Kansas Losing on Darrion Williams Allows Rival to Land Transfer Star

After NC State poached Darrion Williams from Kansas, the Jayhawks saw a ripple effect for a Big 12 rival.

Feb 24, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self calls out in the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The domino effect of the Kansas Jayhawks missing out on Texas Tech transfer Darrion Williams made an already painful recruiting loss worse.

On Monday, former Memphis star PJ Haggerty withdrew from the NBA Draft and committed to the K-State Wildcats.

Will Wade and the Wolfpack were the favorites to land him before they added Williams, but KU swinging and missing on the star forward paved the way for Jerome Tang to land Haggerty.

For weeks, all signs pointed toward PJ Haggerty landing at NC State but after Will Wade grabbed Texas Tech transfer Darrion Williams instead, Haggerty had to look elsewhere — and now he’s headed to K-State.

A significant pickup for Jerome Tang. https://t.co/orK0pNZQHu

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 26, 2025

Despite speculation that Williams would pledge to the Jayhawks following an official visit to Lawrence, NCSU quickly stole the highly touted transfer from Bill Self.

KU's biggest rival in the Big 12 now boasts an elite player due to a recruiting miss.

A 6-foot-3 guard who was named a Consensus Second Team All-American in 2024-25, Haggerty was one of the most prolific scorers in the sport last season.

He averaged 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 47.6% shooting, earning the AAC Player of the Year award.

While Haggerty was testing the waters in the draft pool, he had the lowest combine score in the 2025 class, forcing him to return to college.

If Williams had committed to Kansas, he would have been an instant starter at power forward. NC State saw Haggerty as its fallback choice and dropped its pursuit when Wade no longer saw a need to target Haggerty.

Sources close to college basketball insider Adam Zagoria revealed that Haggerty will make a NIL value of $2.5 million. 

Even so, Haggerty is just the latest transfer off the board for Coach Self and his staff.