Kansas State basketball adds sharpshooting Villanova guard from transfer portal

MANHATTAN — Kansas State basketball has added a sharpshooter to its roster.

Former Villanova guard Brendan Hausen, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound sophomore, announced his commitment to K-State on social media Friday morning. The news was first reported by Tobias Bass of The Athletic.

“Kansas State let’s go! Thank you God for allowing me to be a part of something special. I’m all in,” Hausen wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Hausen came off the bench in all 34 games this past season at Villanova, averaging 17.7 minutes, 6.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists. More importantly, he filled a perimeter shooting need for K-State by knocking down 61 of 160 3-point attempts for 38.1%.

K-State shot 31.8% from 3-point range last year, with Arthur Kaluma’s 34.5% leading the way.

Hausen, who visited K-State last weekend, is the Wildcats’ third transfer portal addition this recruiting cycle. He joins Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel and Illinois-Chicago shooting guard CJ Jones.

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Hausen was a key reserve for a Villanova Team that finished 18-16 overall, 10-10 in the Big East, and lost to Virginia Commonwealth, 70-61, in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. K-State finished 19-15 with a first-round loss to Iowa in the NIT.

K-State beat Villanova last year, 72-71 in overtime, in a Big 12/Big East Battle series game at Bramlage Coliseum. Hausen did not have much of an impact in that game, playing six minutes and missing both of his 3-point attempts.

With the addition of Hausen, the Wildcats’ roster now stands at 10 players, though forward Arthur Kaluma has declared for the NBA Draft — he remains eligible to return — and guard Ques Glover and forward David N’Guessan have yet to officially announce whether they will be back next season as fifth-year super-seniors.

That leaves the Wildcats with at least three scholarships to give. Two of those are likely to go to big men after they lost centers Jerrell Colbert to the transfer portal and Will McNair to graduation.

This week, K-State played host to 6-11 Rutgers center Cliff Omoruyi, and 6-5 Arkansas shooting guard Khalif Battle. Two weekends ago, Jones and versatile 6-10 Florida State forward Baba Miller were on campus.

K-State has lost four players to the portal, most recently freshman guard R.J. Jones, who announced earlier this week that he was leaving. Other departures are starting center Colbert, starting guard Cam Carter and reserve guard Dorian Finister. Carter was the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer at 14.6 points per game.

In addition to McDaniel, CJ Jones and Hausen, K-State signed four-start high school guard David Castillo from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, last November. Castillo played his senior season at Sunrise Christian Academy near Wichita.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Villanova guard Brendan Hausen commits to Kansas State basketball