As former Kansas State coach Jerome Tang returns to Baylor, some reflect on his time in Manhattan, KS, and where things went wrong.
Well, it's pretty easy to pinpoint that. The direct answer is really after 2023, following an Elite Eight appearance up with three consecutive disappointing seasons. CBS Sports graded each coach from the 2022 hiring cycle, giving Tang a C- for his Wildcats tenure.
Which...surprisingly didn't rank that terribly among his peers. The likes of Thad Matta (Butler) and Kenny Payne (Louisville) made Tang look relatively decent in comparison, but it was still a disappointing grade to receive nonetheless.
Unfortunately, though, it was pretty spot on.
"After a beautiful debut season, everything went wrong for Tang and the Wildcats," the article wrote. "In 2022-23, Tang - along with Markquis Nowell, Keyontae Johnson, and Nae'Qwan Tomlin - helped guide K-State to an Elite Eight run as a 3-seed. That team was two possessions away from beating FAU to make the Final Four. If K-State had made that Final Four, I believe Tang would still be the coach at K-State."
Tang's dominant postseason run created a sense of optimism within the program for years to come. Several star players were rotated around the team, which may have contributed to the problem. Instead of having a consistent roster from year to year, the Wildcats went star-chasing elsewhere and outsourced every season.
"After 2023, nothing panned out. Tang operated, without a shadow of a doubt, with a top-10 NIL budget across 2023, 2024, and 2025...and Kansas State failed to make the NCAA Tournament in all of those ensuing seasons," the article wrote. "He didn't even get to finish out Year 4, with a firing 'for cause' that's still up to legal dispute. But that first season was so good, and Nowell was so fun, that I can't go lower than a C-. It was just the third Elite Eight run for the program in the past 38 years."
And the results didn't justify the spending or outside scouting. In fact, the team gradually worsened each season, despite the increasing influx of talent. Things officially hit the fan in 2026, when a seemingly Tournament-bound team won just three conference games all season. Tang didn't help himself, going on a heated public rant after losing to Cincinnati, which eventually cost him his job.
Now, the two sides are moving in separate directions, with Tang back at Baylor and the Wildcats boasting Casey Alexander as the next man at the helm.
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