Kansas State Wildcats land impact basketball transfer Arthur Kaluma from Creighton

The wait is over.

After several weeks of recruiting misfires, Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang has landed his second incoming transfer of the offseason. And the Wildcats’ latest newcomer was probably worth the wait.

Arthur Kaluma, a 6-foot-7 and 225-pound wing who spent the past two seasons at Creighton, has decided to continue his college basketball career in Manhattan. The impact transfer committed to K-State on Sunday while he was touring campus on an official visit.

Kaluma chose K-State over a host of other big-name suitors, including Alabama and Kentucky.

For the second straight year, Tang has made a major addition to K-State’s basketball roster late in the recruiting process. Last summer, he landed Arkansas State transfer Desi Sills and Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson in the summer months and they both went on to play key roles for the Wildcats as they won 26 games and reached the Elite Eight.

K-State will hope that Kaluma can make a similar impact during his first year with the Wildcats.

He was a top 50 recruit coming out of high school in Glendale, Arizona. He also has experience playing on an international stage, as his parents are from Uganda and he has played for that country’s national team.

Kaluma arrives at K-State after averaging 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists as a sophomore for the Blue Jays. During his two seasons in Omaha, he helped Creighton twice reach the NCAA Tournament. Last year, he played an important role on a team that also made it to the Elite Eight.

He could have remained at Creighton and taken on a larger role next season, but he decided to seek out a new team via the transfer portal. K-State immediately showed interest in him and sealed the deal this weekend.

The Wildcats have done well with transfers this offseason, as they also landed North Texas guard Tylor Perry. Both Kaluma and Perry figure to enter the starting lineup next season, with Perry filling the void left by Markquis Nowell and Kaluma looking to replace Johnson.

K-State rose to No. 41 nationally in Bart Torvik’s look-ahead rankings after Kaluma committed to the Wildcats on Sunday.

A starting lineup of Cam Carter, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, David N’Guessan, Perry and Kaluma would put K-State in position to once again reach the NCAA Tournament and compete in the Big 12 next season.

But Tang still has two open scholarships to use during this recruiting cycle. The Wildcats may not be done upgrading their roster.