Jerome Tang had unique question for Big 12 before using Desi Sills as K-State starter
Before Jerome Tang inserted Desi Sills into Kansas State’s starting lineup for the first time during a 61-55 victory over Iowa State on Saturday he had an unusual question ... for the Big 12 basketball office.
Wait. What?
Yes, you read that correctly. Tang was hesitant to deploy Sills as a starting guard with the Wildcats until he received clarity from the league on an unusual topic. His question: Would Sills be eligible to win the conference’s Sixth Man of Year award if he started a single game for K-State?
“I actually checked with the Big 12, because I think Desi is the Sixth Man of the Year in our conference,” Tang said. “The kid at Texas (Sir’Jabari Rice) is right there with him. I didn’t want to cost Desi that. He has sacrificed for all us all year long. He could have probably started a while ago, but I didn’t want to cost him the opportunity to get that award.”
Few other coaches would have cared about such a thing, but it was very important to Tang.
Sills, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, is without a doubt one of the best five players on K-State’s basketball roster. But he was a late addition to the team after transferring in from Arkansas State and it understandably took him a while to adjust to his new surroundings. That is why he started the season on the bench.
As he learned how to play for Tang, he got better and better. He is now averaging 8.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists for the Wildcats. His best games have been memorable, such as a 24-point outing against Kansas and 14-point effort against TCU.
Turns out, he was such a spark plug on offense that Tang decided not to mess with a good thing and kept bringing him off the bench until the Wildcats lost five of seven games and needed a change.
Only one thing was holding Tang back from trying Sills as a starter. And that concern was eliminated when the Big 12 informed him that any player who comes off the bench in 10 or more conference games is eligible for Sixth Man status.
“With only five games to go, we decided to make the change,” Tang said. “That is really what it boiled down to.”
That means K-State fans are likely to see Sills remain in the starting lineup for the remainder of the season, which will push David N’Guessan to the bench and give the Wildcats a smaller lineup that features Nae’Qwan Tomlin at the five.
K-State experimented with that lineup against Iowa State and yielded an encouraging result. Even though the Wildcats got off to a slow start and struggled to score in the first half, they seemed to find their groove late and played excellent defense against the Cyclones.
Sills had four points, three rebounds and three assists to go along with a crowd-pleasing blocked shot in 34 minutes of action.
“He brings energy,” K-State guard Markquis Nowell said of Sills. “He’s been bringing energy since Day 1, whether he was on the bench or now he is starting. You get the same Desi. He is going to come in and play hard and play like it is his last game. He gave us more space and more driving lanes because he was out there.”
The Wildcats are hoping for more of that when they host No. 9 Baylor at 6 p.m. on Tuesday inside Bramlage Coliseum.
They have come to expect big things from Sills, whether he is coming off the bench or in the starting lineup.
This story was originally published February 20, 2023 at 1:06 PM with the headline "Jerome Tang had unique question for Big 12 before using Desi Sills as K-State starter."