Here’s where Kansas State basketball transfer Nae’Qwan Tomlin will play next semester
It didn’t take long for Nae’Qwan Tomlin to find a new college basketball team.
Less than a week after the 6-foot-10 senior forward was removed from the Kansas State roster, he has committed to the Memphis Tigers, where he will be eligible to play for coach Penny Hardaway when the spring semester begins in January.
Tomlin was a hot, and unique, commodity after he entered the NCAA transfer portal on Friday. Dozens of teams expressed interest in adding him for the second half of the season. Prominent schools such as Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Villanova and more reportedly reached out to him in the past few days.
Never before has such a high-profile player hit the transfer market with these circumstances in the middle of a season.
But Tomlin chose Memphis over all of them, and he did so quickly. The Tigers are 7-2 and one of the best teams in the American Athletic Conference.
Tomlin is eligible to play for the Tigers in January because he didn’t suit up for a single game with the Wildcats this year. As a graduate transfer, he was able to enter the portal and find a new home in the middle of the season.
Last year, Tomlin was a key starter for the Wildcats. He helped them win 26 games and reach the Elite Eight while averaging 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Tomlin only spent one season in Manhattan. He signed with K-State out of junior college and made an immediate impact at the Big 12 level.
Much was expected of him as a senior. Many thought he could be the best player on Jerome Tang’s team after he decided to remain in school rather than turn pro.
But things didn’t work out that way.
Tomlin missed much of the preseason while he was dealing with what Tang described as “personal issues.” And shortly after Tomlin began practicing with the team on a full-time basis, he was arrested in October for “disorderly conduct” and “brawling or fighting” in the Manhattan bar district known as Aggieville.
K-State suspended Tomlin indefinitely after the arrest. There was hope that he would return to the team after he was granted diversion in the case, but he was never allowed back on the court.
Tang and K-State players voiced their support for Tomlin throughout his suspension, but university president Richard Linton felt differently. Tomlin was eventually removed from the roster last week.
Frustration over Tomlin’s suspension and dismissal reached a boil last week when students protested his treatment outside of Linton’s on-campus home. Athletic director Gene Taylor, Tang and Linton all then released public statements to try and calm the waters.
It’s all history now.
K-State is off to an 8-2 start without one of its most talented players and Tomlin is off to Memphis for a fresh start.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 9:28 AM.