Coleman Hawkins flashes full potential for Kansas State in Big 12 Tournament victory
Few would scoff at the NIL money that Coleman Hawkins has earned during his lone season at Kansas State if he always played as well as he did during a 71-66 victory over Arizona State in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday at T-Mobile Center.
The senior forward scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds as he led the Wildcats to a feel-good win in front a purple-clad crowd.
He did everything for his team. He drained four 3-pointers, he scored in the paint and he played strong defense. You could say he was in the zone.
“It’s fun for me when you go out and you feel like any shot you shoot is going in,” Hawkins said. “It’s fun to get the crowd going. It’s just fun to be locked in.”
Question is: What was it about this game that brought out the best of him?
It was obvious before opening tip that Hawkins was motivated to have a big game. Hawkins has been playing with a massive brace on his right knee as he recovers from a fractured tibia that he suffered more than three weeks ago during a game at Utah. But he is feeling healthier now. That much was clear when he took the floor with a compression sleeve on his right knee instead of a brace.
Hawkins moved at full speed and knocked down shots with confidence.
The K-State forward hasn’t been known as much of a scorer this season. His forte is doing a little bit of everything. He is one of the best passers on the entire roster.
But he put the offense on his proverbial shoulders for this game as he made four shots from 3-point range and attacked the paint for the rest of his points. Hawkins was aggressive from the opening tip, and it paid off with his best statistical game of the season.
What better time to do it than March?
“I feel like I really could have done it all year,” Hawkins said. “I just was in my head a little too much with things going around on social media, things like that. But I feel like that’s the (type of) player I am. I did it all last year, too. So if you think it’s a fluke you can go watch the tape. That’s what I feel like I can do on a nightly basis.”
The first basket of this game set the tone for Hawkins and his team.
Hawkins, a senior forward who began his college basketball career at Illinois and is earning $2 million with the Wildcats this season, swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Wildcats an early lead, and he kept scoring as the night went on.
His previous career high with K-State was 20 points. He shattered that number with 26 points against the Sun Devils.
“Coleman really started off with some heat,” K-State guard CJ Jones said. “Him hitting a couple big shots early really got us going. It helped all of us.”
“I saw him do that a few times at Illinois,” added K-State guard Dug McDaniel. “I didn’t know when it was going to happen here, but I knew it was going to happen eventually. It came at the right time.”
Indeed, K-State is motivated to win games at the Big 12 Tournament this week and redeem itself for a mediocre showing in the regular season.
The Wildcats will next play Baylor in the second round of the competition at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. If they beat the Bears, they will still need to win three more games to win a trophy. That has never been done before, but Hawkins wants to make history.
That is another reason why he reached his full potential in this game.
“My message to the team before we started the game was: ‘If there is anyone in the country who can do what our task is to do, it’s us,’” Hawkins said. “I feel very comfortable with this group. I feel like we can beat anybody in this conference. March is made for these type of moments that we’re up against. We’re going to play as hard as we can, and go out and compete every night and try to accomplish something special.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Coleman Hawkins flashes full potential for Kansas State in Big 12 Tournament victory."