Courtesy of Kansas State Athletics
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang announced the addition of three graduate assistant managers to his coaching staff on Friday (September 8) for the 2023-24 season.
In addition to the return of Brandon Branch and Jaycee Cruz, Tang welcomes former walk-on Nate Awbrey, former South Plains College, Louisiana-Monroe and Maine student-athlete Chris Efretuei and former North Texas head student manager Jarad Hollis to his staff.
The trio join a 2023-24 coaching staff that includes Tang, associate head coach Ulric Maligi, assistant coaches Jareem Dowling and Rodney Perry, Chief of Staff Marco Borne, Special Assistant to the Head Coach Anthony Winchester, Director of Player Development Austin Carpenter, Director of Men’s Basketball Operations Bailey Bachamp, Director of Video and Analytics Franklin Miskelly, Strength coach Phil Baier and Ice Family Basketball Center Sports Medicine Coordinator Luke Sauber.
Winchester and Borne were both elevated to on-court roles after the NCAA passed legislation allowing two extra on-court coaches in men’s and women’s basketball in 2023-24. Miskelly is the only new full-time staff member after serving two years as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Mississippi State, where he helped the Bulldogs to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Nate Awbrey (Manhattan Christian College ’22)
A Manhattan native, Awbrey is in his first season as a graduate student manager in 2023-24 after playing his final season of eligibility as a walk-on at K-State in 2022-23. He played in 10 games for the Wildcats, helping the squad win 26 games and advance to the Elite Eight. He was also a member of the NABC Honors Court.
Awbrey transferred to K-State from Manhattan (Kan.) Christian College, which plays in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). He was part of Thunder teams that advanced to three NCCAA National Tournaments (2020, 2021, 2022), including the Final Four in 2022. He also won three consecutive Midwest Christian College Conference Championships (2020, 2021, 2022), back-to-back Midwest Christian College Conference Tournament titles (2021, 2022) and the 2020 NCCAA SW Regional Tournament Championship.
Awbrey saw action in 95 games in his 4-year career at MCC, averaging 10.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He became the 26th player in Thunder history to score 1,000 points, finishing with 1,032 points. He was twice named to the NCCAA All-Southwest Region Second Team (2018-19, 2020-21) and three times to the All-Midwest Christian College All-Conference Team, including the Second Team in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
An outstanding student, Awbrey was a two-time NCCAA Scholar-Athlete (2020-21 and 2021-22) as well as a finalist for the NCCAA Pete Maravich Award. He was also a 3-time recipient of the MCC Team Christian Athlete of the Year (2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22).
Awbrey earned a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Christian Ministry with an emphasis in Youth Ministry from Manhattan Christian College in May 2022. He is working towards a master’s degree in community development.
Chris Efretuei (Louisiana-Monroe ’21, Maine ‘22)
At a towering 7-foot-1, Efretuei (pronounced EFF-ruh-TOO-ee) might be the tallest graduate assistant in the country. He joins the staff after spending one season (2022-23) as a graduate assistant at new Big 12 foe BYU, where he helped the Cougars post a 19-15 record, including a 7-9 mark in WCC play.
The native of Abuja, Nigeria played in 72 games with 59 starts at Louisiana-Monroe (2019-21) for head coach Keith Richard and at Maine (2021-22) for head coach Richard Barron after a two-year stint (2017-19) playing for Hall of Fame coach Steve Green at NJCAA power South Plains College in Levelland, Texas.
Most of Efretuei’s starts came while playing at ULM, where he averaged 5.1 points on 54.5 percent shooting with 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 19.2 minutes per game in starting 50 of 53 games. He ranked in the Sun Belt Conference’s top-10 in blocks both seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21) at ULM, including sixth (1.2 bpg.) as a senior in 2020-21. His best season as a Warhawk came as a junior in 2019-20, where he averaged 5.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in starting 26 of 28 games played.
Efretuei took advantage of his final year of eligibility at Maine in 2021-22, where he averaged 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 19 games with 9 starts for the Black Bears. Overall, he averaged 4.6 points on 52.8 percent shooting in his 72-game Division I career with 3.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 16.9 minutes per game.
Efretuei is no stranger to the Sunflower State, having played in consecutive NJCAA Final Four (2018, 2019) at the national tournament in Hutchinson as a player at South Plains, including the national championship as a freshman.
He helped the Texans to a 56-14 record, including a 98-95 win over Southern Idaho to claim the 2018 NJCAA National Championship.
Efretuei prepped at Fort Love Christian Academy in Pittsburgh.
Efretuei earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from ULM in 2021 then added a bachelor’s in journalism from Maine in 2022. He is working towards a master’s in counseling and student development at K-State.
Jarad Hollis (North Texas ’23)
A native of Monroe, La., Hollis joins the staff after serving the last 4 seasons (2019-23) as the head manager for Grant McCasland at North Texas.
During Hollis’ time at UNT, the Mean Green enjoyed one of the greatest stretches in school history, totaling 94 victories to go along with one NIT Championship (2023), one NCAA Tournament appearance (2021), two NIT appearances (2022, 2023), two Conference USA regular-season championships (2020 and 2022) and one C-USA Tournament title (2021). In all, the squad compiled a 94-35 (.729) overall record, including a 55-15 (.786) mark in league action.
Hollis was part of some of the school’s greatest moments, including the first-ever C-USA regular-season championship in 2020, the historic overtime 78-69 victory over fourth-seeded Purdue in the 2021 NCAA Tournament as well as the school-record 31-7 record and first-ever NIT Championship in 2022-23.
Prior to North Texas, Hollis spent time at Navarro College, where he earned an associate degree in general studies in 2019. He earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from North Texas in 2023. He is working towards a master’s in counseling and student development at K-State.
Branch (a native of Memphis, Tenn.) and Cruz (a native of Toronto) were part of a coaching staff that helped the Wildcats win 26 games and advance to the Elite Eight in 2022-23.
The trio replace three graduate assistants from last season’s staff – Jeremie Hart (New Mexico State), Curtis Kelly (UTRGV) and Matthew Parker (American) – who all earned full-time coaching positions in the offseason.