Reports: Former Illinois basketball player finds new college home, inks record-setting NIL deal

Coleman Hawkins has made a college choice along with a record-setting NIL deal in the process.

The Illinois basketball transfer gave his commitment to Kansas State on Friday morning, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Charania reports Hawkins’ decision to attend the Manhattan, Kansas, school includes “what’s believed to be the most lucrative college basketball NIL deal ($2 million).”

Just 20 minutes after Charania’s announcement, Hawkins posted a gif of Kansas State coach Jerome Tang dancing to his X.com feed @colehawk23.

Hawkins, the 6-foot-10 forward, visited Kansas State last weekend. He was scheduled to visit LSU this weekend as well as a reported future visit to SMU.

As an all-Big Ten Conference player during his senior season, Hawkins averaged 12.1 points a game and a team-best 6.1 rebounds during the 2023-24 campaign. He added team-highs by averaging steals (1.5) and blocks (1.1) per game.

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Kansas State Wildcats basketball recruiting: Coleman Hawkins of Illinois commits