K-State Q&A: Why are Jerome Tang and the Wildcats suddenly winning basketball games?
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
We have plenty of fun questions to cover about the Wildcats when it comes to basketball and football. So let’s dive in. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Has K-State MBB “figured it out” or have they just played beatable teams in Bramlage? If they did “figure it out” why did it take so long? -@scottwildcat via X.
The Wildcats seem to have legitimately turned a corner over the past three weeks.
According to college basketball statistician Bart Torvik, K-State has played like a top 25 team over its past five games. He has the Wildcats at No. 20 nationally during that time. K-State is starting to play much better on offense and its defense has also picked up at home.
What changed? Dug McDaniel began looking to score. Coleman Hawkins started to play with less stress. Ugonna Onyenso is no longer glued to the bench. David N’Guessan and Max Jones are bringing consistency to the court. Add it all up and you are starting to see balanced scoring from this roster.
It’s worth pointing out that West Virginia has lost three in a row and that Oklahoma State is the worst road team in the Big 12. But K-State beat those teams by an average of 20.5 points. That is what good teams do against bad teams at home.
Has K-State improved enough to keep winning this weekend when it plays Iowa State on the road? Probably not. The Cyclones may be able to pick the score in that game. They beat Kansas at home by 17, Baylor at home by 19, Utah at home by 23 and UCF at home by 25.
Still, the Wildcats have separated themselves from the bottom teams in the conference. From here on out, I expect them to hold their own against everyone other than Houston and Iowa State.
What took so long?
You can blame coaching or roster management. It’s probably a little bit of both. K-State’s roster needed more time to come together as a unit than originally expected with so many newcomers. In hindsight, the Wildcats should have tried harder to retain talent from last year’s team. And it took Tang until three weeks ago to simplify things and start playing with a steady rotation.
I’m ready to believe in K-State basketball again. How many wins will it take to make the NCAA Tournament? - Andrew B. via e-mail.
You, sir, are the definition of Jerome Tang’s favorite phrase -- Crazy Faith.
Even though the Wildcats are heading in the right direction I fear their mid-season improvement happened too late for them to have any chance for an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. This team’s best hope of making it to March Madness is by winning the Big 12’s automatic bid at the conference tournament.
But an at-large berth isn’t technically impossible. Eleven games are remaining in the regular season. If K-State wins all of them it will have 20 victories, and that would likely be enough to earn a spot on the bracket.
I guess the drive to Dayton (where the First Four is played) starts now!
How many more wins for the men’s basketball team, realistically? -@patemaw7 via X.
Four or five seems realistic.
Torvik projects K-State to win four more games and finish 13-18, but he only has the Wildcats as favorites at home against Arizona State and Colorado. That means they will need to pull off some upsets to get to that number.
My absolute best-case projection puts them at 16 wins. I wish I could predict more, but this is still a team that has lost 15 straight road games. I’m going to need to see the Wildcats do more than beat West Virginia and Oklahoma State at home before I pick them to decimate all.
But a 16-15 record, or something close to it, would actually be a nice finish for a team that started 7-11.
Basketball coaches wearing suits: bring them back full time, bring them back on occasion, or ban them outright? -@scottwildcat via X.
Coaches should treat suits the same way teams treat throwback uniforms.
They are awesome to wear on occasion, but they shouldn’t replace the regular look.
I never understood why basketball coaches wore suits before COVID. Sure, they looked great. But they were uncomfortable and hot. Bob Huggins was way ahead of his time when he ditched his suit and tie for a windbreaker. The new pullovers are a far superior look, in my opinion.
That being said, Jerome Tang and his coaching staff looked very stylish when they brought back their suits for the Oklahoma State game on Wednesday. If they want to wear those a few times each year, I have no problem with that.
Kansas (at current) seems to be cleaning up on 2026 in-state high school football recruits. In your opinion, does this represent a significant change in the balance of power between Kansas and K-State when it comes to capturing in-state talent? - Kirk Z. via e-mail.
The recent success that Kansas has found in recruiting in-state players caught me by surprise.
For the longest time, it has felt like the Jayhawks and Wildcats never recruited the same players. The best homegrown players almost always picked K-State or chose to play for a blueblood program outside the Big 12. Outside of Devin Neal, it has been extremely rare for KU to land a local recruit that everybody wanted.
But the Jayhawks are having more luck during the 2026 cycle. They have already gained commitments from five in-state players who held scholarship offers from K-State.
They are:
James Dunnigan, defensive back from Manhattan
Nate Sims, athlete from Ottawa
Joshua Galbreath, linebacker from Lawrence
Hunter Higgins, defensive lineman from Wichita
Kaden Snyder, offensive lineman from Salina
Wichita quarterback Jaylen Mason also picked the Jayhawks, but he never received an offer from the Wildcats.
What does all this mean? I don’t think we are witnessing a shift in recruiting power. K-State is still in the hunt for the two biggest local prizes of 2026 (Great Bend tight end Ian Premer and Derby offensive lineman Maxwell Robinson). If Chris Klieman lands those two players, few will sweat losing a handful of others to Lawrence.
Outside of Dunnigan, who is a very underrated prospect, I’m not sure K-State viewed any of the KU pledges as must-haves.
I still trust K-State to win most recruiting battles against KU.
But it’s getting harder. Lance Leipold is giving in-state recruits a few reasons to consider Kansas.
Any update on Buddy Rich? There has to be something? Or did I miss it? -@JamesJim6405 via X.
Jerome Tang has declined comment on Macaleab Rich and why he has been benched for the past six games.
But it’s starting to feel like Rich may not play again this season. Tang wouldn’t even give him minutes at the end of Wednesday’s blowout win over Oklahoma State.
Why?
Rich was cited for marijuana possession back in September. Tang was willing to give him a pass on that misstep, but then Rich did something else to earn a spot in Tang’s dog house a few weeks ago. Pair those two things together, and I think that’s why Rich is glued to the end of the bench.
In an analogy where the K-State men’s basketball team is a ska band, what instrument would each player be? -@SLKECK via X.
Coleman Hawkins: trombone, because he’s always doing something.
Dug McDaniel: guitar, because he is capable of scoring solo as a point guard.
David N’Guessan: keyboard, because he looks like a keyboardist.
Brendan Hausen: trumpet, because his 3-pointers make the crowd get loud.
Max Jones: drums, because he’s great in a supporting role.
Together, I’m sure they could play a great cover of “The Impression that I get” or “Sellout.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Why are Jerome Tang and the Wildcats suddenly winning basketball games?."