David N’Guessan has been a steady contributor for Jerome Tang ever since he was hired to take over as head coach for the Kansas State men’s basketball team.
That isn’t about to change.
N’Guessan, a 6-foot-9 senior forward who averaged 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Wildcats last season, has announced that he will return to Manhattan for one more year in a purple uniform.
His decision comes as a welcome development for K-State, which has struggled to retain players during the offseason. In the past few weeks, the Wildcats have bid farewell to six outgoing transfers (Dai Dai Ames , Cam Carter, Jerrell Colbert, Dorian Finister, Ques Glover and RJ Jones), three departing seniors (Taymont Lindsey, Will McNair and Tylor Perry) and one player who chose to turn pro (Arthur Kaluman).
But N’Guessan has chosen to stay with the Wildcats for a third season, which gives them three returning players heading into next year. The other two are freshmen — Taj Manning and Macaleab Rich.
K-State is also set to welcome four incoming transfers ( Villanova guard Brendan Hausen , Michgian guard Dug McDaniel, Illinois-Chicago guard CJ Jones and Arkansas big man Baye Fall ) to go along with high school guard David Castillo.
N’Guessan will bring some much needed stability and leadership to the locker room. After growing up in The Netherlands , N’Guessan started out his college basketball career at Virginia Tech. But he will finish it at K-State.
He has started 39 games for the Wildcats over the past two seasons. As a junior, he helped K-State win 26 games and reach the Elite Eight while he averaged 6.4 points and 3.5 rebounds. Last year, his production increased while the team won 19 games and reached the NIT.
Fans chanted “one more year” at N’Guessan when he helped the Wildcats defeat Iowa State on senior day this past season. But N’Guessan said he needed some time to think about his options before setting a course for his basketball future.
Some assumed that he was set to return to K-State when he released a highlight video of his time with with the Wildcats on social media earlier this month. But that post came on the same day that Arkansas publicly courted Tang for its coach opening, so it didn’t gain much attention.
His latest video makes it official. He is back.
Tang ultimately decided to stay at K-State. So did N’Guessan. Now they will spend one more season together.
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