Head Coach: Jerome Tang (Third Year;

Projected Starting Lineup

PG Dug McDaniel – 5’11”, 175 Junior

G Max Jones – 6’4″, 220 Senior

F Achor Achor – 6’9″, 227 Senior

F Coleman Hawkins – 6’10”, 230 5th-year Senior

C Ugonna Onyenso – 7’0″, 247 Junior

Experienced Reserves

G Christian ‘CJ’ Jones – 6’5″, 195 Junior

G Brendan Hausen – 6’4″, 205 Junior

W Chimobi ‘Mobi’ Ikegwuruka – 6’6″, 215 Sophomore

F Taj Manning – 6’7″, 230 Sophomore

F Macaleab Rich – 6’7″, 235 Sophomore

F David N’Guessan – 6’9″, 220 5th-year Senior

F/C Baye Fall – 6’11”, 215 Sophomore

Freshmen

G David Castillo – 6’1″, 180 / Top 100 recruit

Does your idea of excellent basketball include watching big, athletic forwards flying all over the court dunking everything in sight? Well, this winter, the Octagon of Doom is the place for you. 

Kansas State has had an offseason, and the biggest takeaway is that the Wildcats are going to be big. At just about every spot on the floor. Heck, there may be times ahead when third-year head coach Jerome Tang might trot out a point guard and nothing else but forwards. 

The roster in Manhattan became a bit or a blank canvas following a 19-15 campaign and quick exit from the NIT. It wasn’t exactly the sequel that K State fans had hoped for after Tang took the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in his first season. Nonetheless, the departures of eight players from last year’s rotation created the opportunity for Tang to build a whole different type of team. And he has. 

After losing both of his lead guards from last season, the guy Tang has brought in to coordinate things for this new group is former Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel. It’s going to be a year for McDaniel to prove some things following a rather unique sophomore season. He broke out in a big way statistically for Michigan, but the Wolverines slumped to their fewest number of wins in more than 40 years. Along the way, McDaniel served a rather…unique…suspension which ended up taking McDaniel out of the Maize & Blue’s lineup for six road games. Heading into his junior year, McDaniel is looking to show more maturity and leadership at the helm of a new cast of teammates. 

After just 60 college games, McDaniels’ quickness precedes him. He’s a blur with the ball, and his explosive first step and close-quarters suddenness as he glides through the lane are elite physical tools. He grew considerably as a volume outside shooter in his second season, and McDaniel was effective shooting off the bounce as well as the catch. Additionally, he’s a solid 44.0% career shooter from mid-range, and McDaniel made 46.9% of his pull-up shots last winter, per Synergy Sports. Among all Division I players, only Jordan Sears (who’s now at LSU) averaged more than McDaniels’ 10 possessions per game as a pick-and-roll ballhandler, and this year he will look to improve upon the 0.869 points he averaged in those situations. With his outstanding functional speed, shooting ability, and experience as a ball screen operator, McDaniel should fit Tang’s vision. Now it’s up to the young point guard to prove that he can make the right decisions and be consistent on and off the floor. 

“He’s such an intelligent player. Plays with passion and emotion. You never have to get him up for a game. I like kids that you gotta like kind of rein back rather than the ones you got to stir up.”

– Jerome Tang on Coleman Hawkins

The Wildcats’ second new former Big Ten star is Coleman Hawkins, who enjoyed his time in the transfer portal this summer. A supremely confident player who is coming off of his own Elite Eight experience back in March with Illinois, Hawkins first tested out the NBA Draft process before kicking the tires on a few of the most prominent programs in the country. In the end, Hawkins decided that there were bags and bags of reasons to pick K State, and his new coach feels like there are just as many reasons to admire Hawkins’ game. 

“There [is] so much to like,” Tang raved after Hawkins pledged to the Wildcats. “He’s such an intelligent player. Plays with passion and emotion. You never have to get him up for a game. I like kids that you gotta like kind of rein back rather than the ones you got to stir up.” One of the most versatile big guys in the country, Hawkins brings the vision, creativity, and ability to control tempo that one normally expects from a guard right into the deepest parts of the paint. 

