Preview // K-State Plays Mississippi State in Hall of Fame Classic Thursday

GAME 5
KANSAS STATE (4-0) VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (2-1)
25th Annual Hall of Fame Classic
Thursday, November 20, 2025 | 8:30 p.m., CT | T-Mobile Center (18,689) | Kansas City, Mo.

TICKETS
Tickets are available through the T-Mobile Center Ticket Office (link here)

EVENTS/PROMOTIONS
Legendary head coach Jack Hartman will be honored at halftime for his induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He is the sixth Wildcat to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, including the fourth coach following Jack Gardner, Tex Winter and his former player Lon Kruger.

NABC CEO Kevin Henderson will present Hartman's daughter, Jackie Hartman, with his induction medallion. She will be joined by Hartman's former players Bob Chipman, Carl Gerlach, Steve Soldner, Hal Bentley, Scott Langton, Dean Danner, Ed Elder, Percy Eddie and Ben Mitchell.

TELEVISION
Peacock / NBC Sports NOW / NBC Sports Network (online link)

Steve Schlanger (play-by-play)
Tre Demps (analyst)
Jeff Graham (producer)

RADIO
K-State Sports Network
Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580
Satellite Radio: Ch. 385
Online: Varsity Network [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
Stan Weber (analyst)

LIVE STATS
kstate.statbroadcast.com

COACHES
K-State: Jerome Tang [Charter Oak State College '07]
Record at K-State: 65-42/4th Year
Career Record: 67-42*/4th Year+
vs. Mississippi State: 0-0

Mississippi State: Chris Jans [Loras College '91]
Record at MSU: 65-41/4th Year
*Career Record: 208-85/10th Year
vs. K-State: 0-0

*Only includes Division I coaching career

LAST GAME STARTERS:
K-State (4-0)
G: #4 P.J. Haggerty
G: #34 Nate Johnson
G: #1 Abdi Bashir Jr.
W: #0 Elias Rapieque
W: #21 Khamari McGriff

Mississippi State (2-1)
G: #2 Ja'Borri McGhee
G: #5 Shawn Jones Jr.
G: #12 Josh Hubbard
F: #99 Achor Achor
C: #15 Quincy Ballard

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: K-State leads 3-1
In Kansas City: First meeting
At T-Mobile Center: First meeting
Active Streak: Mississippi State, 1
First Meeting: K-State won 67-58 (12/5/1984)
Last Meeting: Mississippi State won 67-61 (12/14/2019)
Jerome Tang vs. Chris Jans: First meeting

A K-STATE WIN WOULD…

Make the Wildcats 5-0 for the first time since 2022-23.
Give the Wildcats a 7-4 record in the Hall of Fame Classic.
Move the Wildcats to 4-1 all-time vs. Mississippi State.
Elevate the Wildcats to 25-24 all-time at the T-Mobile Center.
Give the Wildcats a 193-62 non-conference mark since 2006.

K-STATE OPENS HALL OF FAME CLASSIC WITH MISSISSIPPI STATE THURSDAY
K-State (4-0) will open play in the 25th annual Hall of Fame Classic on Thursday, as the Wildcats face off against Mississippi State (2-1) in the nightcap of a doubleheader at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The Wildcats and Bulldogs are tentatively set to tip off at 8:30 p.m. CT, following the first game between Nebraska (4-0) and New Mexico (3-1), which is slated to tip off at 6 p.m., CT.

The winners of the two semifinal matchups will play in the championship game at 8:30 p.m., CT on Friday with the third-place game set for 6 p.m., CT. All tournament games will air on Peacock, NBC Sports NOW as well as on the NBC Sports Network linear channel on YouTubeTV.

K-State will be making its fourth appearance in the Hall of Fame Classic and the first since 2021. The Wildcats finished as the tournament runner-up in their first two visits, defeating No. 18 Gonzaga before losing to top-ranked Duke in 2010 and defeating Missouri before losing to No. 9 North Carolina in 2015. The team lost to No. 13 Arkansas and No. 14 Illinois in their most recent appearance in 2021.

The Hall of Fame Classic was created by the Kansas City-based National Association of Basketball Classic (NABC) in 2001 as the Guardians Classic and was later known as the CBE Classic and CBE Hall of Fame Classic before being rebranded as the Hall of Fame Classic in 2017.

This will be the fifth meeting between K-State and Mississippi State and the first since a 67-61 Bulldog win at the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, N.J. on Dec. 14, 2019. The Wildcats won
the previous 3 meetings in the series in 1984, 1985 and 1994.

