Kansas State Wildcats land talented Memphis basketball transfer PJ Haggerty
Jerome Tang and the Kansas State men’s basketball team have won an important recruiting battle.
PJ Haggerty, one of the best available players still in the transfer portal, withdrew his name from the NBA Draft and committed to the Wildcats on a lucrative NIL deal on Monday.
Haggerty was a star point guard for the Memphis Tigers last season as a sophomore. He averaged 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists on a team that won 29 games, claimed a conference championship and reached the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed.
He kept his options open after announcing his intentions to transfer away from Memphis. North Carolina State recruited him hard and he tested the NBA Draft waters. But he ultimately decided to enroll at K-State and play for Wildcats head coach Tang.
College basketball reporter Adam Zagoria reported that Haggerty will earn $2 million in guaranteed NIL money from K-State, but incentives could push the deal closer to $2.5 million.
That means Haggerty, along with Serbian basketball recruit Andrej Kostic, is the second K-State basketball player who is expected to get more NIL money than Coleman Hawkins did a year ago.
He may be worth it, too.
Haggerty is, by far, the biggest impact transfer that Tang has landed this offseason. Before he committed to K-State, the Wildcats were projected to be the nation’s 68th-best team next season, per Bart Torvik. It was hard to see them contending for a NCAA Tournament berth without reinforcements.
But the postseason suddenly seems within reach now that Haggerty is in the fold. Add Haggerty’s production to the K-State basketball roster, and the Wildcats are now projected at No. 44.
K-State needed a talented point guard to fill the void left by outgoing transfer Dug McDaniel. Tang seems to have found one in Haggerty.
That transaction feels like a trade, as McDaniel transferred from K-State to Memphis and Haggerty switched from Memphis to K-State.
Haggerty began his college basketball career at TCU and then transferred to Tulsa after one season. Now he is back in the Big 12 at K-State.
Memphis relied on Haggerty as its go-to player last season. He topped 20 points in 23 different games. His season-high came against Wichita State in the AAC Tournament, when he racked up 42 points.
K-State Wildcats basketball tracker
Outgoing transfers:
- Brendan Hausen (Iowa)
- Ugonna Onyenso (Virginia)
- Macaleab Rich
- Baye Fall (Rutgers)
- Dug McDaniel (Memphis)
- CJ Jones
Incoming transfers:
- Abdi Bashir (Monmouth)
- Khamari McGriff (UNCW)
- Nate Johnson (Akron)
PJ Haggerty (Memphis)
High school recruits:
International recruits:
Returners:
- Mobi Ikegwuruka
- Taj Manning
- David Castillo
- Max Jones*
- Tyreek Smith*
*Player is seeking a waiver to gain extra eligibility
Available scholarships: 0-2
This story was originally published May 26, 2025 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Kansas State Wildcats land talented Memphis basketball transfer PJ Haggerty."