A Thought for Coleman Hawkins After His Tearful End-of-Season Interview

It has been a long, often-exasperating season for former Illini center Coleman Hawkins and his Kansas State Wildcats. The emotion spilled over after K-State's 70-56 loss to Baylor in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.

Hawkins broke down at his locker when speaking to KSNT Sports' Landon Reinhardt about the 2024-25 season, which included fan criticism and vitriol, run-ins with referees and even frustrations with Wildcats teammates.

K-State senior Coleman Hawkins spoke through tears for a minute and a half after the loss to Baylor

"These guys haven't experienced some of the things I experienced. I really wanted to come in an impact the program. I'm sorry for crying, but shit, this shit hurts" pic.twitter.com/YxJsR13TTR
— Landon Reinhardt (@landonian87) March 13, 2025

Hawkins – who, for better and worse, has always been a heart-on-his-sleeve player – left some fans in Champaign feeling sour after transferring from Illinois to Kansas State for one of the richest NIL deals of the offseason. Then, after joining coach Jerome Tang and a Wildcats roster fortified with several other high-priced transfers, Hawkins drew the ire of fans in Manhattan for falling short of performance expectations.

Hawkins has averaged 10.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks over 30 games – exceptionally well-rounded statistics that, with the exception of his scoring, exceed his numbers at Illinois last season. But because the Wildcats (16-17, 9-11 Big 12) didn't deliver as advertised, the outspoken and well-paid Hawkins was an easy target.

"Sorry for crying, but ... this hurts," a tearful Hawkins said after scoring five points on 2-for-9 shooting against Baylor on Wednesday. "I really wanted to come in and impact the program, and the outcome obviously wasn't what we wanted."

Hawkins and his season are the ultimate college basketball fan Rorschach test: You see what you want to see. Is it an entitled, loudmouthed athlete? A sensitive, thoughtful young man who is refreshingly candid with the media and public? A bum who got what he had coming to him? An unconventional and somewhat inconsistent impact player on a team that never gelled as it needed to?

Whatever you think, remember this: Hawkins is a 23-year-old kid learning life on the fly and trying to make the most of the greatest earning opportunity he'll ever know in a meat grinder of a competitive environment.

Consider the message he received from a "fan" earlier this season hoping Hawkins would break his leg. "It devastated me," Hawkins said. And if your reaction is, "Well, that's why he makes all that money," then you either don't understand the scope and depth of what college athletes deal with day to day or, quite simply, you're a sociopath.

Sports aren't supposed to be easy. Neither is life. But a little grace and empathy – for others and ourselves – can go a long way. Take in Hawkins' postgame guts-spilling once more and try not to think of your own son, grandson, brother, nephew or friend working through one of their most trying moments.

"If someone asked me if I regret coming here, I'd tell them I don't regret being with my team, the coaches, staff, the people I met," Hawkins said. "My heart just breaks for them because they just haven't experienced some of the [good] things I experienced in my career. Same thing for the fans. I feel like I let a lot of people down. I feel like I did a poor job of letting people talk about me. It affected my play, and it was there all year, and I wish I could just go back and block out everything – not for myself, but for the team, so we could have had a more successful year. But this is a learning lesson for me."

A Thought for Coleman Hawkins After His Tearful End-of-Season Interview

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