K-State leads the all-time series with both Nebraska (128-94) and New Mexico (4-2), having last met the Lobos in 2006 and Cornhuskers in 2023.

Led by fourth-year head coach Chris Jans, MSU is 2-1 after wins over North Alabama (86-62) and SE Louisiana (75-68) in between a 96-80 neutral-site loss to No. 16 Iowa State. The Bulldogs are led by one of the top scorers in the country in Josh Hubbard, who is averaging 22.3 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT

K-State rallied from a 5-point deficit with 49 seconds to play with a 6-0 run to end the game, as the Wildcats moved to 4-0 with a nail-biting 84-83 win over a defiant Tulsa squad on Monday night to cap a 4-game homestand to start the season.
Down 83-78 with 49 seconds left, K-State was able to pull out the improbable win behind the heroics of junior P.J. Haggerty and sophomore David Castillo, who combined for the final 6 points.
Haggerty and Castillo were among four Wildcats in double figures, as Haggerty finished with game-highs in both points (31) and rebounds (10) while recording the first 30-point, 10-rebound performance since Michael Beasley in 2008. Castillo had 12 points off the bench, while senior Khamari McGriff and junior Abdi Bashir Jr. added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

THANKS, JACK!

Head coach Jack Hartman, who won a school-record 295 games during his illustrious 16-year tenure from 1970-86, will officially be inducted the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame this week.
Hartman is the sixth person with K-State to be named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, including the fourth men's basketball head coach following Jack Gardner (2006), Tex Winter (2010) and his former player Lon Kruger (2022). In addition, former Wildcat players Rolando Blackman (2015) and Bob Boozer (2016) have also been elected to the Hall of Fame.
Hartman led K-State to a 295-169 record, three Big Eight regular-season conference titles (1971-72, 1972-73, 1976-77), two Big Eight Tournament championships (1977, 1980) and nine postseason appearances during his 16 seasons as head coach.
Hartman saw the Wildcats register 20 or more wins seven times, including 24 wins in both 1976-77 and 1980-81. He also guided the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament seven times (1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982), including four trips (1972, 1973, 1975, 1981) to the Elite Eight. His teams finished the season ranked among the Top 20 five times, including the No. 7 (UPI) and No. 9 (AP) rankings in 1972-73.
Hartman coached a number of future pros. While at SIU, he tutored Walt Frazier, and at K-State, he produced players like legends Rolando Blackman, Mike Evans, Lon Kruger, Ed Nealy and Chuckie Williams. In all, he coached 10 All-Americans, five Big Eight Players of the year and 16 first team All-Big Eight selections.

OFFENSE OFF TO HOT START

Although they didn't extend their streak of 90-point games to start the season in the 84-83 win over Tulsa on Monday, the Wildcats are still off to a fast offensive start. The squad is averaging 93.5 points on 54.7 percent (135-of-247) shooting, including 45.7 percent (42-of-92) from 3-point range, while hitting on 72.9 percent (62-of-85) from the line.
The 374 points are the most points through the first 4 games of season, surpassing the 367 scored by the 1991-92 squad. The 99 points vs. Cal marked the third consecutive 90-point performance to open the season, which was a first since that Dana Altman-led squad 34 years ago.
According to @OptaStats, K-State is the first Big 12 team to start a season with consecutive games of at least 14 made 3-pointers and a 50.0 3-point percentage. The only other DI teams to do that in the last 30 seasons are North Florida in 2015-16 (also coached by associate head coach Matthew Driscoll) and Drake in 2017-18.

POINTS IN THE FIRST 4 GAMES
374, 2025-26 (94, 98, 99 and 84 points)
367, 1991-92 (103, 90, 115 and 59 points)
361, 1956-57 (97, 90, 84 and 90 points)
342, 1997-98 (93, 89, 89 and 71 points)
335, 2008-09 (96, 88. 82 and 69 points)

HAGGERTY JOINS ELITE COMPANY

After his season-high 31-point performance, junior P.J. Haggerty became just the third Wildcat to open a season with four consecutive games of 20 or more points, joining Bob Boozer in 1958-59 and Michael Beasley in 2007-08.

