A few days ago, not many were really tuned into Kansas State basketball. A 10-15 program that doesn't regularly garner much national attention isn't really going to be the subject of conversation on popular news outlets.
So you know it's big news when ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith speaks on it. Smith unleashed on Kansas State for its handling of Tang's contract upon his firing.
"I don’t have a problem with them letting him go. He needs to go, but they need to give him his money," Smith said on First Take Monday afternoon. "You don’t get to sit out there and use that as an excuse to get out of the millions of dollars you owed this man. That’s my problem."
Smith did criticize Tang for his harsh words toward the media about his players, especially amid a 1-11 conference record with a team he specifically recruited.
"You can’t say they don’t deserve to wear the uniform and very few of them will be here next year. You don’t do that. That’s going too far," Smith said. "You're in the midst of a six-game losing streak, you’re 1-11 in the Big 12, you can look at them and saying they're playing sorry and not getting it done...But to go as far as he went by saying they don’t deserve to wear the uniform and say very few of them will be here next year? Sir, you didn’t have to go that far. Coach Tang, you brought them there. So what does that say about you?"
Still, he feels the university owes him at least a portion of the remaining money from his contract, since he fulfilled his duties as head coach.
"I think this is an excuse for Kansas State to get out of paying the man his money, and we can’t let them get away with that," Smith said. "You signed him into a contract. He didn’t quit. He didn’t say he wasn’t gonna coach them. He didn’t say that he was gonna lose intentionally or anything like that. All he did was speak out at a press conference. And for that to be a fireable offense is one thing, but not to the degree that it allows you to get out of the financial commitment that you made to him. That’s very slick, that should not be allowed. Whatever buyout clause package he has in there, he’s supposed to walk away with some of that money."