Jerome Tang adds Virginia Tech transfer to Kansas State Wildcats basketball roster
The Kansas State men’s basketball team will feature at least eight scholarship players when summer school begins.
David N’Guessan, a 6-foot-9 and 205-pound forward, announced on social media Tuesday his intentions to continue his college basketball career with the Wildcats after spending the past two seasons at Virginia Tech.
He is a sophomore who has three years of eligibility remaining.
N’Guessan averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds while playing in 36 games for the Hokies last season. He came off the bench and played 13.5 minutes per game.
K-State coach Jerome Tang will hope N’Guessan can improve on those numbers once he joins the Wildcats. It is certainly a possibility. When N’Guessan was at his best, he delivered some solid showings at Virginia Tech, such as when he recorded 15 points in the team’s season-opener and scored at least one bucket in all five of the Hokies’ tournament games.
He played a role in helping Virginia Tech win the ACC Tournament and earn a No. 11 seed at the NCAA Tournament.
Increased playing time shouldn’t be an issue for him in Manhattan.
Tang has been hard at work trying to rebuild K-State’s basketball roster ever since he was hired to replace Bruce Weber and the Wildcats lost nine scholarship players to the NCAA transfer portal. K-State has added six incoming players since then, leaving it with five more spots to fill before the 2022-23 season begins.
It is unlikely that K-State will fill all its roster spots during this recruiting cycle. Tang said last week that he is more concerned with quality over quantity, so long as the Wildcats can line up 10 scholarship players by the beginning of the fall semester.
N’Guessan will join returning forward Ismael Massoud and a smattering of new players in the front court next season. The Wildcats are also bringing in LSU transfer Jerrell Colbert, junior-college transfer Nae’Qwan Tomlin and high school senior Taj Manning.
Markquis Nowell will lead the back court after starting at point guard last season. He will be joined by Mississippi State transfer Cam Carter and high school seniors Dorian Finister.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Jerome Tang adds Virginia Tech transfer to Kansas State Wildcats basketball roster."