20-POINT GAMES IN THE FIRST 4 GAMES

45, 28, 21 and 21 points by Bob Boozer, 1958-59
32, 30, 28 and 30 points by Michael Beasley, 2007-08
27, 23, 23 and 31 points by P.J. Haggerty, 2025-26

HAGGERTY HAS RARE 30-10 GAME

In addition to his 31 points, junior P.J. Haggerty tied a career-high with 10 rebounds to become the first Wildcat since Michael Beasley in 2008 to post a rare 30-point, 10-rebound double-double. He scored 27 of his 31 points in the second half, which are the fifth-most in any half.

MOST POINTS AT BRAMLAGE

K-State's 99-96 win over Cal on Nov. 13 made history, as the 195 combined points were the most-ever in Bramlage Coliseum, surpassing the 194 scored between K-State (106) and Marshall (88) on Dec. 2, 1995.
K-State posted the highest field goal percentage of the Jerome Tang era for the second straight game, as the Wildcats hit on 64.4 percent (38-of-59) from the field. It was the highest field goal percentage since shooting 66.0 percent vs. Wake Forest on March 14, 2017.

HAGGERTY TOPS 1,500 POINTS

Junior P.J. Haggerty became the 14th active Division I player to top 1,500 career points in the 99-96 win over Cal, as he led the Wildcats in scoring for the third straight game with 23 points on 7-of-12 field goals and 8-of-12 free throws in 34 minutes.

MOST POINTS THROUGH THE FIRST 4 GAMES
120, Michael Beasley, 2007-08
115, Bob Boozer, 1958-59
104, P.J. Haggerty, 2025-26
96, Dick Knostman, 1952-53
87, Mitch Richmond, 1987-88
87, Cartier Martin, 2005-06
85, Willie Murrell, 1963-64
82, Mike Evans, 1977-78
79, Norris Coleman, 1985-86
76, Bob Boozer, 1956-57
73, Wally Frank, 1959-60
72, Larry Dassie, 1976-77

20-POINT GAMES IN FIRST 4 GAMES
45, 28, 21 and 21 points by Bob Boozer, 1958-59
32, 30, 28 and 30 points by Michael Beasley, 2007-08
27, 23, 23 and 31 points by P.J. Haggerty, 2025-26

TRIO OF 'CATS POST 20-POINT GAMES

K-State had three players record 20-point games in the win over Cal, as junior P.J. Haggerty led the way with 23 points to go with 21 from senior Khamari McGriff and 20 from senior Nate Johnson.
The trio is the first to each have 20-point games since Dean Wade (34 points), Kamau Stokes (23 points) and Barry Brown Jr. (21 points) did it against Iowa State on Dec. 29, 2017.

McGRIFF, CASTILLO GO PERFECT

Two Wildcats - senior Khamari McGriff and sophomore David Castillo - each went perfect from the field, becoming the 24th and 25th players in school history to go perfect from the field on 5 or more field goals in the 98-71 win over Bellarmine on Nov. 8. They are the first teammates to accomplish the feat in the same game.
Castillo scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting, including 5-of-5 from 3-point range, while McGriff totaled 16 points on 8-of-8 field goals. Castillo is just the eighth Wildcat to go 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, joining his high school coach Clent Stewart who was in attendance.

NOTES ON MISSISSIPPI STATE

Led by fourth-year head coach Chris Jans, Mississippi State is off to a 2-1 start to the season with wins over North Alabama (86-62) and SE Louisiana (75-68) in between a 96-80 neutral-site loss to No. 16 Iowa State. The Bulldogs return 4 players, including starter Josh Hubbard, from a squad that posted a 21-13 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2024-25.
MSU is averaging 80.3 points on 46.2 percent shooting, including 35.9 percent from 3-point range, while allowing 75.3 points on 41.8 percent shooting, including 24.2 percent from 3-point range. Four Bulldogs are averaging 7 or more points, including Hubbard, who is averaging 22.3 points on 44.4 percent shooting and 90 percent from the line. Hubbard also has a team-high 17 assists. Senior Shawn Jones Jr. is averaging 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Transfers Achor Achor and Sergej Macura are both averaging a team-best 7.7 rebounds per game.
The Bulldogs were picked 10th in the 16-team preseason SEC poll by the media. Reigning national champion Florida is the preseason favorite to win the league. Hubbard was selected to the SEC preseason First Team.
Jans is in his 10th season as a head coach, which includes a successful 5-year stint at New Mexico State, where he led the Aggies to 122 wins and 3 trips to the NCAA Tournament. He has a 208-85 record as a Division I head coach, including a 65-41 mark at MSU with 3 more NCAA Tournament bids.

