Top 5 transfer portal targets for Kansas State as Wildcats look to replace Coleman Hawkins

Syndication: The Indianapolis Star - Source: Imagn

The Kansas State Wildcats did not qualify for March Madness and instead finished their season after their elimination from the Big 12 Tournament. To make matters worse for the team, one of their most effective players, Coleman Hawkins, has entered the transfer portal. Notably, he led the team in steals with 1.8 per game.

As a result, the Wildcats will need to look to the transfer portal themselves to find a replacement. There are several options in the portal that could have mutual interest in the Wildcats. These are five of the most interesting targets.

Top five transfer portal targets for the Kansas State Wildcats

#1, Quimari Peterson

Since the Kansas State Wildcats did not reach March Madness this season, they are unlikely to attract the top five or 10 players in the transfer portal. However, they still have a strong program that could attract players in the next tier. One of those players in that group is East Tennessee State's Qiumari Peterson.

Peterson won the SoCon Player of the Year this season after averaging 19.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He is a dynamic 3-point shooter and would be an excellent replacement for Hawkins.

#2, Lamar Wilkerson

Lamar Wilkerson has drawn interest from several major programs after averaging 20.5 ppg at Sam Houston this season. He is a dynamic 3-point shooter, making shots from behind the arc at a 44.5% rate. Adding him to the Wildcats' roster would help alleviate the loss of Hawkins.

#3, Blake Harper

Blake Harper was named the MEAC Player of the Year as a freshman at Howard and is now looking to go to a more prestigious program. Kansas State could be an option for him. He averaged 19.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 3.4 apg this season.

#4, Pop Isaacs

After playing only eight games this season at Creighton because of a hip injury, Pop Isaacs is in the transfer portal. If he is looking for a team he can go to and be one of the top scorers, Kansas State would make sense. Isaacs averaged 16.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 3.9 apg before his injury.

#5, Jalil Bethea

Jalil Bethea was a top 10 recruit in the 2024 class but did not find his groove at Miami. If Kansas State can lure if to the Wildcats and help him find his game, he could be the X-factor the team needs to take a big step forward.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Joseph Schiefelbein