By Kellis
He has only been a member of the Kansas State men’s basketball team for a few days, but that is more than enough time for freshman guard Dorian Finister to place high expectations on at least one of his new teammates.
When asked who has impressed him most at workouts this week, Finister turned his head and pointed at Nae’Qwan Tomlin, a 6-foot-10 junior-college transfer who towers above everyone else in the room.
“He can handle it and he can shoot it,” Finister said. “I feel like he is going to be a problem in the Big 12 this year.”
Tomlin is far and away the most intriguing newcomer that Jerome Tang has recruited since he took over as coach at K-State. Despite having more than enough size to play inside, Tomlin moves around well on the perimeter and shoots like a guard. That versatility allowed him to average 11 points and 4.6 rebounds last season while playing for Chipola College in Florida. He also made 37.5% of his shots from three-point range and 54.1% of his shots from the field.
He will almost certainly play meaningful minutes from the get-go at Bramlage Coliseum, seeing as how the Wildcats only have eight scholarship players at the moment. The only question is where. Tomlin admits “I don’t have much of a post game.” But he is comfortable everywhere else.
“I would tell people that I am a guard,” Tomlin said. “But I can play anywhere from the one to the four. I feel I can bring that to my team.”
Another reason Tomlin is such an intriguing player for the Wildcats: He has only been playing organized basketball for four years. Tomlin is one of the few players in all of college basketball who didn’t previously play the sport in high school. Heck, he might be the only one.
Tomlin, who is originally from New York, only played in casual games with friends until he experienced a late growth spurt that took him up to 6-7 and eventually 6-10. He has grown so much that he was never listed above 6-8 in junior college. But he is as tall as most centers today.
In any case, the more he grew the more he was strongly advised to take the game seriously.
“I was always playing basketball,” Tomlin said, “but I was never on a basketball team.”
That changed when he enrolled in a prep school and played his first organized game in the summer of 2018.
He quickly showed enough skill to catch on with Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. Tomlin took things slow in junior college and sat out his freshman year with with a redshirt. Then he nearly averaged a double-double (13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds) as a redshirt freshman. Next, he transferred to Chipola and was able to spend two more seasons at the juco level because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Against the odds, he became one of the nation’s best junior-college players and a coveted recruit.
“We signed the best junior-college player in the country,” K-State associate head coach Ulric Maligi said. “Nae’Qwan Tomlin is a guy who I feel could play anywhere in America.”
He has only been a member of the Kansas State men’s basketball team for a few days, but that is more than enough time for freshman guard Dorian Finister to place high expectations on at least one of his new teammates.
When asked who has impressed him most at workouts this week, Finister turned his head and pointed at Nae’Qwan Tomlin, a 6-foot-10 junior-college transfer who towers above everyone else in the room.
“He can handle it and he can shoot it,” Finister said. “I feel like he is going to be a problem in the Big 12 this year.”
Tomlin is far and away the most intriguing newcomer that Jerome Tang has recruited since he took over as coach at K-State. Despite having more than enough size to play inside, Tomlin moves around well on the perimeter and shoots like a guard. That versatility allowed him to average 11 points and 4.6 rebounds last season while playing for Chipola College in Florida. He also made 37.5% of his shots from three-point range and 54.1% of his shots from the field.
He will almost certainly play meaningful minutes from the get-go at Bramlage Coliseum, seeing as how the Wildcats only have eight scholarship players at the moment. The only question is where. Tomlin admits “I don’t have much of a post game.” But he is comfortable everywhere else.
“I would tell people that I am a guard,” Tomlin said. “But I can play anywhere from the one to the four. I feel I can bring that to my team.”
Another reason Tomlin is such an intriguing player for the Wildcats: He has only been playing organized basketball for four years. Tomlin is one of the few players in all of college basketball who didn’t previously play the sport in high school. Heck, he might be the only one.
Tomlin, who is originally from New York, only played in casual games with friends until he experienced a late growth spurt that took him up to 6-7 and eventually 6-10. He has grown so much that he was never listed above 6-8 in junior college. But he is as tall as most centers today.
In any case, the more he grew the more he was strongly advised to take the game seriously.
“I was always playing basketball,” Tomlin said, “but I was never on a basketball team.”
That changed when he enrolled in a prep school and played his first organized game in the summer of 2018.
He quickly showed enough skill to catch on with Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. Tomlin took things slow in junior college and sat out his freshman year with with a redshirt. Then he nearly averaged a double-double (13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds) as a redshirt freshman. Next, he transferred to Chipola and was able to spend two more seasons at the juco level because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Against the odds, he became one of the nation’s best junior-college players and a coveted recruit.
“We signed the best junior-college player in the country,” K-State associate head coach Ulric Maligi said. “Nae’Qwan Tomlin is a guy who I feel could play anywhere in America.”