SERIES HISTORY

K-State leads the all-time series, 3-1, but is 0-1 in neutral-site contests. The Wildcats won the first 3 meetings in 1984, 1985 and 1994 before the Bulldogs earned a 67-61 win at the Never Forget Tribute Classic in the last meeting on Dec. 14, 2019 in Newark, N.J.
K-State is 300-293 against current members of the SEC, including a 46-29 mark in games played at neutral sites.

ALL-TIME MEETINGS [3-1]

Date	Rank	Result	Score	Location
12/5/1984	—/—	W	67-58	Manhattan
12/14/1985	—/—	W	63-58	Starkville
3/17/1994	—/—	W	78-67	Manhattan^
12/14/2019	—/—	L	61-67	Newark, N.J.

^1994 Postseason NIT

HALL OF FAME CLASSIC HISTORY

This will be K-State's fourth time playing in the Hall of Fame Classic, which includes runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2015. Most recently, the Wildcats went 0-2 vs. No. 13 Arkansas and No. 14 Illinois in 2014.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MATCHUPS

Date	Rank	Result	Score	Opponent
11/22/2010	4/18	W	81-64	Gonzaga
11/23/2010	4/1	L	68-82	Duke
11/23/2015	—/—	W	66-42	Missouri
11/24/2015	—/9	L	70-80	North Carolina
11/22/2021	—/13	L	64-72	Arkansas
11/23/2021	—/11	L	64-72	Illinois

HISTORY AT T-MOBILE CENTER

K-State is familiar with the T-Mobile Center, having played in 48 games since the arena's opening in 2007, posting a 24-24 all-time record.
Most of these games have come in the annual Big 12 Championship (28; 2008, 2010-current), while the Wildcats have played 13 times in the Wildcat Classic (2007-12, 2014, 2016, 2018-19, 2022-24), along with 6 in the Hall of Fame Classic and once in the NCAA Tournament (2013).
K-State has 5 wins over SEC teams at T-Mobile, including Alabama in 2011, Florida in 2012, Texas A&M in 2014, Missouri in 2015 and Vanderbilt in 2018. The Wildcats also defeated Nebraska in the 2022 event.

HAGGERTY AMONG THE BEST

Junior P.J. Haggerty is the among the best players to ever transfer to K-State, as he is coming off a career-best year in 2024-25, in which, he became the first Memphis Tiger since 2008 to be named an AP All-American while becoming the first Division I player to average at least 21.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game to go with 6.5 free throws per game since Ja Morant in 2018-19. He is the only Division I player to average at 21 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game in each of the last 2 seasons.
Haggerty ranked third nationally in both scoring (21.7 ppg.) and total points (759) in 2024-25, while his 759 points were an AAC single-season record and the most since Dajuan Wagner (762) set the school season record in 2001-02.
Haggerty was a consensus Second Team All-American in his lone season at Memphis, while was just the second Tiger to be named the AAC Player of the Year as well as Most Outstanding Player at the AAC Tournament. He was also a finalist for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award, the Wooden Award and the Riley Wallace Award as the most impactful transfer.
Haggerty, who has also made stops at TCU (2022-23) and Tulsa (2023-24), has scored more than1,500 points (1,537) in his college career, connecting on 48.8 percent from the field and 79.4 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in 68 of 76 career games with 27 games of 25 or more points, including four 30-point games and one 40-point game. He scored a career-high 42 points vs. Wichita State on March 14.

HAGGERTY'S PRESEASON ACCOLADES

2025-26 Wooden Award Watch List
2025-26 Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List
2025-26 Jersey Mike's Naismith College Player of the Year Watch List
2025-26 NABC Preseason Division I Player of the Year Watch List
2025-26 Jay Bilas Preseason First Team All-American
2025-26 @CBB Analytics Preseason First Team All-American
2025-26 CBS Sports Preseason Third Team All-American
2025-26 The Field of 68 Preseason Third Team All-American
2025-26 Preseason All-Big 12 Team (coaches)
2025-26 Jerry West Award Preseason Watch List (one of 20)

HAGGERTY ALSO GREAT AT LINE

In addition to his scoring prowess, P.J. Haggerty is also great at getting to the free throw line, as he ranked in the top-3 nationally in both free throws made and attempted in the past 2 seasons, including second in attempts (309) and third in makes (237) in 2023-24 while at Tulsa and second in both makes (224) and attempts (274) in 2024-25 while at Memphis.
Haggerty has made 504 free throws on 635 attempts in the past 4 seasons, averaging nearly 7 makes on nearly 9 attempts in his last 76 games played.
Last season, Haggerty connected on 81.8 percent from the free throw line with an AAC-best 224 makes on 274 attempts. He went perfect from the line in 6 games, including 14-of-14 vs. Tulane on March 15 in the AAC Tournament. He made 27 straight free throws at one point during the season.
Haggerty drew 7.9 fouls per 40 minutes as a sophomore at Tulsa in 2023-24, finishing behind only National Player of the Year Zach Edey with 309 free throw attempts, while his 237 free throws were the third-most in the country.

