MANHATTAN — Believe it or not, the countdown to the beginning of the 2025-26 college basketball season is on. And with how rough the beginning of the Kansas State football season has been, opening night at Bramlage Arena will be a warm welcome.
Jerome Tang, heading into his fourth year as coach, could be feeling some pressure after back-to-back sub-.500 seasons in the Big 12 and years without an NCAA Tournament appearance. His 14-man roster features 10 newcomers and four returners.
K-State begins its 2025-26 campaign against UNC Greensboro on Nov. 4. Here’s a look at the Wildcats’ roster entering the season.
Kansas State basketball 2025-26 roster
Bashir spent the last two seasons at Monmouth, where he shot 38.4% from deep. At 6-foot-7, he led the nation in 3-point makes per game (3.8), while attempting the second most (10.1).
Dorin Buca, Italy
Buca played last season in the second tier of Italian professional basketball. At 7-foot-2, Buca was a 60.8% shooter and was fourth in the league in shots made.
David Castillo
Castillo returns after playing in 32 of 33 games during his freshman year with the Wildcats. He averaged 2.4 points on 22.1% shooting.
Haggerty was among the top transfers in the nation, earning second-team AP All-American honors and the AAC Player of the Year honors at Memphis. The point guard had one-year stints at both TCU and Tulsa. He’s averaged more than 21 points per game in each of the last two seasons. According to a report by Jeff Goodman, Haggerty received an NIL deal “in the neighborhood” of $2.5 million to join the Wildcats.
Mobi Ikegwuruka
Ikegwuruka came off the bench 24 times last season, averaging eight minutes and 2.1 points on 60% shooting during his sophomore year with the Wildcats.
Johnson is a 6-7 transfer from Bowling Green, where he ranked sixth in the MAC in scoring (16.2 ppg) and was a 39.4% 3-point shooter.
Johnson’s a 6-3 guard who spent the last three seasons at Akron, where he has been a 44.9% shooter over his career and a 33% shooter from beyond the arc. He was named the MAC’s Player and Defensive Player of the Year.
CJ Jones
Jones returns for his senior season after starting nine games last year. He averaged 5.7 points on 40.7% shooting.
Kostic was one of Tang’s biggest lands of the offseason, adding one of the most coveted overseas recruits. Kostic is a 6-6 guard who is already receiving 2026 NBA Draft hype. Playing in Serbia’s top-tier league, he averaged 16.4 points on 43.2% shooting.
Taj Manning
Manning played in eight games off the bench, averaging 2.7 minutes per appearance.
McGriff joins K-State after four years at UNC Wilmington, where the 6-9 wing was a 67.9% shooter and considered one of the top players off the bench in the CAA.
Osei played last season at Casper College as a 6-10 big man who averaged 11 points on 63.8% shooting.
Rapieque joins K-State after playing in the highest level of pro basketball in Germany, where he averaged 3.5 points on 39.5% shooting this past season.
Wilson is a freshman guard from Father Tolton (Missouri), where he scored 1,700 points over his prep career. He was a three-time all-state performer, averaging 20.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists as a senior.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@gannett.com
