Houston's Kelvin Sampson Makes Surprise Pick As K-State's Best Player
Coleman Hawkins is typically the first name associated with Kansas State men's basketball.
But Houston coach Kelvin Sampson believes David N'Guessan needs to be in the conversation as well. While Sampson acknowledged Hawkins' versatility as an offensive weapon, he says N'Guessan is the Wildcats' star player.
"N'Guessan is another tough matchup," Sampson said. "I think their best player to date is N'Guessan but the most dangerous player is certainly Hawkins."
N'Guessan leads the team in scoring (13.2) and rebounding (7.9). He's been in double-figures scoring every game aside from the blowout loss to Wichita State. The senior forward has consecutive double-doubles in his last two performances, both Big 12 losses.
N'Guessan offensive rebounding creates second-chance opportunities, while his drives to the basket complement the scoring on the outside. However, Kansas State must be more effective and capitalize on N'Guessan's playmaking. Their failure to capitalize on second-chance points against Oklahoma stagnated the offense. They've started to go cold from 3-point range, which was their bread and butter to start the season.
Still, Sampson acknowledges the task at hand against the Wildcats as Houston searches for their eighth consecutive victory.
"You got good players around [Hawkins]," Sampson said. "Hausen's the shooter, McDaniel's the playmaker. Max Jones is kind of a do-everything guy, good player. CJ Jones can really guard and get in the paint."
Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
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Jayden is a journalism school graduate of Howard University. He was the 2024 recipient of the Terez Paylor scholarship award. He previously worked at the Orlando Sentinel.
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