How long will K-State’s Coleman Hawkins be out after knee injury? What Jerome Tang said
Things did not go well for the Kansas State men’s basketball team without Coleman Hawkins.
The senior forward missed his first game of the season on Sunday, and K-State suffered an ugly 66-54 home loss to Arizona State as he watched from the bench at Bramlage Coliseum.
Hawkins missed the game with a knee injury that he picked up earlier in the week during a road game against Utah. The Illinois transfer was able to play until the bitter end of that contest, but he limped to the team bus when it was over.
Most expected him to be able to play against Arizona State, considering K-State entered this game on six days of rest. But his status was up in the air. K-State coach Jerome Tang dodged two questions about his health status while speaking with media members in the middle of the week. Turns out, Hawkins is dealing with a lingering injury.
Tang said Hawkins was “not close” to playing on Sunday.
When asked if he will need more time to recover before he is considered game ready, Tang said “most likely.”
“When the doctor tells me (he’s healthy) I will know,” Tang said. “Until then, I am pursuing every day like we don’t have him.”
For what it’s worth, Hawkins was noticeably limping as he walked off the floor and into the K-State locker room on Sunday afternoon.
It sounds like Hawkins may miss another game (or more) as K-State looks to close out its season. The Wildcats have four games remaining before the Big 12 Tournament, and they are next in action on Wednesday at UCF.
K-State will hope for a better effort against the Knights, because things got ugly without Hawkins against Arizona State.
The Sun Devils (13-14, 4-12 Big 12) entered the weekend on a six-game losing streak, and they dismissed starting guard BJ Freeman from the team. But they were still able to whip the Wildcats (13-14, 7-9 Big 12) in a game that more or less ended their hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
“It was kind of a huge adjustment without him,” K-State guard CJ Jones said. “We usually use him out of the post, and he has been playing really good out of the post lately. So we were just trying to figure out how to get four guards to work.”
The Wildcats only scored 54 points against the Sun Devils as they shot 33% from the field and 19% from 3-point range.
“A lot of our offense goes through Coleman,” K-State forward David N’Guessan said. “So it was definitely an adjustment. But he’s hurt right now, so we have got to figure out another way to put more points on the table.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2025 at 7:35 PM with the headline "How long will K-State’s Coleman Hawkins be out after knee injury? What Jerome Tang said."