Eight New Additions Has Made Transfer Portal Strong For Kansas State Hoops
While waiting for former Illinois 6-foot-10 forward Coleman Hawkins to decide between Kansas State, LSU and SMU, Wildcats men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang has already had a successful offseason retooling his team through the transfer portal.
Last week’s signing of Ugonna Onyenso made it eight transfers Tang landed. Onyenso will definitely help K-State’s frontcourt.
A 7-foot, 247-pound center and former consensus top-25 recruit, Onyenso arrives at K-State after spending the last two seasons (2022-24) at Kentucky, where he was part of 45 wins, including 25 in SEC play, and consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2023, 2024). He played in 40 games in his two seasons, mostly this past season where he played in the last 24 games with 14 consecutive starts to end the 2023-24 season.
The native of Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria is a product of the NBA Academy Africa program, where he played in a number of high-profile international competitions in Europe, Mexico and the U.S. He was one of the youngest players to ever make the senior men’s Nigerian National Team in 2020. As a senior, he helped lead prep powerhouse Putnam Science (Conn.) Academy to 20 consecutive wins and a National Prep Basketball Championship upon coming to the U.S., in 2020.
Onyenso, who declared for the 2024 NBA Draft before opting to withdraw on May 29, will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after his two seasons at Kentucky.
He is joined in the K-State portal by:
Achor Achor, Samford
Baye Fall, Arkansas
Brendan Hausen, Villanova
Mobi Ikegwuruka, Iowa Community College
C.J. Jones, Illinois-Chicago
Max Jones, Cal State-Fullerton
Dug McDaniel, Michigan
K-State finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-15 record, including a tie for ninth in the Big 12 with an 8-10 mark, and advanced to the NIT. Among the Wildcats’ 19 victories were four over Top 25 teams, including three in the Top 10.
David Boyce is a contributing writer to K-State On SI. He can be reached at davidboyce95@gmail.com
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