K-State Q&A: What’s next for Wildcats as Jerome Tang rebuilds basketball roster?
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
We had an elaborate intro last week, so let’s jump right into your questions this time around. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
What are your thoughts on Kansas State’s first portal addition? And who are the Wildcats going to land next? -Jeff M. via e-mail
Abdi Bashir is an intriguing transfer for Jerome Tang.
He is a 6-foot-7 guard who averaged 20.1 points per game at Monmouth last season. He made 127 shots from 3-point range, too. It’s fair to call him a “walking bucket,” because he is an elite scorer who knows how to send the ball through the basket from all over the court.
It seems unlikely that things will go quite so easily for him as he transfers to K-State and goes against Big 12 defenders every night. Still, he will bring a valuable skill to Manhattan.
The problem with Bashir is that he is far from a complete player. Yes, he can score. But his defensive metrics are awful. He didn’t grab many rebounds or send out many assists last season, either. You can’t be a one-trick pony in the Big 12. Bashir will need to improve drastically on defense and learn how to help in more areas than just shooting next season.
He will be a bit of project.
The good news is that it is easier to teach an elite scorer how to play defense than it is the other way around.
Perhaps Tang and his coaching staff will help him develop into an all-around player. For that reason, he’s a decent player to take a flier on.
Who’s coming in next?
Don’t be surprised if K-State shows an International flair. The Wildcats have been linked to Mathieu Grujicic and Elias Rapieque, a pair of young prospects who are showing promise overseas.
Grujicic is a 6-5 guard with a German-French background who is currently playing for Barcelona. He is averaging 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds this season.
Rapieque is a 6-7 guard from Germany who is averaging 3.5 points and 2.3 rebounds for ALBA Berlin.
After the K-State season came to an end, Tang said he would look to recruit Internationally after other teams in the Big 12 managed to find success with foreign players.
Perhaps these two players will be in Manhattan next season.
And the next surprise men’s basketball transfer will be? -@ChadFullington via X.
The spring transfer window doesn’t close until April 22, so there is still plenty of time for more K-State basketball players to enter.
So far, we have only seen Macaleab Rich and Brendan Hausen announce their intentions to leave.
Everyone knew that Rich was on his way out. It was a different story with Hausen. Most probably expected him to remain on the roster after he made 90 shots from 3-point range last season. But he was close with former assistant coach Ulrici Maligi, who just left for a job at Texas. K-State also went out and landed Abdi Bashir, another sharpshooting guard, from Monmouth. So you can at least understand why he decided to leave.
Furthermore, if all the schools that have reached out to him are truly interested in him as a transfer then he could fetch quite an NIL deal on the open market.
My gut says he ends up at Iowa, by the way.
Who else may follow him into the transfer portal?
My eyes are on Baye Fall and Ugonna Onyenso. The transfer window has been open for more than two weeks and they are still on the roster. So they could both return. But it wouldn’t surprise me if any of them choose to depart.
Why should I continue to care about a men’s basketball program with players I don’t know who obviously couldn’t care less about Kansas State? Most are one and done or on to a new NIL deal. The exceptions are few and far between. - @PvillePastor via X.
Hey, I hear ya.
My father was a die-hard fan of college basketball and college football for decades, but he lost his enthusiasm for both when the NIL era began. I haven’t been quite that bothered by it, but I do miss the old days (aka five years ago) of watching players develop for the same team over the course of four years.
There may never be another example of Perry Ellis or Keiton Page or Skylar Thompson in which fans make old-man jokes about the players who have been on certain teams for what seems like forever.
David N’Guessan spending three years in Manhattan was potentially enough for him to enter that category.
All I can really tell you is that things aren’t much better for other teams. If you want to watch players who are true to their school, Manhattan High might be your only resort.
Kelvin Sampson has managed to keep his core players together for the long haul, but just about every coach hits the reset button every year or two. Even Kansas is starting over basically from scratch next season.
To his credit, Jerome Tang wants to begin following the Sampson model. Can it be done? Only time will tell.
Will Jerome Tang truly succeed in rebuilding via the growth of his current team? Or will we end up with half a new team next year? -@ChadFullington via X.
First, let’s run down exactly where the K-State men’s basketball roster stands at the moment.
Brendan Hausen and Macaleab Rich have already transferred out.
David N’Guessan and Coleman Hawkins are out of college eligibility.
We don’t yet know if Max Jones and Tyreek Smith will be granted an extra year of eligibility.
At most, the Wildcats will return nine players from last year’s roster. At minimum, the Wildcats may only return five.
The main problem with roster continuity, at the moment, is that K-State may only bring back Dug McDaniel from its starting lineup. So even if the Wildcats can retain nine players, their starting lineup could still look very different next season.
I do think Tang is serious about building from the ground up. He will likely focus more on high school recruiting in the future, which will give the Wildcats an opportunity to maintain their nucleus from one season to the next.
This may not be on your beat, but it is beat-adjacent. Could Tyler Lockett end up with the Kansas City Chiefs? As of this second, he is still a free agent. Will KC bring in the EMAW alum? -@matthewengelken via X.
I’m not qualified to predict where Tyler Lockett will end up now that the Seattle Seahawks have made him a free agent, but Jesse Newell is and I ran the topic by him.
His take:
KC is thin at wide receiver and Lockett is good. So a marriage could make sense. But Patrick Mahomes doesn’t throw into many tight windows, and that’s where Lockett thrives. It might not be the best fit. Still, if the price is right Lockett could be an interesting option.
My take: it would be awesome if the Chiefs found a way to add him to their roster.
Lockett is an excellent possession receiver who can tap his toes in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown catch better than just about anyone else on the planet. His father, Kevin, had success with the Chiefs in the 90s. His football career would come full circle if he ended his career in Kansas City.
Kansas State’s all-time leading receiver wearing red would be very cool to see.
Alas, the Chiefs already have some talented wide receivers with Xavier Worthy, Rashee Rice, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown already in the fold. It might not make the most sense for KC to throw money at a free agent WR, even one as good as Lockett. Then again, KC could use Lockett as a replacement for DeAndre Hopkins.
It seems like Lockett might be a better fit with the Carolina Panthers or the Dallas Cowboys. But we can dream.
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: What’s next for Wildcats as Jerome Tang rebuilds basketball roster?."