With the addition of Illinois big man Coleman Hawkins late last month, Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang and his staff wrapped up their roster for the upcoming season. And unlike the previous two years, the coaches got their work done early this year, leaving the rest of the summer for the 10 newcomers on the roster to begin to mesh.
“This is the first time we’ve had our whole roster done in June,” Tang said. “Our first year, Keyontae (Johnson) didn’t show up until August right when school started, and Desi (Sills) didn’t get her until October. And then last year, we didn’t get a couple of guys until August or September and Will (McNair Jr.) was right after school started. So, we’re gonna get to spend the whole four weeks in July of workouts with the whole group here. I believe that’s gonna make a huge difference in how we develop as a team.”
K-State brings in eight Division I transfers, one junior college transfer and one high school recruit to joing senior David N’Guessan and sophomore Taj Manning and Macaleab Rich.
Because the Wildcats don’t have a large base of returners, the need to create team chemistry among all of the disparate parts becomes even more crucial during this summer period.
“It has to happen organically, but we have to create opportunities for it to happen,” Tang said. “They all live in the same apartment complex. And it’s 30 seconds from the gym and we spend a lot of time in the gym. We have family dinners. So, we’re always together in each other’s homes. We create opportunities for organic chemistry, just for guys to be able to interact with each other in different situations. It’s our job to connect with our players’ hearts.
“And once you connect with their hearts, you can get them to understand or at least you’ll understand where they’re coming from to help them get to where they want to get to.”
The roster’s make up features multiple athletic and versitile bigs, led by Hawkins along with Daivd N’Guessan, Achor Achor (Samford) and Ugonna Onyenso (Kentucky) and Baye Fall (Arkansas).
When Nae’Qwan Tomlin was dismissed from the team in the middle of last season, K-State found itself short on reliable big men. That should not be an issue this season.
“The way the game is played now, the really talented bigs who want to play in the NBA have to play in the 5-out type offenses and do multiple things,” Tang said. “They no longer just let guys stand on the block anymore. So, knowing the type of talent we wanted to attract, we had to run an offense that fits that personnel.
“We can help them get to where they want to get to and because we’ve done that (in the past) and it’s given us this opportunity to be able to recruit guys like Coleman, Achor (Achor) and Ugonna (Onyenso).”
