Kansas State University Athletics
‘Luck Favors Those That Work the Hardest’
Jan 30, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Imagine the scenario. It's one of those three-two-one situations that kids dream about. And midway through the first half of Kansas State's 85-57 dismantling of Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, senior wing Coleman Hawkins, a 6-foot-10, 235-pounder with soft hands and an unselfish heart, found himself playing out the dream-like sequence, as the ball swung around, and teammate CJ Jones passed the ball to him in front of the Cowboys bench. The shot clock ticked, ticked, ticked and the crowd of 8,542 counted down, "THREE! TWO! ONE!" and Hawkins caught the ball with his back to the basket, jumped, turned in midair right in front of Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz and drained a 3-pointer worthy of consideration for the SportsCenter Top 10.
"Luck favors those that work the hardest," Lutz says after the game. And isn't that the truth, really? All year, Hawkins has worked and has delivered some remarkable stat lines that teeter on the insane, and he has done just about everything except post a triple-double. Hawkins is the only player in Division I averaging at least 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game this season. He had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in Saturday's 73-60 win over No. 23 West Virginia.
Against Oklahoma State, he delivered 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. He did a little bit of everything, and he did it all quite well, so yeah, he worked hard and deserved a highlight 3-pointer that he'll remember far longer than the fact that it came during a 28-point romp over the Cowboys.
"I saw the shot clock going down and I thought CJ was going to shoot it and then I was like, 'Oh wait, if he hits me, I can shoot and quick catch-and-shoot,'" Hawkins explains. "But he threw kind of a bad pass, I caught it with one hand, spun around — boom — and just released it, and honestly, it felt good when it left my hand, and it went in."
He smiles.
"That was cool," he says. "That was a cool moment."
Hawkins had many cool moments against the Cowboys. He scored the game's first points on a baseline move against 6-foot-7 Robert Jennings II. He scored the first and-1 moments later when he went over 6-foot-10 Abou Ousmane and past Jennings down the left side and flipped the ball over his head for a bucket. By the first media timeout, Hawkins had five points, one rebound, one assist, two steals and one block, and you had a feeling it might be his night. Oh, there's more. He threw a pass all the way across the court to an awaiting Dug McDaniel for a 3-pointer. He fired a no-look pass past 6-foot-6 guard Connor Dow and into the waiting hands of Mobi Ikegwuruka for a dunk. He blocked a reverse layup. He got hit in the face, went down to the ground, got up and sank one of two free-throw attempts.
"It fires me up when I pass the ball to Brendan Hausen and he hits a 3, or anybody hitting a shot off something I do — it fires me up," Hawkins says. "A lot of people would be jealous or whatever, I mean, I don't know if people are expecting me to score 30 a night or what, but that's just not who I am.
"I like passing and doing stuff that might not show up but to me it excites me."
Hawkins is just different.
The only player in Illinois history with 900 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks in a career, Hawkins transferred to K-State this summer with an exciting resume. He also arrived as the Preseason Big 12 co-Newcomer of the Year. Some people expected points, points, and more points, and well, he gave them more of an all-around game with stats, stats, and more stats. Now he has scored in double figures in four of the last five games against Texas Tech (12 points), at No. 9 Kansas (15 points), against No. 23 West Virginia (11 points) and against Oklahoma State (15 points).
"Honestly, I feel like I could score more," he says. "Even last year, I was probably the best pick-and-pop big in the country. I was elite at catching and shooting, but we've been emphasizing what we call 'setting the tone,' and 'owning the paint,' so some of those shots I would've shot last year and would've probably been making, I've been turning them down, trying to get paint touches and spraying them out to my teammates and allowing myself to get into rebounding position. That also comes with if our transition defense gets better, I'll feel more comfortable shooting catch-and-shoot 3s, but I feel like we need to work on our transition defense."
Hawkins is currently third on the team with 10.9 points per game, leads the team with 7.1 rebounds, and he averages 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.4 blocks. It's worth repeating there is nobody in Division I basketball that is averaging these types of numbers.
"I really don't pay attention to Coleman's stat lines," K-State head coach Jerome Tang says. "What I've challenged him to do is to score more and rebound more. If he does those two things, then the other things, they come easy for him. Our team needs that from him. We need him to be a scoring threat that makes the defense focus on him, and it makes the game easier for other guys."
This all started in Sacramento, California. Hawkins grew up playing AAU basketball and many of the players' fathers were the coaches. Hawkins referred to it as "Daddy Ball," because the children of the coaches put up all the shots. Hawkins wanted to find a way to impact the game. He did. And when he went to high school, he put his tools to work.
"I was able to impact the game in multiple ways," he says, "rather than just try and score all the time."
That's what Tang sees as Hawkins works throughout each game.
"He's 6-foot-10 and can handle the ball like a guard, he's gifted with his vision, he can really, really see and he can see the play before the play, and then he can post, too, so he can draw a double team in the block or a double team on the perimeter, and then when he wants to — and I'd like him to do it a little bit more — he can really shoot the ball," Tang says. "You can't guard him one way. Whatever they do to him, we can move him and then he still becomes a mismatch.
"He really enjoys watching his teammates have success. That's a special attribute of a young man that celebrates when his teammates have success, and he wants to help them have success."
Well now it was down to this. Jones threw a pass to Hawkins. Hawkins caught the ball in front of the Oklahoma State bench, turned and fired a 3-pointer. THREE! TWO! ONE!
Boom.
Lutz was right. Luck favors those who work the hardest.
