K-State bolsters basketball roster with forward
The Kansas State men’s basketball team has a new scholarship player lined up to play for the Wildcats next season.
Chimobi Ikegwuruka, a 6-foot-6 forward from Ellsworth Community College in Iowa, has committed to K-State head coach Jerome Tang.
He is a second-team juco All-American who picked the Wildcats over St. Bonaventure, East Carolina and Oregon State.
The addition of Ikegwuruka gives K-State a total of 10 scholarship players on its current roster. Tang still has three open spots to fill before the 2024-25 season arrives.
The Wildcats were eager to explore options at the junior-college level after the missed out on a few high-profile targets in the transfer portal. They hope they found a gem in Ikegwuruka, who averaged 19 points and 10.3 rebounds while playing in 21 games as a freshman last season.
His best game came in a matchup against Marshalltown, in which he piled up 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Watch his highlight reel and it’s hard not to be impressed by his ability beat defenders off the dribble, rebound and finish around the basket. At the least, he should bring athleticism and size to the K-State front court.
He is a redshirt freshman who will have three years of college eligibility remaining.
K-State has explored juco options in the recent past. The Wildcats were the first team from a power conference to take a chance on Nae’Qwan Tomlin when he was at Chipola College in Florida. Tylor Perry also starter out his college career in junior college before he transferred up to North Texas and then K-State.
It has been a busy offseason for Tang and the Wildcats. They lost 10 scholarship players from last year’s squad, leaving them with only David N’Guessan, Macaleab Rich and Taj Manning as returning players.
Tang has since added six incoming transfers (Villanova guard Brendan Hausen, Michigan guard Dug McDaniel, IllinoisChicago guard CJ Jones, Arkansas big man Baye Fall, Cal-State Fullerton guard Max Jones and Ikegwuruka) to complement high school recruit David Castillo.