BASHIR GOOD FROM 3

Junior guard Abdi Bashir Jr. is among the best returning 3-point shooting in the country, as he led the NCAA in 3-point field goals/game (3.85) while he was second in total 3-point field goals (127) and 3-point field goals attempted (332) in 2024-25). He broke both the Monmouth and CAA single-season record for 3-pointers (327).
Bashir connected on a career-high 10 3-pointers in his 38-point performance against Rutgers on Nov. 18, 2024. The 10 treys tied for the second-most in Monmouth history. He made at least 5 3-pointers in 12 games, while he had 8 triples in back-to-back games vs. Northeastern (2/24/25) and Elon (2/27/25).
Bashir has made 191 3-point field goals in his 70-game college career on 39 percent shooting, which is nearly 3 made 3-pointers per game. He leads the team with 13 makes so far this season on 48.1 percent shooting.
As a sophomore, Bashir led Monmouth and the CAA in scoring at 20.1 points per game, while he was 16th in scoring and 25th in total points (663) in the NCAA. He posted five 30-point games, which tied for the most in program history, while he scored 20 or more points in 13 other contests. He scored a career-high 38 points at Rutgers on Nov. 15, 2024, which were the most points scored against the Scarlet Knight since 1977.
Bashir also had notable performances against Michigan State (20 points), Wichita State (15 points), Stephen F. Austin (30 points), Seton Hall (28 points), Lehigh (22 points), Princeton (26 points) and Auburn (15 points) in 2024-25.

BASHIR ALSO A TWIN

Junior Abdi Bashir Jr. and his brother Abdul are among 9 sets of twins playing Division I basketball in 2025-26, including one of 3 sets of identical twins (Illinois' Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic and Texas State's Dimp and Ky Pernell).
They also one of 3 sets playing at different schools, joining Ethan (Air Force) and Eli (Le Moyne) Greenberg and Tajuan (Seton Hall) and Takai (Oregon) Simpkins.

TWINS PLAYING DIVISION I BASKETBALL
Abdi and Abdul Bashir (K-State, Auburn)
Micah and Marley Curtis (North Dakota)
Cameron and Cayden Boozer (Duke)
Dominykas and Dovydas Butka (Campbell)
Ethan and Eli Greenberg (Air Force, Le Moyne)
Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic (Illinois)
Dimp and Ky Pernell (Texas State)
Tajuan and Takai Simpkins (Seton Hall, Oregon)
Donny and MJ Yeager (Oakland)

SPECIAL NIGHT IN THE OPENER

Junior Nate Johnson nearly made history in his first game in a Wildcat uniform, as he narrowly missed the school's first recorded triple-double, as he finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 field goals, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range, to go with 9 rebounds and 9 assists in 31 minutes, in the 93-64 win over UNC Greensboro on Nov. 4.
Johnson's 6 made 3-pointers are the most by a Wildcat in a season opener, while his 9 assists tie Aaron Swartzendruber vs. Kansas City in 1996 and Larry Reid vs. UTSA in 2000 for the most in an opener. He finished the game with an impressive +47 +/- rating.
Junior All-American candidate P.J. Haggerty and Johnson became the first duo to go over 20 points in a season opener in nearly 18 years since Michael Beasley and Blake Young went for 32 and 22 points against Sacramento State on Nov. 9, 2007.
Haggerty's 27 points, which came on 10-of-20 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws, are ninth-most by a Wildcat in an opener and the most since the aforementioned Beasley, who had 32 points in his first career game.
Haggerty and Johnson became the first Wildcat duo to post 20-point games since Arthur Kaluma (23) and Cam Carter (21) did it against No. 6/6 Iowa State on March 9, 2024.
The 93 points equaled the most by a Jerome Tang-team in a season opener (93 vs. UTRGV (11/7/22) and were the most since scoring 98 vs. Southern Utah on Nov. 14, 2014.
K-State shot just over 50 percent (34-of-67) from the field, including 59.5 percent (22-of-37) in the second half, while hitting on 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from 3-point range. The 14 made 3-pointers tie for the seventh-most in any game and are the most-ever in a season opener.
The Wildcats scored 60 of their 93 points in the second half, connecting on 59.5 percent from the field and 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from 3-point range. The 60-point second-half marked the 11^th time that a Wildcat team has scored 60 or more points in a half and tied for the ninth-most points in any half.

