Kansas State University

K-State Wildcats will return just one basketball player after latest transfer

Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.

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  • Andrej Kostic is the only player who has announced plans to return to K-State.
  • Elias Rapieque entered transfer portal after averaging 3.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.5 APG.
  • K-State has lined up two recruits and eight incoming transfers for next season.

One player, and one player only, will serve as a link to Kansas State’s previous basketball roster when the Wildcats take the floor for the first time next season under new head coach Casey Alexander.

Andrej Kostic is the last man standing at Bramlage Coliseum. He will be the lone returning player from this year’s squad.

That became official Monday when Elias Rapieque entered his name into the transfer portal.

Rapieque joins a group of nine outgoing transfers who decided to continue their college careers elsewhere in the wake of Jerome Tang’s coaching dismissal.

The 6-foot-9 junior forward from Germany will exit Manhattan after spending just one season in a purple uniform. He averaged 3.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists while appearing in 20 games for the Wildcats.

Rapieque started 20 games for K-State, but he missed more than a month of action because of injury and ended the year as a reserve.

K-State is bidding farewell to nine transfers and four seniors. Kostic, a 6-6 freshman guard from Serbia, is the only player from the team who has announced plans to return and play for Alexander.

The roster will look very different next season.

The Wildcats have been busy rebuilding, though. Alexander has already lined up a pair of high school recruits and eight incoming transfers for the next roster. That gives K-State as many as four more roster spots to fill.

K-State basketball transfer tracker

Outgoing transfers (9):

Abdi Bashir

Dorin Buca

David Castillo

PJ Haggerty (Texas A&M)

Mobi Ikegwuruka

Taj Manning (Iowa State)

Stephen Osei

Elias Rapieque

Exavier Wilson (Akron)

Departing seniors (4):

Marcus Johnson

Nate Johnson

CJ Jones

Khamari McGriff

Returning players (1):

Andrej Kostic

Incoming recruits (2):

Jaylen Alexander

Devin Hutcherson

Incoming transfers (8):

Isaiah Abraham (Georgetown)

Matt Gilhool (LSU)

Dezdrick Lindsay (Oregon)

Brandon Rechsteiner (Colorado State)

JT Rock (New Mexico)

Jaden Schutt (Virginia Tech)

Brock Vice (Murray State)

Montana Wheeler (Bradley)

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Kellis Robinett
The Wichita Eagle
Kellis Robinett covers Kansas State athletics for The Wichita Eagle and The Kansas City Star. A winner of more than a dozen national writing awards, he lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children.
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