Last season was the best so far for Hawkins, as his ability to facilitate full-court was a perfect fit with over-sized, multi-talented wings Terrence Shannon, Jr, and Marcus Domask. He has been accused of rarely dominating, but one of the primary things which stands out about Hawkins is that he can play virtually any role and makes seemingly any rotation operate at peak efficiency. Always capable of knocking down outside shots, Coleman entered his senior season with just a 28.1% career mark from downtown. He improved tremendously as a shooter last winter, though, hitting 59 triples at a 36.9% rate. Given that he’s a career 68.3% shooter near the rim, per Bart Torvik, in addition to a triple-double waiting to happen (he’s got one so far), one begins to understand that there just aren’t many ways to neutralize all that Hawkins does well. Tang is counting on that versatility at size to be a hallmark of this squad.  

The cast of big guys who will surround Hawkins this year is so deep that you’re going to see them playing in the post, on the wing, operating as traditional forwards – the works. The guy who looks like he will be a disruptive match running alongside Hawkins is Achor Achor, who arrives from Samford after enjoying one of the bigger breakouts in the country. A high-flying 6’9″ big play waiting to happen, Achor has the size, athleticism and, increasingly, skills of a professional player. 

An impact defender who can guard out to the perimeter and noisily protect the rim, Achor has a lot of the same mobility out of the lane that Hawkins brings. His offensive development last year is what rocketed the Australian import to stardom, but Achor’s defensive skills are top-notch. A major threat to throw down any time he catches near the rim, Achor is also a legitimate face-up shooter. Achor ranked fifth in points per roll after screening action last season, per Synergy Sports, and his growing offensive refinement should play well in a new league. He knocked down 27 triples at a 43.5% clip last winter, and if Achor can come close to that against Big 12 competition, his Draft stock will be through the roof. 

Five Stats Which Tell The Tale (with national ranks)

46.8% – Opponent Effective FG Percentage (23rd)

14.9 – Turnovers Per Game (348th)

0.383 – Free Throw Attempts Per FG Attempt (42nd)

30.7% – Offensive Rebounding Rate (74th)

70.7% – Defensive Rebounding Rate (287th)

“Did you ever see our 2012 team at Baylor?” Tang asked Brendan Marks of The Athletic when describing his outlook for his third Wildcat team. “That’s what this team’s roster buildup looks like.” More than a decade ago, when Tang was an assistant coach for the Bears, he saw Scott Drew rotate four guys who stood at least 6’9″ plus burly 6’7″ forward Quincy Acy at the frontcourt spots, and sometimes Baylor’s legendary coach would put three of them on the floor at once. 

“That’s the plan is that he (Hawkins) can play the three and play quite a bit of time there,” Tang mused. “Somebody’s gonna have to figure out which one of those guys they’re going to guard with who, and then we’re going to be able to pick on mismatches.” Hawkins has averaged 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game over the past two seasons while primarily guarding forwards and in the post. Achor was often the biggest guy on the floor for the Bulldogs, and still piled up 59 blocks and functioned as an intimidator at the back end. Going up against wings and smaller post players, they could become genuine terrors. 

Back for his third year at K State is David N’Guessan, whose slow-but-steady improvements paid off in a career season last winter. The bouncy Dutch veteran has never really been much of a jump shooter or free throw shooter, but he defends and rebounds at a high level. He finished third in the Big 12 with 93 offensive boards last season, and N’Guessan turned those reloads into 26 putback stabs, per Hoop-Math. He’s a great screener who does the dirty work well, and with a 59.0% career field goal rate, N’Guessan is a terrific option to finish a well-thrown pass inside. 

Joining Achor as newcomers are Ugonna Onyenso and Baye Fall, two former SEC big guys with vast amounts of untapped potential. Though he dealt with injury during both of his seasons at Kentucky, Tang is expecting Onyenso to have a cleaner bill of health in Manhattan. When he’s been on the floor, Onyenso has pretty much inhaled shot attempts and spit them back at the opposition. One of the most talented rim protectors in the country, Onyenso is an irresistible force defensively. Behind the sorts of forwards Tang has added, Onyenso could become part of an elite post defense for the Wildcats. He’s got a ways to go offensively, but if Onyenso can stay healthy, he will figure things out along the way. Technically, Fall spent his freshman season at Arkansas, but he saw action in just nine contests. With more of the elite size and length that Onyenso brings, Fall adds the foot speed and reactions to play on the perimeter. He’s raw, but with experience ahead of him and the tutelage of Tang and his staff, there’s every reason to see a bright future ahead for the former Top 50 prospect. 

