Jerome Tang throws shade at former K-State coaching staff, vows to improve recruiting
Recruiting new players hasn’t been the simplest of tasks for Jerome Tang since he took over as Kansas State’s basketball coach earlier this spring. But that didn’t stop him from making a few bold predictions about landing future prospects as he gets settled in with the Wildcats while speaking at a Catbacker event on Tuesday at Children’s Mercy Park.
“I want to say that Bruce Weber was a terrific basketball coach. and he was a terrific man. ... They just didn’t get good enough players,” Tang said. “That’s just the bottom line. They didn’t get him good enough players, his staff. So that is what we’re going to do. We’re going to get guys who can win games in the Big 12.”
He wasn’t done.
“And there will be 10 of them on the roster,” he said.
In one statement to a room filled with K-State fans, Tang managed to make a number of declarations. He praised the coach who came before him then immediately threw shade at him, his assistants and the players who were unable to lead the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in Weber’s final three seasons in Manhattan. After that, he promised big things and also poked fun at himself.
For those who haven’t followed every ebb and flow of the K-State basketball roster since Tang was hired to replace Weber in March, here’s a quick recap. The Wildcats lost nine scholarship players to the transfer portal and have since added three new transfers and two new recruits to give them seven scholarship players.
Tang has expressed little disappointment in the outgoing transfers, saying he only wanted three of Weber’s returning players to stay. And he retained two of them in Markquis Nowell and Ismael Massoud.
Still, seven players is not good for late May. Trying to fill six open scholarships at this late stage isn’t easy for any coach. Tang has more or less given up on the prospect of signing six additional players this cycle. He now says the Wildcats will be fine with 11. The minimum goal is 10.
“We don’t have to get to 13,” Tang said. “That’s not the goal. The goal is to just get the right ones. If we don’t get to 13, we’ll be all right.”
Some K-State fans are understandably nervous about what the Wildcats will be able to accomplish next season with such a limited roster. As of now, it’s hard to imagine them being picked to finish anywhere but last in the always rigid Big 12.
But Tang is confident that K-State is in good recruiting position with a handful of players who are currently testing the NBA Draft waters and may look to transfer if they decide to return to school.
Tang is hoping to add two or three veteran transfers who can make an immediate impact next season.
Is that possible? Maybe. Maybe not. But Tang is quick to point out that Baylor signed Jared Butler in August before his freshman season when he was granted a scholarship release from Alabama, and Butler helped lead the Bears to a national title two years ago with Tang serving as associate head coach under Scott Drew.
“You never know what can happen late,” Tang said.
One more reason Tang is confident that K-State will begin recruiting at a higher level, now and in the future: fan support.
He said he never experienced anything like K-State’s spring Catbacker tour, which makes stops all across the Sunflower State, while he was at Baylor.
It wasn’t a surprise for him when he was greeted by a standing ovation from a room packed with K-State fans inside the home of Sporting KC on a rainy evening. He has seen the way K-State fans support recruits and players on social. It makes a difference. In time, he is confident that will pay dividends with a full roster of 13 quality college basketball players.
“I’m having a wonderful time,” Tang said. “This is incredible. Look at the weather outside. If it sprinkled at some places fans wouldn’t show up. Look at these guys. That’s why we have the best fans in the country.”
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Jerome Tang throws shade at former K-State coaching staff, vows to improve recruiting."