Tomlin enters portal 2 days after K-State release

Jeff Borzello, ESPN

• Personnel WriterDec 8, 2023, 06:59 PM ET Close Basketball recruiting expert.
• Joined ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.Kansas State forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin went into the transfer portal on Friday, two days after being dismissed from the Wildcats.Tomlin is expected to graduate next week and will be eligible to play right away after

  registering at his next school since he hasn’t dressed for Kansas State this season.He was suspended forever in late October following an arrest for “disorderly conduct; brawling or combating “at Tubby’s Sports Bar in Manhattan, Kansas. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Tomlin had been granted diversion in the case.On Wednesday, nevertheless, athletic director Gene Taylor announced that Tomlin had been dismissed from the team.Editor’s Picks

  “I have been monitoring this scenario and overseeing Nae’Qwan’s suspension with Coach [Jerome] Tang’s participation,” Taylor said in a statement. “While we can not share the specifics that have actually caused this outcome due to the factors stated above, K-State Sports can now share that Nae’Qwan Tomlin will no longer have the ability to continue with the K-State males’s basketball team.

  “This decision was not made gently by me, but it is the choice necessitated by the circumstances that brought it to bear.”

  University president Richard Linton released a follow-up statement on Friday, resolving some of the decision-making process behind Tomlin’s dismissal.

  “The NCAA Board of Governors has actually needed each member organization to adopt a ‘serious misbehavior policy’ covering a variety of possible allegations, including Title IX,” Linton stated. “Under the university’s major misbehavior policy, the university president is involved in collaboration with the athletic director and head coach when making a final decision worrying a student-athlete’s conduct and group membership.

  “The choice to release Nae’Qwan from the men’s basketball team was made completely compliance with all appropriate policies. When choices like this are made, a variety of aspects are thought about, consisting of the whole history of a trainee athlete’s habits.

  “The reporting that this decision was made entirely due to an incident at a bar in Aggieville is not precise.”

  Tomlin began 36 games last season for Kansas State, averaging 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds. He was a crucial factor in the Wildcats’ run to the Elite 8, scoring in double figures in all 4 NCAA competition games and balancing 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.