With oodles of talent to cultivate at the big spots, Tang saw the need to add shooting to his Wildcats after a poor showing from the outside last winter. He’s addressed that need with a couple of pure deep threats and a rising playmaker to run with McDaniel. Since McDaniel isn’t the biggest lead guard around, it makes sense that Tang added 6’5″ Christian Jones coming off a standout sophomore campaign at Illinois-Chicago. He played with second-year Wildcats forward Macaleab Rich in high school, and running offense for the Flames last year, Jones began to show off a wide array of skills. He’s not yet a great shooter, but Jones has kept defenses honest by making 36.0% of his triples through two years and consistently splashing pull-up jumpers. He needs to finish more consistently near the cup and do more damage at the charity stripe, but Jones does some of his best passing from out of the post. With a bit of polish and the work he’s put in on his jumper this summer, Jones should fill an important role right away as a Wildcat. 

Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on

@ St. John’s – December 7

vs LSU – November 14

N Drake – December 17

@ Wichita State – December 21

N George Washington – November 22

At Cal-State Fullerton, Max Jones got plenty of run the last two years. A former Division II star, Jones made good quickly with the Titans, and brings more size and some solid 3-and-D potential to Manhattan. He owns a 39.0% career percentage from the land of trey, but Jones is much more than a shooter – he got to the free throw line 6.3 times per game last winter. He missed the final month of last season due to injury, and Jones will be looking to get back in the swing of things in his Wildcat debut. Tang has told reporters that both of the new Joneses have looked particularly good this fall, and the anticipation of real competition for the best minutes should only improve the whole rotation. 

Another big guard, Brendan Hausen is a sharpshooter out of Texas who flashed his stuff off the bench at Villanova the last two seasons. He finished 15th in the Big East in made triples last winter despite averaging 17.6 minutes per game, and Hausen brings a 39.5% career mark from distance to the Octagon of Doom. A 4-star prospect coming out of high school, Hausen saw rather sporadic run in Philly, but when he’s hot, he can do considerable damage. He hit at least three triples in a game 12 times last year, and Tang is hoping that Hausen is just getting started. 

The team’s top freshman signee will also help Tang’s reworked backcourt. Born in Texas to Honduran parents, consensus Top 100 rookie David Castillo has played – and won gold – internationally for Team USA in the FIBA Americas U16 championship and FIBA U17 World Cup. That winning pedigree combined with his supreme confidence and offensive versatility should allow Castillo to play valuable minutes quickly. He’s comfortable on or off the ball, and when Castillo gets a triple or two to drop, he can get white-hot in a hurry. He’ll need to prove that he can make good decisions and hold up defensively against the Big 12’s aggressors, but Castillo has serious long-term potential and the moxie to play right now. 

Young forwards Macaleab Rich and Taj Manning will be in the mix as reserves up front. Both of them are strong and tough-minded guys who play larger than their listed size. Rich has some perimeter skill but uses his lower-body strength explosively around the paint. Tang has spoken of his admiration for Manning’s toughness and work ethic in practices over the past couple of years. He loves to go toe-to-toe with talented scorers when the team has a difficult matchup, and Manning should get plenty of chances to do that this winter. Some teams in the Big 12 can throw waves of powerfully-built forwards at opponents, and K State isn’t just one of them – they’ve got the dudes to go 12 rounds with all of them. Junior Mobi college import Chimobi ‘Mobi’ Ikegwuruka has great size and athleticism as a developmental prospect. He may not play a lot immediately, but with a bit of polish, Ikegwuruka should bring some excitement at both ends. 

The Wildcats won’t be facing a particularly savage non-conference slate, so their compendium of new faces should get a chance to gel. Once Big 12 play begins, will they be able to show off a meaningfully deeper rotation than last year? Given how many interchangeable guys seem to have been stockpiled by Tang and his staff over the offseason, the answer looks like a positive one. The Octagon of Doom is going to be home to a tremendously long and disruptive bunch. If guys like Hawkins and McDaniel can rake their games to the next level, there will be major star power to lead the way. It’s always difficult to scale the Big 12 mountain, but Tang has shown that he can do it in a hurry before. K State is looking forward to a big-time reversal this winter, and to astounding the country in March once again.