1750 WINS AND COUNTING

K-State entered the 2025-26 season as one of the winningest programs in Division I history, as the Wildcats have posted a 1,756-1,255 (.583) all-time record which includes 32 NCAA Tournament appearances and 21 conference championships.
The current 1,760 wins are the 43rd-most in Division I history, including the seventh-most among current Big 12 schools.

SUCCESS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

K-State has posted a 192-62 (.752) record in non-conference play since the 2006-07 season. During that span, the Wildcats have a 150-18 (.890) mark at home venues (includes games played at Bramlage Coliseum, INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita and the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City) in non-conference play, including a 134-14 (.903) mark at Bramlage Coliseum.
K-State's 12-1 non-conference mark in 2022-23 was the best since the 2009-10 team went a program-best 13-1. Last season, the team went 7-6 in non-conference play, including 4-1 in Bramlage Coliseum.

Year	Overall	Home	Bramlage
2006-07	11-4	7-0	7-0
2007-08	10-4	8-1	7-1
2008-09	12-3	11-0	10-0
2009-10	13-1	9-0	8-0
2010-11	12-3	9-1	8-1
2011-12	11-1	7-0	6-0
2012-13	11-2	9-0	8-0
2013-14	10-3	7-1	7-1
2014-15	7-6	6-2	5-2
2015-16	11-2	8-0	8-0
2016-17	11-2	8-0	8-0
2017-18	11-2	8-1	8-0
2018-19	10-3	7-0	6-0
2019-20	7-6	6-2	6-1
2020-21	4-5	4-5	4-5
2021-22	8-5	6-1	6-1
2022-23	12-1	8-0	7-0
2023-24	10-3	8-1	7-1
2024-25	7-6	4-2	4-1
2025-26	4-0	4-0	4-0
Total	192-62	150-18	134-14

TANG ADJUSTS COACHING STAFF

Head coach Jerome Tang adjusted his coaching staff during the offseason, adding veteran head coach Matthew Driscoll as associate head coach as well as acclaimed player development coach Bill Peterson as an assistant coach and Chase Driscoll as director of video and analytics.
The winningest coach in both North Florida and Atlantic Sun Conference history during a 16-year stint (2009-25) with the Ospreys, Driscoll joined the staff on May 23. He won 248 games at North Florida, including 144 in ASUN play, while guiding the school to 3 regular-season championships and the league's tournament championship and a NCAA Tournament bid in 2015.
Driscoll's relationship with Tang dates back more than 20 years, as the two coached alongside each other for 6 seasons (2003-09) at Baylor as original members of head coach Scott Drew's staff.
Peterson has served in various capacities in the NBA, including the Golden Warriors, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks. He has mentored over 20 NBA players, including Hall of Famers Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Karl Malone. He also has a combined 10 years of head coaching experience at the NAIA, Division II and G-League levels in his 47-year coaching career.
Peterson coached alongside Tang while at Baylor from 2017-22, where they helped guide the Bears to the 2021 NCAA Championship.
Chase Driscoll joined the staff on May 13 after serving as an assistant coach and director of operations for his father, Matthew, at North Florida.

BAYLOR NORTH

With the additions of associate head coach Matthew Driscoll and assistant coach Bill Peterson, Jerome Tang tapped into his coaching history, as all three were on staff at Baylor. Tang and Driscoll were part of Scott Drew's first staff from 2003-09, while Tang and Peterson helped the Bears to the 2021 NCAA title while together on staff from 2017-22.
Driscoll and Peterson aren't the only K-State staffers with Baylor ties, as director of player development Austin Carpenter was a graduate assistant for Tang with the Bears from 2020-22, while current graduate assistants Henry Dugat and Mark Vital Jr. are among the best players in Baylor history.
Dugat is one of five players known as "The Foundation" that was inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. He was part of Drew's first two recruiting classes that led to Bears' historic turnaround. He still ranks in the top 20 all-time in program history with 1,229 career points.
Vital was a 3-time All-Big 12 selection and a member of Baylor's 2021 National Championship team, playing in 126 games with 105 starts.