And it's hard at times to envision anyone working any harder than Coleman Hawkins.
Imagine the scenario. It's one of those three-two-one situations that kids dream about. And midway through the first half of Kansas State's 85-57 dismantling of Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, senior wing Coleman Hawkins, a 6-foot-10, 235-pounder with soft hands and an unselfish heart, found himself playing out the dream-like sequence, as the ball swung around, and teammate CJ Jones passed the ball to him in front of the Cowboys bench. The shot clock ticked, ticked, ticked and the crowd of 8,542 counted down, "THREE! TWO! ONE!" and Hawkins caught the ball with his back to the basket, jumped, turned in midair right in front of Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz and drained a 3-pointer worthy of consideration for the SportsCenter Top 10.
"Luck favors those that work the hardest," Lutz says after the game. And isn't that the truth, really? All year, Hawkins has worked and has delivered some remarkable stat lines that teeter on the insane, and he has done just about everything except post a triple-double. Hawkins is the only player in Division I averaging at least 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game this season. He had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in Saturday's 73-60 win over No. 23 West Virginia.
Against Oklahoma State, he delivered 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. He did a little bit of everything, and he did it all quite well, so yeah, he worked hard and deserved a highlight 3-pointer that he'll remember far longer than the fact that it came during a 28-point romp over the Cowboys.
"I saw the shot clock going down and I thought CJ was going to shoot it and then I was like, 'Oh wait, if he hits me, I can shoot and quick catch-and-shoot,'" Hawkins explains. "But he threw kind of a bad pass, I caught it with one hand, spun around — boom — and just released it, and honestly, it felt good when it left my hand, and it went in."
He smiles.
"That was cool," he says. "That was a cool moment."
Hawkins had many cool moments against the Cowboys. He scored the game's first points on a baseline move against 6-foot-7 Robert Jennings II. He scored the first and-1 moments later when he went over 6-foot-10 Abou Ousmane and past Jennings down the left side and flipped the ball over his head for a bucket. By the first media timeout, Hawkins had five points, one rebound, one assist, two steals and one block, and you had a feeling it might be his night. Oh, there's more. He threw a pass all the way across the court to an awaiting Dug McDaniel for a 3-pointer. He fired a no-look pass past 6-foot-6 guard Connor Dow and into the waiting hands of Mobi Ikegwuruka for a dunk. He blocked a reverse layup. He got hit in the face, went down to the ground, got up and sank one of two free-throw attempts.
"It fires me up when I pass the ball to Brendan Hausen and he hits a 3, or anybody hitting a shot off something I do — it fires me up," Hawkins says. "A lot of people would be jealous or whatever, I mean, I don't know if people are expecting me to score 30 a night or what, but that's just not who I am.
"I like passing and doing stuff that might not show up but to me it excites me."
Hawkins is just different.
The only player in Illinois history with 900 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks in a career, Hawkins transferred to K-State this summer with an exciting resume. He also arrived as the Preseason Big 12 co-Newcomer of the Year. Some people expected points, points, and more points, and well, he gave them more of an all-around game with stats, stats, and more stats. Now he has scored in double figures in four of the last five games against Texas Tech (12 points), at No. 9 Kansas (15 points), against No. 23 West Virginia (11 points) and against Oklahoma State (15 points).
"Honestly, I feel like I could score more," he says. "Even last year, I was probably the best pick-and-pop big in the country. I was elite at catching and shooting, but we've been emphasizing what we call 'setting the tone,' and 'owning the paint,' so some of those shots I would've shot last year and would've probably been making, I've been turning them down, trying to get paint touches and spraying them out to my teammates and allowing myself to get into rebounding position. That also comes with if our transition defense gets better, I'll feel more comfortable shooting catch-and-shoot 3s, but I feel like we need to work on our transition defense."
Hawkins is currently third on the team with 10.9 points per game, leads the team with 7.1 rebounds, and he averages 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.4 blocks. It's worth repeating there is nobody in Division I basketball that is averaging these types of numbers.
"I really don't pay attention to Coleman's stat lines," K-State head coach Jerome Tang says. "What I've challenged him to do is to score more and rebound more. If he does those two things, then the other things, they come easy for him. Our team needs that from him. We need him to be a scoring threat that makes the defense focus on him, and it makes the game easier for other guys."
This all started in Sacramento, California. Hawkins grew up playing AAU basketball and many of the players' fathers were the coaches. Hawkins referred to it as "Daddy Ball," because the children of the coaches put up all the shots. Hawkins wanted to find a way to impact the game. He did. And when he went to high school, he put his tools to work.
"I was able to impact the game in multiple ways," he says, "rather than just try and score all the time."
That's what Tang sees as Hawkins works throughout each game.
"He's 6-foot-10 and can handle the ball like a guard, he's gifted with his vision, he can really, really see and he can see the play before the play, and then he can post, too, so he can draw a double team in the block or a double team on the perimeter, and then when he wants to — and I'd like him to do it a little bit more — he can really shoot the ball," Tang says. "You can't guard him one way. Whatever they do to him, we can move him and then he still becomes a mismatch.
"He really enjoys watching his teammates have success. That's a special attribute of a young man that celebrates when his teammates have success, and he wants to help them have success."
Well now it was down to this. Jones threw a pass to Hawkins. Hawkins caught the ball in front of the Oklahoma State bench, turned and fired a 3-pointer. THREE! TWO! ONE!
Boom.
Lutz was right. Luck favors those who work the hardest.
And it's hard at times to envision anyone working any harder than Coleman Hawkins.
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