This Big 12 school landed basketball’s top available transfer portal player on reported $2 million NIL deal

Kansas State just landed its top transfer in an already loaded class, as former Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins announced Friday he is transferring to the Wildcats.

The 6-foot-8 Hawkins, who entered the NBA draft but withdrew before last month’s deadline, was the top available player in the basketball transfer portal.

While 247 Sports has him rated as the No. 21 available player in the transfer portal this offseason, ESPN (10th overall) and The Athletic (fifth) rated Hawkins even higher.

Hawkins is receiving an NIL deal worth $2 million to join the Wildcats program, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported.

Hawkins, a four-star transfer, averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game during the 2023-24 season for an Illinois team that reached the Elite Eight.

Kansas State has been busy in the basketball transfer portal this offseason, and for good reason — the Wildcats only have one player returning next year who averaged more than 10 minutes per game during the 2023-24 season.

The Wildcats are coming off a 19-15 season where they lost in the first round of the NIT. Following that, five players transferred out of the Kansas State program, forcing a sizable roster reset.

With Hawkins’ addition, Kansas State is adding eight transfers this offseason and it gives the Wildcats a full complement of 13 scholarship players — including a four-star incoming freshman, point guard David Castillo.

Another headliner in Kansas State’s transfer class is former Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel, who averaged 16.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game last season. The four-star talent is rated the No. 53 overall transfer by 247 Sports.

In total, the Wildcats have landed six four-star transfers, including power forward Achor Achor (from Samford), center Ugonna Onyenso (Kentucky), shooting guard Brendan Hausen (Villanova) and center Baye Fall (Arkansas).

With Hawkins’ addition, Kansas State jumped 10 spots in 247 Sports’ team transfer portal rankings from No. 22 to No. 12, giving the Big 12 three teams in the top 25, including Kansas at No. 3 and West Virginia at No. 6.

There are six Big 12 teams total in the top 25 of 247 Sports’ transfer portal rankings, with Texas Tech at No. 20, Baylor at No. 21 and Cincinnati at No. 25.

Kansas State’s average transfer player rating of 91.25 in 247 Sports’ metric is also ranked 27th nationally.