Why Creighton basketball transfer Arthur Kaluma is starting to come on for Kansas State

Kansas State basketball fans are starting to see why Arthur Kaluma was such a coveted prospect last spring when he decided to transfer away from Creighton and finish his college basketball career with a new team.

That wasn’t the case when he first arrived in Manhattan and he struggled so much that head coach Jerome Tang complained that Kaluma needed to “buy in.” But his talents are shining through now.

Kaluma, a 6-foot-7 and 225-pound junior wing, has quietly become the most productive player on the K-State roster.

He is averaging 16.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and two assists per game. That makes him the team’s second-leading scorer and its top rebounder.

His numbers are even more impressive if you ignore his first two games in purple, in which he only made 6 of 25 shots and clearly didn’t understand the intricacies of his new surroundings. Kaluma got off to such a slow start that he took the next game off with a minor knee injury and hit the reset button while he was watching from the bench.

“Everything just started clicking,” Kaluma said. “I was able to watch the game. I feel like you get a different perspective of just sitting down and watching the games sometimes instead of playing it. So when you watch the game you get to see different things. Oh, I could do this here or I could do that here. The only thing left to do is to really just put it paper.”

When Kaluma returned to the court for K-State, he looked like a different player.

He scored 18 points in back-to-back games against quality opponents Providence and Miami. Then he scored 20 in consecutive wins against Central Arkansas and Oral Roberts. Then he was at his best last week when he erupted for 26 points and nine rebounds against Villanova followed by 17 points and 11 rebounds against LSU.

Kaluma was then named Big 12 Player of the Week for his efforts.

“I’m seeing growth in Arthur Kaluma,” Tang said. “We are developing and growing. Guys are embracing the challenges that we place on them as a staff. We don’t just require them to play good basketball. We require them to be great people and great teammates and care about the little things.”

The Wildcats are off to an 8-2 start thanks in large part to Kaluma’s improved play.

His ability to knock down the occasional 3-pointer has given them a huge boost. Kaluma made all three of his outside shots against Villanova and then went three of four from distance against LSU. If he continues to do that, defenses won’t be able to load up against him or his teammates in the lane.

When he is at his best, so is K-State.

The days of Tang complaining about his “buy-in” are long gone.