How much worse can things get for Jerome Tang’s basketball team? A K-State Q&A
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State ranks very low in consistency and momentum, 114th overall.
- K-State tops road metric yet struggles at home, with some lopsided losses.
- Tang’s mixed messaging and his contract extension fuel fan ire and leadership doubts.
I stumbled upon an interesting college basketball metric the other day.
If you head over to Haslametrics and check out the team profile that has been created for K-State, you will find a bunch of statistics that reveal just how bad the Wildcats have been this season. They rank 277th nationally in consistency, 357th nationally in momentum and 114th nationally in overall play.
K-State is ranked behind teams like Texas-Rio Grande Valley, St. Thomas and Pacific. It is one of the worst power-conference teams in the land along with DePaul, Penn State, Utah, Maryland, Rutgers, Georgia Tech and Boston College.
But the Wildcats shockingly rank first nationally in one category: away-from-home performance.
That may not make sense, given that K-State is just 2-7 away from Bramlage Coliseum this season. But the Wildcats have been competitive in just about all of their road games. They lost their past four road games against Arizona State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia and TCU by a combined total of 11 points. That is way better than anything K-State has done at home recently.
K-State is 8-7 at home overall this season but just 1-5 at home in conference play. The Wildcats’ past three home losses have all come by at least 24 points, including a 91-62 beatdown against Cincinnati earlier this week.
That loss was so bad that Jerome Tang said his players didn’t deserve to wear K-State basketball uniforms afterward.
Haslametrics is right. K-State plays its best basketball on the road. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is a strong road team. What it really means is that this team is dreadful at home.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Are we now in Buddy Bell territory? Or are we way past that now? -@jeffjeff360 via X.
I chuckled at some of my media brethren when they described K-State’s loss to Bowling Green as “rock bottom” back in December. It was a horrible loss, sure, but this K-State men’s basketball team seemed capable of worse.
Then came a 78-67 loss to Seton Hall in which Pirates coach Shaheen Holloway was caught on camera calling K-State players “soft” during a team huddle.
Then came an 0-5 start in Big 12 play. Then came an 86-62 home loss to Kansas. Then came a 95-61 home loss to Iowa State. Then came a 91-62 home loss to Cincinnati.
K-State is now 1-10 in conference play, which matches its worst start ever in the Big 12.
Can things get worse? Sadly, the answer is yes. A road trip to Houston is up next, and Kelvin Sampson can probably name the score in that one.
No question, just an observation: In less than two weeks Tang went from saying, “I was proud of our guys” after a 34-point loss to “these dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform” after a 29-point loss. One can only imagine what he’ll be saying two weeks from now - @mdpeavy via X.
His messaging has been all over the place this season.
I think that is part of the reason why fans are so frustrated with Tang. Not only are the Wildcats losing a ton of basketball games, but he keeps saying outrageous things at his postgame news conferences.
After one game, I will ask him for updates on injured players, and he will say that he can’t reveal any details for personal reasons. After the next game, he’s telling us about Abdi Bashir being out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot, or he’s explaining how PJ Haggerty and Dorin Buca played with the flu.
He has blamed NCAA rules for losses. He’s thrown his players under the bus after losses. He’s protected his players after losses. He has said he is embarrassed after losses. He has said he doesn’t owe fans an explanation after losses.
It sure seems like he is just winging it. Good look guessing what he will say next.
At K-State’s next home game (Tuesday vs Baylor), will there be more brown bags worn than scored points by the home team? -@bfullingt1 via X.
The bags-over-heads move worked well against Cincinnati. No one expected it, but it perfectly summed up how some K-State basketball fans feel about Jerome Tang and the current product that is being put on the floor.
If that trend catches on, then brown paper bags will definitely outnumber K-State’s points on the scoreboard. There were maybe two dozen fans wearing bags on Wednesday. It’s not hard to see that number triple. And there are no guarantees that K-State will eclipse 72 points against the Bears.
That being said, I hope the bags-over-heads move was a one-time thing.
K-State students proved their point. Is it really worth doing it again? It can’t make the players feel very good.
Besides, if they are going to continue protesting Tang then I would like to see them do it differently at the next home game. To quote a line from the movie “Ocean’s 13,” ... you don’t run the same gag twice. You do the next gag.
Maybe the student section could walk out at a certain time or stay silent for a stretch of the game. Or maybe they could do a reverse protest and pack their side of the arena to the brim. There are other ways to do it.
Gene Taylor made one of the worst decisions in the history of ADs to panic and give Jerome Tang that ridiculous extension. Now our already bottom tier athletic dept. is going to be out $18.7 million. Why isn’t Taylor taking responsibility? It was his blunder - Steve B. via e-mail.
We will only hear Gene Taylor’s thoughts on that topic If K-State fires Tang at the end of the season. I suppose he will also have to explain himself and Jerome Tang’s contract if he decides to bring him back for another year.
Point is, it won’t happen until after a decision has been made on Tang’s future.
I don’t think it would help anyone for him to discuss Tang’s contract while his employment status remains in doubt.
That being said, Tang’s contract extension will almost certainly go down as a disaster no matter what happens. In hindsight, the Wildcats would have been much better off letting Tang go to Arkansas when the Razorbacks courted him two years ago. K-State could have hired Ben McCollum or Darian DeVries to take his place. Oh, what could have been.
Unless we’re talking about Curt Cignetti at Indiana, I would never advise an athletic director to overpay for a coach. There are always other options out there.
Nevertheless, I will say that Taylor did what the fans wanted two years ago. Tang led K-State to 26 victories in Year 1 and then 19 wins in Year 2 after the unexpected loss of Nae’Qwan Tomlin. His coaching star was still shining bright. K-State fans were furious when Frank Martin left for South Carolina. They didn’t want it to happen again.
Taylor took a gamble and rolled the dice with a big contract extension with Tang. Unfortunately, that bet appears to have come up snake eyes.
Is including an $18.7 million buyout in a contract with a coach with only a couple of years of head coaching experience in itself a fireable offense (looking at a certain AD)? -@SAC_74 via X.
Let me say this: I don’t think K-State president Richard Linton views it as a fireable offense. Gene Taylor has done enough other things well to weather a high-profile misfire like this. But this type of gaffe may not be tolerated everywhere.
Taylor’s legacy has taken a hit after several things that happened this year.
Which program is closer to or at rock bottom? K-State men’s basketball under Jerome Tang or KU football under Turner Gill? -@BusMedicMike via X.
Charlie Weis described KU football as a “pile of crap” after he took over for Turner Gill. So I guess my answer is the Jayhawks.
I hope the coach who follows Tang has kinder words for K-State basketball.
Still, this is a tough question. It’s like picking between a three-toed sloth and a snail in the 100-meter dash.
My weekly recommendations
Food: Just when I thought my backyard BBQ skills were hitting restaurant levels I paid a visit to Panther City in Fort Worth and was reminded of how much I still have to learn. The brisket was amazing. Next time you’re in the DFW metroplex, give it a try.
Streaming: “Wake Up Dead Man” on Netflix was another fun chapter in the Knives Out universe. I’m starting to identify Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc more than James Bond.
Valentine’s Day Hack: Make sure to have a gift ready on February 14, but wait until February 15 to buy flowers. The prices drop like pumpkins after Halloween. And you get credit for double gifts.
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "How much worse can things get for Jerome Tang’s basketball team? A K-State Q&A."