College basketball player signs record $2MILLION NIL deal

• Coleman Hawkins had played with Illinois from 2020-24 as a power forward
• He’ll now play out a fifth and final year in college under a record deal 

Former Illinois forward Coleman Hawkins has signed an NIL deal believed to be the most lucrative ever negotiated in the college basketball transfer portal.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Hawkins will receive a $2million deal from Kansas State’s collective after spending the last four seasons with the Fighting Illini.

The deal was reportedly struck by Nate Conley of Court XIV and Aaron Turner of Verus Basketball.

Since NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) laws were officially introduced on July 1, 2021, the landscape of college athletics has dramatically changed.

Names like Colorado football star Shedeur Sanders and  former LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne have built multi-million dollar brands off their huge profiles, with the latter inking deals with American Eagle, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and even ESPN, per On3.

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Former Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark, who has since moved onto the WNBA, was also reported to be earning an estimated $3.1million through NIL. 

Hawkins participated in the NBA Draft Combine last month, and even said he had ‘kind of outgrown college basketball,’ according to 247Sports. 

However, it’s likely he didn’t receive the feedback he was hoping for from NBA scouts and he’ll now play out a fifth and final season in the Big 12.

Hawkins was a significant member of an Illinois team that won the Big Ten Tournament and reached the Elite Eight last season.

He averaged a career-best 12.1 points along with 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest last season.

This offseason, Kansas State also added guard Dug McDaniel from Michigan, forward Achor Achor from Samford, combo guard Max Jones from Cal State Fullerton – all of whom average 15 points per game or above.

They also added big man Ugonna Onyenso who went from being a Kentucky Wildcat to a Kansas State Wildcat, as well as former Villanova guard Brendan Hausen, former Arkansas center Baye Fall, and former UIC guard C.J. Jones.

Hawkins entered the transfer portal on April 30.