K-State Q&A: Jerome Tang’s last assistant coach and a funeral for the Play Hard Chart
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
How about we dive straight into your questions this week? Let’s go! Thank you, as always, for providing them.
E-MAIL QUESTION: Can you explain to me why Jerome Tang hasn’t hired a third assistant basketball coach yet? He has been on the job for several months. Seems like the coaching staff should have been completed long ago. What’s the hold up? - Jeff M.
Jerome Tang has told me that his plan is to wait until “late summer” for Kansas State to finalize its men’s basketball coaching staff with a third assistant coach.
I have since been told to expect a hire to be made in August.
The expectation is that Rodney Perry, who currently coaches for Mokan Elite on the AAU circuit, is going to get the job. It makes plenty of sense why the Wildcats would want him. He has strong recruiting ties across the region and has also coached at Link Academy. He has worked with big names like Trae Young, Alec Burks, Willie Cauley-Stein and Michael Porter, to name a few.
He has also previously worked at UMKC, Oral Roberts and Western Illinois as an assistant.
Those are all good reasons to hire him.
But why wait? Well, after asking around, I believe that it is Tang’s preference for Perry to spend the summer coaching on the AAU circuit and building up as many relationships as he can with potential recruits and coaches for 2023 and beyond before moving to Manhattan.
The hope is that by delaying his arrival in the short term, the Wildcats can boost their recruiting in the long term.
It’s an unusual strategy. But maybe Tang is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
Tang is comfortable with support staffers Marco Borne and Anthony Winchester, who were both Division I assistant coaches last season, handling extra recruiting and coaching work for the Wildcats for a few more months.
Being one coach down in the short term doesn’t bother him.
“The guys we have on our staff are elite,” Tang told me. “We are going to be just fine.”
When K-State unveiled its master plan for facility improvements, it included $85 million worth of renovations at Bramlage Coliseum.
Those included:
- New grand entry on the west side.
- New ticket office at parking lot level.
- New sideline club area with tiered sideline chairback seating.
- Mid-level interior concourse walkway.
- Athletic Hall of Fame space.
- Administrative offices.
- Expanded permanent team store.
- Second level connected walkway from basketball training facility to Bramlage.
Some of those bullet points have already been addressed with the completion of the Shamrock Zone. New premium courtside seating is also on the way next season.
Not to be a buzzkill, but I’m a little surprised you think this is a difficult choice.
It’s football by a landslide.
Chris Klieman’s team is returning Deuce Vaughn and a ferocious defensive line. Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez is also set to take over at quarterback. The Wildcats should have no problem qualifying for a bowl next season and could even flirt with 10 wins.
I think this is the most talented roster that Klieman has coached since he took over in Manhattan. Now, that doesn’t guarantee success. K-State’s over/under win total in Vegas is only 6 1/2. That gives me some pause. There are question marks on defense. Even so, the football team is in a MUCH better situation than the basketball team.
Jerome Tang has created fan excitement since he was hired in March, but he hasn’t assembled much of a roster. There are only seven players on it right now! And most of them are developmental players who won’t be averaging double figures immediately. He needs to land at least two or three impact transfers late in this recruiting cycle for K-State to have any chance at not finishing last in the Big 12 next season. And there aren’t many impact transfers still on the market.
Maybe Tang can pull a rabbit out of his hat, but for now it looks like his first season in Manhattan is going to be quite the challenge.
Or maybe you were asking about football vs. women’s basketball. That is a closer debate. Jeff Mittie’s team could very easily be a top 25 team next season with Ayoka Lee returning for another year.
The Play Hard Chart era is over for K-State basketball.
Jerome Tang may use his own system for tracking hustle plays, but I doubt we hear about it nearly as much as Bruce Weber’s.
There won’t be a white board dedicated to those statistics inside the locker room anymore. At least, I hope there isn’t. K-State should put the old one up for auction. How much would you pay to destroy it?
In the meantime, I suggest we say our farewells to the Play Hard Chart by dressing in black at the season-opener and holding a mock funeral inside Bramlage Coliseum like Weber once did for Bill Self while he was coaching at Illinois. It’s the only way it could be properly honored.
As long as the transfers that Kansas State gained commitments from this month follow through and show up on campus for the start of summer school, I would say the Wildcats are looking pretty good for next season.
I say that because transfers sign financial aid agreements, not binding letters of intent like high school recruits. So they aren’t tied to K-State, even though they committed and signed with the Wildcats. There is nothing stopping them from changing their minds and enrolling somewhere else.
I’m not saying that is going to happen. I don’t think that is going to happen.
But Chris Klieman told me the Wildcats are still recruiting those transfers as if they are uncommitted just to make sure they arrive on campus.
Assuming those players are on the team next season, the Wildcats addressed most of their needs. They got another running back, they found some linebackers and defensive backs. They even added a receiver from the SEC. Depth shouldn’t be an issue with these transfers on board:
- Jadon Jackson, a 6-foot-1 and 200-pound junior receiver from Mississippi who caught 22 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown while playing in 22 games for the Rebels.
- Anthony Frias, a 5-foot-10 and 205-pound running back from Modesto Junior College in California. He rushed for 851 yards and 17 touchdowns in 11 games.
- Jordan Wright, a 6-foot-1 and 175-pound defensive back from Fullerton Community College in California.
- Drake Cheatum, a 5-foot-10 and 185-pound defensive back who spent the past three seasons at Prairie View A&M.
- Justice Clemons, a 5-foot-10 defensive back from Tyler Junior College.
- Javione Carr, a 5-foot-11 defensive back from Arizona.
- Gavin Forsha, a 6-foot-3 linebacker who held a scholarship offer from USC.
As of now, Kansas State doesn’t have an alumni team in the field for the 2022 edition of The Basketball Tournament.
But if that changes and Jacob Pullen and Michael Beasley decide to suit up this summer I will definitely write something about it.
I am Team Fisher, because the impromptu news conference he scheduled to lob grenades at Nick Saban was the most entertaining thing I have seen all offseason.
We need more coaching feuds in college football!
That being said, I didn’t think Nick Saban’s comments were really out of line. Paying players is legal now in college football, even if there are certain guidelines that some boosters and collectives choose not to follow. He wasn’t accusing Texas A&M of cheating.
Saying another school “bought a player” sure sounds bad. But it is no longer against the rules. So, in that sense, I think Jimbo Fisher over reacted a smidgen to Saban’s comments.
Alabama players are allowed to accept money, too, right?
I’m all for it.
Not legalizing sports gambling is a lot like not allowing alcohol sales at a sporting event. You’re saying no to lots of money by banning it.
People found ways to sneak alcohol into games when it wasn’t allowed. Gamblers found ways to place bets when it wasn’t technically legal. You might as well regulate things yourself and make some cash at the same time.
I look forward to placing some bets on football games as soon as gambling becomes legal in the Sunflower State. Putting $10 on a game or trying to hit a five-leg parlay can make a boring contest interesting real fast.
Like anything else, as long as you gamble responsibly it’s a good thing for everyone. They say Kansas will use the extra tax money to try and lure the Chiefs across the border. I would rather see that money go to schools and roads, but whatever.
I just hope I don’t lose $100 every month.
In the past, I have thrown my support behind K-State adding a wrestling team or venturing out into esports or bowling.
But I’ve changed my mind.
The Wildcats need a cornhole team. Given how good the tailgating scene is around Bill Snyder Family Stadium every Saturday in the fall, the could be national champs in that sport.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 10:05 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Jerome Tang’s last assistant coach and a funeral for the Play Hard Chart."