Warning: This article contains graphic language.
All in all, NIL has been a pretty good deal for athletes like Kansas State’s Coleman Hawkins. Getting paid millions of dollars to do what their equivalents were doing for free not even five years ago, with effectively free transfers between programs if a higher bid comes in, shouldn’t have many downsides.
Hawkins, however, personified what can go wrong in a single postgame interview on Wednesday.
The interview came after Kansas State lost 70-56 to Baylor in the Big 12 tournament, effectively ending its season. Head coach Jerome Tang said after the game the program is unlikely to accept a bid in a consolation tournament.
That leaves the Wildcats, and Hawkins, with no more opportunities to redeem their season.
Kansas State entered the year with a moderate amount of hype, receiving votes in the preseason AP poll after landing Hawkins, who left Illinois initially for the NBA Draft then opted to return to college and transfer into Manhattan.
NIL was presumably behind the decision. Hawkins was reportedly paid $2 million, tied with Washington’s Great Osobor for the largest known payment to a college basketball player last cycle. In return for that money, Kansas State was expected to receive a legit NBA prospect who earned third-team All-Big Ten honors and helped lead the Illini to the Elite Eight last season.
What they ended up getting was an inconsistent player who saw a significant step back in efficiency. Hawkins finished his season with five points on 2-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds on Wednesday, with the loss pushing Kansas State’s record to 16-17.
Hawkins was borderline inconsolable after the game, breaking into tears multiple times as he laid out the reality of NIL: more money, more expectations, more backlash. The 23-year-old admitted the criticism he received affected his play during the season.
K-State senior Coleman Hawkins spoke through tears for a minute and a half after the loss to Baylor
“These guys haven’t experienced some of the things I experienced. I really wanted to come in an impact the program. I’m sorry for crying, but shit, this shit hurts” pic.twitter.com/YxJsR13TTR
— Landon Reinhardt (@landonian87) March 13, 2025
Hawkins:
“These guys haven’t experienced some of the things I’ve experienced. I really wanted to come in and impact the program. I’m sorry for crying, but s***, this s*** hurts.
“I feel like I let a lot of people down. I feel like I did a poor job of letting people talk about me. It affected my play. It was happening all year. I wish I could just go back and block out everything, not for myself, but for the team so we could have a more successful year. This is a learned lesson for me and I wish the best for the future of this program.”
At the end of the day, these players are human even if they’re getting paid. It’s easy to criticize a supposed greed or lack of loyalty, but not many people would turn down legitimately life-changing money (not every player gets a big NBA signing bonus or long career) just to change schools for a year.
Hawkins clearly felt the vitriol for not just him, but players like him. And it’s almost a given that college players these days are going to see what is said about them on social media. As he indicated, there’s a lesson to be learned from watching Hawkins’ interview and it’s not to leave money on the table or refuse to transfer. It’s that you shouldn’t be doing this unless you’re able to tune the noise out.
