Four days after going on a postgame rant about how “very few” of his players would return next season, Kansas State coach Jerome Tang learned he will not be back next year.
Kansas State fired Tang on Sunday as the Wildcats (10-15, 1-11 Big 12) have ridden a six-game losing streak into a share of last place with Utah.
“This was a decision that was made in the best interest of our university and men’s basketball program,” athletic director Gene Taylor said in a statement. “Recent public comments and conduct, in addition to the program’s overall direction, have not aligned with K-State’s standards for supporting student-athletes and representing the university. We wish Coach Tang and his family all the best moving forward.”
Taylor told reporters later Sunday that Tang was fired for cause and announced that associate head coach Matthew Driscoll was named interim coach. Kansas State will save the $18.675 million buyout that Tang would be due if fired without cause before April 30, per reports.
“There’s language in his contract about certain things that could potentially bring embarrassment,” Taylor told reporters. “Basically, his comments about the student-athletes and the negative reaction to those comments from sources, both nationally and locally, is where it kind of felt like I needed to make the decision.”
Tang, who was allowed to meet with the team after his was fired, issued a statement on Sunday disagreeing how the university characterized his firing.
“I am deeply disappointed with the university’s decision and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination,” Tang said in a statement. “I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach. … I remain proud of what we built together and confident that I have always acted in the best interests of the university and our student-athletes.”
Tang, the former Baylor assistant who replaced Bruce Weber as head coach in 2022, forged a 71-57 record in three-plus years at the helm. Tang directed the Wildcats to a No. 3 seed and an Elite Eight appearance in his first season, but he followed that with three straight sub-.500 records in Big 12 play.
The breaking point likely came Wednesday night, shortly after Kansas State suffered a 91-62 loss to Cincinnati in front of a home crowd listed at 7,274 at the 13,500-seat Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan., that included several students wearing paper bags over their heads.
After the game in which the Wildcats never led, Tang savaged his team in his brief news conference.
“I’m going to honor Christ like I always do,” Tang said. “Blessed to do this. But this was embarrassing. These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform. There will be very few of them in it next year. Like, I am embarrassed for the university. I am embarrassed for our fans, our student section. You know, it is just ridiculous. We got practice at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. And we will get this thing right.”
Kansas State lost Tang’s final game by a 78-64 count on Saturday at No. 3 Houston, which marked the team’s 11th loss in 12 games.
The program’s collapse comes after Tang spent lavishly in the transfer portal. All-American guard P.J. Haggerty led a quintet of double-figure scorers who switched to Kansas State, which inspired 247Sports to rank it as the No. 4 transfer class.
Haggerty ranks third nationally in scoring (23.3 ppg), but No. 2 scorer Abdi Bashir (13.2 ppg, 67 3-pointers) has missed the last seven games due to a stress fracture in his foot and others have not delivered as hoped.
Taylor said he talked to the team after they met with Tang on Sunday.
“I just told them what moving forward was going to be,” Taylor said. “It’s tough; it’s an emotional thing. They’re shocked, they’re sad, they’re angry. I just ask them to, if they’re angry, they should be angry at me and I asked them to finish the year strong for the program, for Coach Tang and for the staff.”
–Field Level Media
