According to a report from college basketball reporter Scott Hughes, Kansas State guard PJ Haggerty has opted out of the rest of the season for issues regarding NIL compensation.
Well, that report has since then overwhelmingly been proven false. Hughes reported this on Tuesday afternoon, days after the Wildcats got their eighth win of the season. However, no official sources have confirmed or even mentioned this incident.
"Kansas State star PJ Haggerty has opted out of the remainder of the season after not receiving promised NIL compensation. Kansas State’s NIL fund, Wildcat NIL, shut down earlier this month. Haggerty is strongly considering suing the university," Hughes tweeted.
Many outsiders have called out Hughes for his comments, including Kansas State assistant coach Jareem Dowling, who poked fun at it on Tuesday.
Haggerty is still very much on the team for the time being and locked in as the team continues to stack victories. Hell, ask coach Jerome Tang. He emphasized Haggerty's "care factor" as the new star of the Wildcats this season, and isn't giving up on the team anytime soon.
"He really cares. He cares about his teammates. He cares about winning. He cares about becoming a better player," Tang said after the South Dakota victory. "He wants to get better, he wants to improve, he wants to grow his game. From the outside, you can see he's a good player when he's someplace else, but you never know how invested a young person is till they get here. So that's been impressive."
Kansas State is blocking out all the outside noise as it enters conference play. It is on a three-game winning streak after four consecutive losses, as Haggerty looks to return to his early-season form. He dropped 24 points in the Wildcats' blowout victory, consistently getting to the basket and hitting 83 percent of his shots. These promising performances will have to continue as the team faces the likes of BYU, Arizona, and Houston in its Big 12 slate.
"We've made progress," Tang said. "It may not always show up there. Like sometimes, you see the score and you’re like, 'Why did we give up so many points?' I think the communication is getting better, the switching is getting better, and being in the right spot in ball screen coverages is getting better. We’ve learned what type of coverage they are better suited for, especially our forwards, and so we’re coming along."
The Wildcats have their final non-conference matchup against Louisiana-Monroe (3-10) on Sunday afternoon.