Nae’Qwan Tomlin makes Memphis debut after ‘depressing’ transfer away from K-State
Nae’Qwan Tomlin is already making an impact for his new basketball team.
The 6-foot-10 senior forward made his debut with the Memphis Tigers last week, and he helped them defeat Vanderbilt by scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds in 15 minutes of action.
Tomlin transferred to Memphis after he was dismissed from Kansas State earlier this month following an October arrest for “disorderly conduct” and “brawling or fighting” in the Manhattan entertainment district known as Aggieville. Tomlin didn’t play in a single game for the Wildcats this season, which allowed him to transfer to a new school and begin playing almost immediately.
“It was a really long process,” Tomlin told reporters in Memphis about his transfer. “Mentally, very depressing because my passion is playing basketball, and because I couldn’t, it was very hard on me.”
Tomlin left K-State under unusual circumstances.
He was granted diversion in his disorderly conduct case and seemed on track to return to Jerome Tang’s team after serving a suspension of unknown length. Instead, he was never allowed back on the court and K-State fans expressed their anger over the situation by holding protests on campus.
Both sides have since moved on.
But Tang has said he will continue to support Tomlin the same way he would any former player after Tomlin helped K-State reach the Elite Eight last season while averaging 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Tomlin graduated from K-State at semester and entered his name into the transfer portal. He quickly enrolled at Memphis and then knocked down a 3-pointer shortly after making his debut with the Tigers.
“The FedEx Forum, the people of Memphis, incredible crowd,” Tomlin said. “The support is crazy. It felt good when my name got called and all the fans (were) going crazy. To be able to get in and hit my first shot was big. It felt good. I got comfortable.”
K-State is off to a 9-3 start without Tomlin.
Memphis is 10-2 and on a five-game winning streak. The Tigers have high hopes for the remainder of the season after adding an impact transfer in the middle of the year.