Kansas State Basketball: Coleman Hawkins is Heading to Manhattan!

Drew gives us the inside scoop on Coleman Hawkins and his career at Illinois.

Jerome Tang and the Kansas State landed the best remaining (and one of the best overall) transfers out of the portal today when former Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins announced his intentions to play for the Wildcats next season.

History and Resume

A member of the never graduating 2020 recruiting class, Hawkins played his high school ball at Prolific Prep in Antelope, California, before signing with Brad Underwood and the Fighting Illini over offers from Arizona, Marquette, and a host of others. At 6’10”, 195 pounds, the wiry thin wing was a 247 composite 3-star (92) and the 167th overall player in his class.

Coleman had a rather traditional career arc in Champaign, coming off the bench in 25 games as a true freshman in the ‘20-’21 season before things got shut down. He averaged 1.4 points and shot 23% from three, while pulling down 0.8 rebounds a game. Not exactly stellar numbers, but hey, remember when freshmen weren’t expected to produce right out of the gate?

His sophomore season showed incremental progress. He appeared in all 33 games, starting 14. He bumped his point production from 1.4 to 5.9, and his rebounding numbers from 0.8 to 4.3. His outside shooting also ticked up to 29%, but again, at this point in his career, nothing indicated that he would be an impact player down the road. Despite this, Illinois held onto the young forward and continued to develop his skill set.

He took another step forward as a junior, starting 33 out of 33 games, averaging 9.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.1 steals. He showed off a well-rounded skill set on offense and the ability to guard multiple positions on defense. Illinois was patient with their forward and was rewarded with a solid starting wing.

Last season, Hawkins moved from role player to core contributor for Brad Underwood. He continued to improve his scoring, averaging 12.1 points a game, while his rebounding and assists held steady at 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, a negligible decrease from his prior season.

What turned Coleman from a solid role player into a core contributor was his vastly improved 3-point shooting numbers. He jumped from 28% as a junior to 37% as a senior. That’s a remarkable improvement, while also attempting 4.6 threes a game (the highest attempts per game of his career). He scored 20 or more points four times last season and had a 30-point outburst against Iowa. He hit three or more shots from 3-point range in nine games.

In terms of more advanced analytics (all from KenPom), he took off during the Big Ten season. His 3.1 steal percentage was good for 6th in the Big Ten, while his 2.8 block percentage was good for 16th. He boasted the 6th highest offensive rating (125.2) in the conference and was 12th in 3-point percentage, hitting 40% of his deep attempts in the Big Ten. His efforts were rewarded with a spot on the 3rd Team All-Big Ten in the ‘23-’24 season.

Intangibles / Reputation

Coleman is the type of player you love when he’s on your team and hate when you’re going against him. Not to sugarcoat things, he’s obnoxious on the court at times. On defense, he’s going to poke and prod at the ball, jump into passing lanes, and if that doesn’t work, he’s not averse to the dramatic flop. I’ve watched him play numerous times over the years, and he’s one of those guys that has never committed a foul. The replay might show him putting an opponent in the Boston Crab, and he will swear up and down that the offensive player actually fouled him.

On offense, he’s a pest as well. He’ll set up in the corner and knock down threes but is equally capable of driving the ball and drawing contact. While Coleman has never committed a foul on defense, he’s never not been fouled on a drive to the basket. Any slight bump is met with a pained facial expression and a flail.

Basically, any whistle he draws on defense is met with great protestation, and any whistle he doesn’t draw on offense is met with the same. He’s nothing if not dramatic on the court.

Oh, he also had a bit of an ongoing Twitter war with Purdue fans during the season and wasn’t shy about predicting an Illinois victory at home following their road loss to Purdue at the post-game press conference (Purdue knocked them off at Illinois late in the season, ruining that prognostication).

Fit

Reading the above, you may think I have a poor opinion of Coleman. As a Purdue fan (for those of you who don’t know, I also write for and co-manage Purdue’s SB Nation site), I hated him, but at the same time, would have loved him on the wing for the Boilermakers.

He’s a multi-talented player capable of playing the 3, 4, and 5 in college. At 6’10”, 225 pounds, he played most of his minutes at the 5 last year, but played more 4 later in the season after Dain Dainja emerged as a legit post threat for Illinois. He didn’t see any time at the 3, but that’s because Illinois was stacked at that position. I see no reason why he couldn’t play the 3 with his defensive ability and shooting.

While everyone likes to talk about offense, where Hawkins really makes a difference is on defense. He’s an elite pick-and-roll defender capable of switching everything and still holding his own on the perimeter. He uses his long arms to poke the ball away from guards and recovers well when he does get beat off the dribble, using that same length to block or challenge shots at the rim.

From what I’ve seen over the years, he’s a good offensive player and an elite defender. Like I said, I hated him on Illinois, but would have loved him on Purdue.

Overall

I love the pickup.

Looking at the other pieces assembled, Hawkins is an upgrade over Kaluma at the 4 in terms of fit and can also play the 5 in a wide-open system. I expect him to be a vocal leader on the team, but it will be interesting to see if Coach Tang can channel his energy a little better in Manhattan. The only real knock I have on Hawkins is that he occasionally loses focus on the game while focusing on the refs, the crowd, and the opponent.

Still, what he brings to the court far outweighs any negatives.

10/10 pickup for the Tang gang. With Hawkins on board, I expect the ‘Cats to start the season firmly entrenched in the top 25. He’s fun to watch and has no issue playing the villain.

Things are going to be extremely interesting in Manhattan next season.