Kansas State's Coleman Hawkins Calls Out Fan Base For Criticism
The Kansas State basketball program has dealt with scrutiny before the season began.
It has only continued with the slow start to the season. It reached a boil earlier this week after a loss to Drake. Forward Coleman Hawkins, who transferred from Illinois in the offseason, reacted to the criticism from the Wildcats fan base.
"It's us versus everybody. I can't go on my phone without people wishing the worst for me, not just for me but my team," Hawkins said. "It devastates me. I just went on my phone and saw someone say, `I hope you break your leg.' ... that's the kind of stuff our team has been dealing with all year."
The Wildcats have endured criticism because of the money they reportedly spent on NIL deals. There were reports of Hawkins receiving nearly $2 million to transfer. They also hauled in Dug McDaniel from Michigan and a few other high-profile transfers.
Hawkins said he was disappointed by the fan reaction because it's so early in the season.
"It affects me so much because I don't wish that upon my worst enemy," Hawkins said. "We go out. We practice every day. We play hard. We're doing the best we can ... We can control what we can control and all the other stuff we'll just have to tune out and lock in the rest of the way come conference play."
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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