MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang this week previewed the start of practice. The third-year head coach and his staff welcome 14 players for the 2024-25 season, including 3 returning lettermen (senior David N’Guessan and sophomores Taj Manning and Macaleab Rich) and 11 newcomers. Among those newcomers are 8 Division I transfers, a junior college All-American (Mobi Ikegwuruka) and a top-50 high school prospect (David Castillo).The transfer class is considered one of the best in the country and includes notable additions Achor Achor (Samford), Coleman Hawkins (Illinois), Dug McDaniel (Michigan) and Ugonna Onyenso (Kentucky) as well as Baye Fall (Arkansas), Brendan Hausen (Villanova), C.J. Jones (UIC) and Max Jones (Cal State Fullerton).
On feeling comfortable with a team full of newcomers Tang said, “No, I feel really comfortable around them, and I think they feel comfortable around each other. But, you know, in a two-hour practice today, there's probably three or four things I had to stop and explain. You know, what we're doing, why we're doing it, where, you know, if you have guys for a couple years, it's not something that you have to really explain. And so, there's some newness. Tune it to it. But then there's also some community.”
The Wildcats finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-15 record, including an 8-10 mark in Big 12 play, 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 Tang’s first two seasons, including consecutive postseason appearances.The team will have 43 days until their first exhibition game against Fort Hays State on Tuesday, Oct. 29 and 50 days before hosting New Orleans in the opener on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics