The 2024-25 Kansas State basketball team instantly improved on Tuesday, and coach Jerome Tang didn’t even have to leave campus for it to happen.
Senior forward David N’Guessan, a key player during Tang’s first two seasons in Manhattan, revealed on social media that he will stay on for another year as a super senior. The announcement may not have come as a shock, but it was still a welcome addition to a K-State team with little frontcourt experience.
N’Guessan, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound Dutch national, transferred to K-State from West Virginia ahead of the 2022-23 season and played in 63 games for the Wildcats, including 39 starts.
N’Guessan played through pain for much of the Big 12 conference schedule in 2023-24 after starting the first 21 games and still averaged 27.5 minutes and 7.8 points and ranked second on the team with 6 .8 rebounds. He shot 58.4%, with most of his points coming from close range, as he made just 3 of 18 3-point attempts and 41.7% of his free throws.
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N’Guessan was effective late in the season, scoring in double figures in four of the last five games. He had 11 points and 16 rebounds in a surprising 65-58 win over No. 6-ranked Iowa State on March 9, prompting a chant of “One more year” from the student section.
N’Guessan said at the time that he needed to weigh his options, but ultimately chose to return for the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, with the words “Thank you to your K-State” and a short video proclaiming, “I’m back.”
Retaining N’Guessan, who can play any of the three forward positions, was a morale booster for a K-State team that lost six players to the transfer portal, including starting center Jerrell Colbert. The Wildcats also lost post player Will McNair to graduation.
Although Tang has added four players through the portal so far, three are guards, and 6-11 Arkansas transfer Baye Fall, while a former McDonald’s All-American, played just nine games as a freshman for the Razorbacks. The Wildcats are still in the running for 6-11 Rutgers graduate transfer Clifford Omoruyi and 6-11 Florida sophomore Baba Miller, both of whom visited Manhattan.
With N’Guessan signed, just three players remain from last year’s 19-15 team, although forward Arthur Kaluma remains eligible to return after declaring for the NBA draft.
Arne Green lives in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett Network. He can be contacted at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared in the Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball forward David N’Guessan addresses future plans