'CATS PICKED 9TH IN BIG 12 POLL; HAGGERTY NAMED TO ALL-BIG 12 TEAM

K-State was picked ninth in the 16-team Big 12 preseason poll, while junior transfer P.J. Haggerty was one of 10 selections to the Preseason All-Big 12 by the league coaches.
The Wildcats totaled 117 points in the preseason poll, just 3 points behind eighth-place Cincinnati and 27 points ahead of 10^th-place TCU.
Reigning regular-season and tournament champion Houston was selected first with 224 points and 14 of the 16 first-place votes followed by second-place BYU (204 points, one first-place vote) and third-place Texas Tech (200 points). The rest of the top-7 included Arizona (179 points, one first-place vote), Iowa State (170), Kansas (163) and Baylor (137).
The rest of the preseason poll included eighth-place Cincinnati (120) followed by K-State, TCU, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Utah, UCF, Colorado and Arizona State.
Haggerty's selection marks the second straight year that a Wildcat has been named to the preseason all-conference team (Coleman Hawkins, 2024) by the league coaches. He is one of nine players in school history to be chosen for preseason all-conference honors dating to Manny Dies in 1998-99. Others include Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly in 2010-11, Rodney McGruder in 2012-13 and Marcus Foster in 2014-15 and Barry Brown Jr. and Dean Wade in 2018-19.

WHAT'S BACK FOR K-STATE

K-State returns 4 players (C.J. Jones, David Castillo, Mobi Ikegwuruka and Taj Manning) from the 2024-25 season, in which, the Wildcats posted a 16-17 record, including a tie for ninth in Big 12 play with a 9-11 mark.
Jones played in all 33 games with 9 starts in his first season in 2024-25 after starting his college career at UIC where he played in 62 games from 2022-24. He averaged 5.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 18.9 minutes per game.
Castillo played in 32 games as a true freshman in 2024-25, averaging 2.4 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 10 minutes per game.
Ikegwuruka played in 24 games as a sophomore, scoring in 15 games.
Manning has seen action in 22 games with a start in his K-State playing career, which dates back to the 2022-23 season.

WHAT'S NEW FOR K-STATE

The team welcomes 10 newcomers, including 5 Division I transfers (Abdi Bashir Jr., P.J. Haggerty, Marcus Johnson, Nate Johnson and Khamari McGriff), 4 international players (Dorin Buca, Andrej Kostic, Stephen Osei and Elias Rapieque) and one freshman (Exavier Wilson).
Bashir was the top 3-point shooter in the nation at 3.85 per game as a sophomore at Monmouth in 2024-25, where he was a First Team All-CAA selection.
Haggerty was a consensus Second Team All-American at Memphis last season, where he ranked third nationally in scoring at 21.7 ppg.
Johnson has scored more than 1,900 points in his college career, including more than 1,600 points at the Division I and II ranks at Wheeling and Bowling Green.
Johnson transferred after 3 seasons at Akron where he became the first Zip to be named both the MAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year in 2024-25.
McGriff was part of 99 wins in 4 seasons at UNC Wilmington, where he developed into the CAA's Top Six man and was named to the All-CAA Tournament team.
Buca is one of the tallest players in school history at 7-foot-2, playing for Akern Libertas Livorno in 2024-25 in the Italian Series A2.
Kostic was a member of the Serbian U18 and U19 National Teams, winning gold at the 2023 European U18 Championship. He grew in the KK Crvena Zvezda club team.
Osei played at Casper College in 2024-25, where he scored in 15 of 26 games with 3 20-point games and 7 double-doubles.
Rapieque was a member of the German U18 and U20 National Teams, playing at the 2023 and 2024 European U20 Championships. He grew in the ALBA Berlin club team.
Wilson scored more than 1,700 career points in his prep career at Tolton Catholic High School in Columbia, Mo., which ranks second behind only Michael Porter Jr.

FIVE INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

K-State's 5 international players (juniors Dorin Buca, Mobi Ikegwuruka and Elias Rapieque, sophomore Stephen Osei and freshman Andrej Kostic) are the most on any Wildcat team in school history.
Buca (Perugia, Italy), Kostic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Rapieque (Berlin, Germany) are the first Wildcat players from their respective countries.

