K-State Wildcats Q&A: How many players will Jerome Tang lose to the transfer portal?
Things have been going downhill for the Kansas State men’s basketball team ever since Jerome Tang wrapped up his first season with the Wildcats.
K-State won 26 games and reached the Elite Eight in Year 1. But its win total dropped to 19 in Year 2. That was good enough for a trip to the NIT. There will be no postseason tournament in Year 3 after K-State won just 16 games.
Those results are eerily similar to the beginning of the Bruce Weber era in which K-State went from 27 wins to 20 and then 15 before he hit the reset button with Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade.
Fans can blame a variety of reasons for this downturn. But Jerome Tang pointed the finger at himself following a season-ending loss to Baylor on Wednesday in the Big 12 Tournament.
He said the Wildcats had enough talent to reach March Madness, but he failed them for most of the season. It wasn’t until they went on a six-game winning streak in the middle of conference play that he thought everything was clicking for his team.
He used a chef analogy to prove his point.
“I didn’t put the right ingredients in at the right time,” Tang said, “to get it done early enough.”
The good news, at least in Tang’s mind, is that he learned a lot this season. He has a plan for getting the Wildcats back on track, and he walked me through it in great detail during an exclusive interview at T-Mobile Center. Keep an eye out for that story soon.
He is cautiously optimistic about the future holds for K-State. As long as he improves as a coach, he thinks K-State will be back in the NCAA Tournament.
Fans have no choice but to hope he is right, because Tang will be back next season and it has to be frustrating for them to watch K-State miss out on March Madness in five of the past six seasons.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
How much, or little, of a mass exodus will there be? -@3rdejenkins via X.
Jerome Tang has made it clear that he will prioritize player retention during the offseason. He wants to convince as many players on this roster to return as possible, much like we have seen from Chris Klieman and the football team in recent years.
That would suggest that there won’t be a mass exodus of players.
Nine active players, plus Tyreek Smith, are eligible to return. Max Jones might also be back, because he spent two seasons playing for a Division II school. Tang told me he would “love” to have as many players return as possible from that group.
Realistically, Tang told me hopes “at least” five are eager to return.
K-State only returned three players last season, so just about anything will be an improvement.
Who’s staying and who’s leaving? -@AllenWaler11 via X.
David N’Guessan and Coleman Hawkins are departing seniors, so they are done playing college basketball.
Exavier Wilson and Ashton Magee will join the roster next season as freshmen.
But those are the only certainties.
Let’s break down the rest of the roster into three segments.
Probably back: Dug McDaniel, Brendan Hausen, Mobi Ikegwuruka, David Castillo, Tyreek Smith, Baye Fall and Max Jones (if he is granted extra years of eligibility). Any of them could choose to look elsewhere, but they each have the motivation to return.
Probably gone: I will be shocked if Macaleab Rich and Ugonna Onyenso don’t enter the transfer portal. They are by far the most likely transfer candidates on this roster.
Up in the air: CJ Jones and Taj Manning. I’m not sure where Jones fits with this team moving forward, and he is close friends with Rich. Will he want to stay if he’s no longer on the team? Manning may be content to spend his entire college career in Manhattan, but he will need a change of scenery to get playing time.
Seven or eight seem like ideal returning numbers for K-State. That would give it a core to build around with four or five open scholarships to use on incoming transfers.
K-State plans to remain at 13 scholarships next season, by the way, even though teams will be allowed to move up to 15.
Jerome Tang wants to build a team similar to Houston. Does that mean we will experience winning again in two-plus years, or could we return to the NCAA next year with what returns? -@ChadFullington via X.
The challenging thing about retaining most of the current roster is that K-State’s best two players are leaving.
Take away David N’Guessan and Coleman Hawkins from this team and the Wildcats would have been lucky to win 10 games.
So K-State needs to make the most out of its transfer additions. If the Wildcats can add two impact newcomers in the frontcourt and two impact newcomers in the backcourt then they will have a chance to return to March Madness next season. If they swing and miss on those transfers, then next season will be a struggle.
How much less NIL funds should Jerome Tang expect next year? -@KingJoel_3 via X.
The Wildcats won’t have as much as they did this season when they spent $2 million on Coleman Hawkins and gave far too much money to Ugonna Onyenso and Achor Achor.
Seriously, no one would give Hawkins any grief for his salary if agents publicized those NIL values.
But K-State will still have money to spend as the era of revenue sharing begins. Gene Taylor told me that the Wildcats will assign roughly 20% of their budget to men’s basketball, which would come in at around $4 million. That should be on par with most power-conference schools as they begin sharing $20 million per year with student-athletes.
To get back to the NCAA tournament dance, Coach Tang needs to make some changes. Do these changes include new assistant coaches? -@bfullingt1 via X.
The Wildcats could benefit from new blood on their coaching staff.
I think it would help Jerome Tang to have a former head coach on his bench who could advise him on big-picture issues and help him navigate difficult situations. A GM (or roster manager) could also help. No one would cry about bringing in a portal expert, either.
I don’t want to call anyone out by name, but K-State’s current coaching staff was underwhelming this season. In certain games, it looked like Tang was the only person coaching on the sideline.
For what it’s worth, I do expect at least one change. Tang has fought hard to keep all of his main assistants since he arrived in Manhattan. But he may be willing to let them explore other opportunities this offseason.
What seed will the women’s team get and based on that how far do they go in the tournament? -@TyZentSmile via X.
K-State is projected as a No. 5 seed by both ESPN and Her Hoop Stats with the first round being played at Mississippi.
I have no reason to dispute that. I am also expecting a No. 5 seed for the Wildcats. It will come as a surprise if they host games at Bramlage Coliseum.
Ayoka Lee should return to action for the NCAA Tournament. If she can play at full strength, then the Wildcats could make it to the Sweet 16. But they have historically bowed out in the Round of 32, so it’s hard to count on anything better than that.
When does spring football start? -@PowercatRyan via X.
The Wildcats are waiting until April to hold their spring practices this year.
In the past, Klieman has started practicing before spring break and then finished a few weeks after players returned to campus. The schedule will be more condensed this year.
But K-State players have been working hard this semester. Four Wildcats (Avery Johnson, Dylan Edwards, VJ Payne and Donovan McIntosh) just joined the 23 mph club.
This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 7:15 AM with the headline "K-State Wildcats Q&A: How many players will Jerome Tang lose to the transfer portal?."