Jerome Tang won a national title as an assistant at Baylor and is now hoping to replicate national success at Kansas State. His time with the Wildcats got off to a fast start, taking the program to the Elite Eight in his debut back in 2023. Unfortunately, the last two seasons have been steps back, as the Wildcats have missed the NCAA Tournament and finished below .500 last season, notching a pair of 9th place finishes in the Big 12.
The quick success came because of hits in the transfer portal, but those same moves haven’t been paying off more recently. The combination of Coleman Hawkins and Dug McDaniel wasn’t enough in Manhattan and both have moved on. Leading scorer and rebounder David N’Guessan is gone after a solid senior season while others like Brendan Hausen transferred out of the program after last year’s disappointment.
Fortunately Tang and his staff came out swinging once again and have landed one of the best transfer classes in the country. The backcourt was bolstered with a pair of talented shooting guards, namely Abdi Bashir Jr. from Monmouth and Nate Johnson out of Akron. There’s no question that they added some size and strength in the frontcourt as well with Tyreek Smith from Memphis, but there’s another former Memphis player that clearly takes the cake.
PJ Haggerty isn’t just a 6-3 guard from Texas, he’s a former All-American and by far one of the most talented players who was in the transfer portal. He played just six games in his first season at TCU before really starring in the AAC in recent years. Putting up incredible numbers, he was AAC Rookie of the Year at Tulsa before last year’s work at Memphis, averaging 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game as the AAC Player of the Year.
Haggerty’s decision to leave Memphis stemmed from NIL issues after withdrawing from the NBA Draft, but his recent movements become Kansas State’s gain. Not only are the Wildcats picking up a talented weapon and impressive shooter, he’s coming off an All-American season where he really shined and led Memphis to the NCAA Tournament. Regardless of the other pieces on an impressive class, Haggerty alone elevates this lineup and can play a significant role at both guard positions.
The bottom line is that Kansas State just didn’t have the pieces in place for team success in recent years even with talent on this roster. Haggerty alone elevates the level of talent, but clearly talent hasn’t always been the problem for Kansas State. What this team needs is for Haggerty to make the players around him better and to have another All-American type season. Kansas State rode to success with Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson three years ago; can Haggerty provide that same edge and take the Wildcats back to prominence?