RECAPPING LAST SEASON

During a roller coaster of a season that included a 6-game losing streak followed by a 6-game winning streak, K-State could not overcome an up-and-down non-conference season, as the Wildcats finished with a 16-17 overall record, including a tie for ninth place with TCU in the new-look 16-team Big 12 with a 9-11 mark.
Among the 16 wins were 10 over teams that advanced to the postseason (3 NCAA Tournament, 1 NIT and 6 College Basketball Crown), including ranked wins over No. 3/3 Iowa State, No. 16/17 Cincinnati, No. 16/17 Kansas and No. 23/23 West Virginia.
K-State won 6 of its first 8 games before losing its last 3 non-conference games (at St. John's, Drake and Wichita State) to enter Big 12 play with a 6-5 record. After a 70-67 win over No. 16/17 Cincinnati in the Big 12 opener, the Wildcats lost their next 6 league games (at TCU, at Oklahoma State, No. 12/11 Houston, Texas Tech, at No. 9/10 Kansas and at Baylor). After an impressive win over No. 23/23 West Virginia, the team rattled off 5 more victories, including an 80-61 win at No. 3/3 Iowa State and back-to-back home wins over No. 16/17 Kansas and No. 13/13 Arizona. However, the Wildcats couldn't keep the momentum going with 4 straight losses (at BYU and Utah, Arizona State and at UCF). The team won 3 of their last 4 before falling to Baylor at the Big 12 Championship.
Seniors Coleman Hawkins and David N'Guessan were both lauded for their outstanding seasons, as Hawkins was named to the All-Big 12 Third Team while N'Guessan was selected to the Honorable Mention team.
Hawkins was the only Division I player in the country to average at least 10 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. The Wildcats' leading scorer (13.3 ppg.) and rebounder (7.2 rpg.), N'Guessan led the Big 12 with a 64.4 field goal percentage while ranking in the league's top 20 in both scoring and rebounding.

HARTMAN TO BE INDUCTED INTO NATIONAL COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

Legendary head coach Jack Hartman, who won a school-record 295 games during his illustrious 16-year tenure from 1970-86, will be among eight individuals who will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Hartman was the only head coach in the eight-man induction class, which included Dave Meyers (UCLA), Sihugo Green (Duquesne), Lennie Rosenbluth (North Carolina), Wayne Estes (Utah State), Sam Lacey (New Mexico State), John Rudometkin (USC) and Tom Stith (St. Bonaventure).
Hartman won nearly 600 games in his legendary career, which included stints at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College from 1955-62 and Southern Illinois from 1962-70. He won a NJCAA national championship at Coffeyville in 1961-62, going a perfect 32-0, while he led the Salukis to the 1967 NIT Championship with a 24-2 record.
Hartman led K-State to a 295-169 (.636) record, 3 Big Eight regular-season conference titles (1971-72, 1972-73, 1976-77), 2 Big Eight Tournament championships (1977, 1980) and 9 postseason appearances (7 NCAA Tournaments) during his 16 seasons as head coach.
Hartman saw the Wildcats post 20 or more wins 7 times, including 24 wins in both 1976-77 and 1980-81. He also guided the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament 7 times (1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982), including 4 trips (1972, 1973, 1975, 1981) to the Elite Eight.
Hartman is the sixth person with K-State to be named to the Hall of Fame, including the fourth men's basketball head coach following Jack Gardner (2006), Tex Winter (2010) and his former player Lon Kruger (2022). In addition, former Wildcat players Rolando Blackman (2015) and Bob Boozer (2016) have also been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Preview // K-State Plays Mississippi State in Hall of Fame Classic Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Abdi Bashir Jr.

Dorin Buca

David Castillo

P.J. Haggerty

Coleman Hawkins

Mobi Ikegwuruka

Marcus Johnson

Nate Johnson

C.J. Jones

Andrej Kostic

Taj Manning

Khamari McGriff

David N'Guessan

Stephen Osei

Elias Rapieque

Exavier Wilson

Kansas State University Athletics

Preview // K-State Plays Mississippi State in Hall of Fame Classic Thursday

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Abdi Bashir Jr.

Dorin Buca

David Castillo

P.J. Haggerty

Coleman Hawkins

Mobi Ikegwuruka

Marcus Johnson

Nate Johnson

C.J. Jones

Andrej Kostic

Taj Manning

Khamari McGriff

David N'Guessan

Stephen Osei

Elias Rapieque

Exavier Wilson

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