The question was bound to come up sometime.
When Kansas State basketball forward Coleman Hawkins joined the Wildcats as a high-profile, high-dollar graduate transfer from Illinois, expectations were sky-high.
And while Hawkins has been one of K-State’s steadiest most versatile players, it hasn’t translated to success on the court for the Wildcats, who go into Wednesday’s 8 p.m. game against Baylor at Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas, on a five-game losing streak.
So, looking back on his decision to transfer to K-State with a NIL deal reported at $2 million, does Hawkins regret his decision, given the Wildcats’ struggles?
“Coach (Jerome Tang) talks all the time about fighting through adversity and manning up, and it’s my job to man up and persevere,” Hawkins said after the Wildcats’ 84-74 road loss to Kansas on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. “I’m going to play out the season and try to win as many games as I can for this program.
“That’s where my mindset is.”
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Hawkins’ response came as no surprise to Tang, whose Wildcats are 7-10 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12 and face a Baylor team (11-6, 3-3) coming off back-to-back losses.
“I didn’t expect him to answer anything else,” Tang said. “That’s what we do. Life throws things at you, and you man up, and you believe in who you are and what you’re about and you move on to the next thing. Because nobody stops for you.”
Hawkins was at his best against KU, leading the Wildcats with 15 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. He is averaging 10.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and a team-high 4.2 assists and leads the Wildcats in scoring during conference play at 13.8 points per game.
K-State showed improvement in its last two games, a 61-57 home loss to Texas Tech and then against KU, where after spotting the Jayhawks a 20-4 lead they got as close as six points in the second half.
“I feel like we’re right there to shocking a lot of people,” Hawkins said. “And very soon I think we’re going to start winning basketball games. So, I’m just going to persevere, and I’m going to play hard regardless.”
Tang concurred.
“We don’t have guys who hang their heads,” he said. “These are high character dudes. And our last two practices were the best two practices of the year, and I expect the next ones to be better than the ones before, and we’re just going to keep building and keep getting better.
“That’s our goal, continue to get better, and at some point in time it’ll show the results on the scoreboard.”
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball forward Coleman Hawkins keeps pushing forward
