NCAA Basketball: LSU, Kansas State, and SMU in play for transfer Coleman Hawkins

It looks like we're down to three teams in play for NCAA Basketball transfer Coleman Hawkins. Which of the reported options is the best potential fit?

As soon as he elected to return from the NBA Draft process, former Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins became the top available player in the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. He's coming off of career-high numbers of 12.1 ppg and 6.1 rpg, earning All-Big Ten honors this past season.

The versatile big man was linked to a few teams instantly such as Arkansas and Louisville and even had a visit ready with the Cardinals. But after reportedly canceling with them, a few other teams emerged with confirmed official visits. Of the three (for now) teams in the mix, which of them makes the most sense? Here's a pros/cons outlook of Hawkins fit with them.

Kansas State Wildcats

Not too long ago, Kansas State's frontcourt looked to be in rough shape after missing out on a few recruiting battles. They made up for it recently, landing forward transfer Achor Achor and former Kentucky big man, Ugonna Onyenso. Achor can play some at the three-spot if Coleman were to arrive and he and Onyenso would be a great interior defensive pairing. The Big 12 is tough but on paper, adding Hawkins would make the Wildcats a genuine threat in the middle of the conference, which would place them into the NCAAT mix.

LSU Tigers

There's some pressure on Coach Matt McMahon and the Tigers to succeed in the even stronger SEC, which explains why they've become a contender for Hawkins. They did well to improve the backcourt in adding Cam Carter and Jordan Sears but the frontcourt lacks a scoring pop with Will Baker gone. JUCO transfer Noah Boyed will get minutes at center and Derek Fountain is back for an extra year but on paper, Hawkins would be the clear focal point of the frontcourt. Though, would he be good enough to get them back into postseason contention?

SMU Mustangs

SMU is a darkhorse threat but now that they're in the ACC, they're going to need talent like Hawkins in order to compete. New Coach Andy Enfield has landed a few frontcourt players from the portal such as Yohan Traore (UC Santa Barbara), Matt Cross (UMass), and Tibet Gorener (San Jose State). But outside of Cross, there are concerns about how the group will look at the power conference level.

Landing someone like Hawkins would be a big momentum boost for the program. But compared to the other two options, he'd have to play more at the five-spot since Cross is on the roster. Plus, while Hawkins could be the best player on the team, SMU has the hardest path to get into the postseason. Kansas State probably has the best shot among the three teams, on paper.