“When you’re the man and you’re expected to go out to produce,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway told his point man PJ Haggerty before the start of the AAC tournament this year. He publicly called him out and demanded performance, and it was not like Haggerty was in a slump. He was regularly dishing out around 20 points per game, but Hardaway knew he could do better.

How did he respond? Haggerty scored a career-high 42 points that put the 16th-ranked Tigers ahead in an 83-80 win over nemesis Wichita State. He missed the record by a whisker, being only a point shy of the highest-scoring game in league history, 43 by Memphis’ Jeremiah Martin against Tulane in February 2019. Haggerty finished with 21.7 points per game in 2024-25 to earn second-team All-American status along with 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Despite his stellar record, Haggerty stunned the Memphis fans when he entered the transfer portal, now moving to Kansas State for the 2025-26 season. 

This national analyst feels this move could backfire on Haggerty, derailing his hopes of upgrading his stock for next year’s NBA draft. Jeff Goodman of the Field Of 68: After Dark podcast said, “Here’s my take for it: if… if he did get in the neighborhood, which is what I was told of two and a half million somewhere around there, Memphis’s offer was more than that. You’re coming off an unbelievable year at Memphis Like, why… why?”

Goodman’s blunt warning frames the potential risk in Haggerty’s decision, leaving a proven setup for an uncertain role at Kansas State could limit the national spotlight he’s been building.

According to reports, Haggerty was seeking approximately $4 million in NIL compensation when he entered the transfer portal, a bold figure that caught attention across the college basketball landscape. For context, Cooper Flagg, widely projected as the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, has an estimated NIL valuation of $4.8 million, according to On3. Haggerty is not yet at that level in terms of national recognition or draft stock. While he certainly has the talent and trajectory to significantly increase his value, reaching Flagg’s tier will take time and continued high-level performance.

So that $4 million was out of the question. According to reports, what he did get was a $2 million base NIL value. There are also $500K in incentives in the contract, which, if Haggerty reaches them, will get to a total contract value of $2.5 million, like Goodman said. According to Goodman, Memphis did offer more than that so there was no reason to leave. 

The Memphis program’s budget is unknown but they do have that deal with FedEx, which gives them $25 million over five years. It is possible they offered more. According to some reports, they offered only $1.2 million but Gary Parrish mentioned that Memphis offered him $3 million. So there are contrasting reports from different sources but even with less money, Goodman made a pretty good case that he should have stayed with Memphis and Penny Hardaway.

He said, “Sometimes just be careful what you wish for. Like, you have a great thing going; why screw with it? why mess with it? and I hope it works out for him. I hope it works out for Kansas State.”

Haggerty has played for three different teams in his college career so far, starting with TCU in the Big 12, where he played six games and took a redshirt. After the season, he was on the move again, putting his name into the NCAA transfer portal and moving to Tulsa. After a stellar season in Tulsa, he went on to Memphis as the AAC freshman of the year and the national freshman of the year.

At Memphis, he improved even further under Penny Hardaway, becoming the leader of a Memphis side as they won the regular season title and the Conference Tournament including an NCAA tournament appearance. So he is not indifferent to change but Hardaway certainly wanted him back, badly. He appealed to the fans earlier to entice him with their admiration.  

He had said, “That’s on the fan base, too, to show PJ love. … In this transactional world, some team could go, ‘We’ll give you $2 million, $3 million if you come over here.’ But sometimes that love (from a city and fan base) overrules the money.”

Haggerty’s ambitions led him to move to Kansas as he hopes to show what he is made of in a tougher conference against the likes of Houston, Texas Tech and Arizona. He has shown that he can adapt to different teams so that might not be a huge issue but we will get a final answer only after the season. Haggerty’s priorities have been questioned but only he knows what his goal with this move is and it could even work out. 

How PJ Haggerty will change Kansas State

Haggerty will be the center point of Jerome Tang’s offense and instantly makes them a contender to qualify for the NCAA tournament once again. After an impressive NCAA Tournament run in Jerome Tang’s first season at the helm, Kansas State basketball has struggled to recapture that momentum. The 2024–25 campaign was particularly disappointing, as the Wildcats stumbled to a losing record but Haggerty’s arrival will give them some vigor and motivation for next season. 

Haggerty becomes just the third-ever All-American to transfer to another club, joining Hunter Dickinson (from Michigan to Kansas) and Max Abmas (from Oral Roberts to Texas). The backcourt gave them real pains last season but now they have a remade guard quartet of Haggerty, Akron transfer Nate Johnson, Abdi Bashir Jr. and Andrej Kostic. It is a real upgrade on paper.

Last season, Kansas State’s guards combined to finish dead last in college basketball, with just 5.1% of their pick-and-roll possessions finishing in a trip to the charity stripe. 364th out of 364 Division I teams. This won’t be a problem with Haggerty and Co., as just the former Memphis guard is one of the most physical guards in the country , consistently drawing fouls and converting the chances from the free throw line. He averaged 6.4 free throws per game, converting the chances 82% of the time. He also goes to the rim, with Over 40% of  his shots  coming from there. 

Kansas State is emerging to be one of the contenders in the Big 12 next season and Haggerty will hope to prove himself in a different system and a different conference. He will aim for the NBA next year, which was his initial target this season. Haggerty’s fate could take him either way; he could improve upon his Memphis accolades or even fall off like some fear. Whatever the case, the eyes will be on him this season.