Here’s what Jerome Tang will value most as he recruits new K-State basketball players
Ten years ago, before he agreed to take over as the Kansas State men’s basketball coach, Bruce Weber used some clever back channels to check in on returning players and make sure they weren’t thinking about joining the transfer market.
He only wanted the job if the Wildcats had a strong foundation of talent to work with.
Fast forward a decade, and it seems as though Jerome Tang had no such reservations about leaving his longtime gig with Baylor to become head coach in Manhattan. Eight different scholarship players, either of their own volition or at the urging of their new coaches, have announced plans to transfer away from K-State and continue their college careers elsewhere since Tang was hired last month.
That leaves K-State with just three returning scholarship players — Markquis Nowell, Ismael Massoud and Logan Landers.
Some of the transfers were easy to stomach. Others, like first-team All-Big 12 guard Nijel Pack and two-year starters Davion Bradford and Selton Miguel, were not.
Any way you slice it, Tang now resembles an artist looking at a blank canvas. He may only have three paint brushes at the moment, but that will soon change. The Wildcats have eight open scholarships to use as they work to reshape their roster ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Jareem Dowling, one of the new K-State assistant coaches working under Tang, knows exactly what the Wildcats will prioritize on the recruiting trail this spring.
“We need really good guard play to go along with Markquis,” Dowling said. “It would be great to have multiple guys that can handle, dribble, pass and shoot. That’s really important. And then a mobile big that can guard ball screens and catch lobs and run the floor. Having good guard play means that you’re going to have options and you’re going to be able to go out and get in transition.”
It’s reasonable to assume that K-State will look to load up on at least a few incoming transfers this cycle.
Associate head coach Ulric Maligi said last week that the Wildcats need “immediate impact” guards and forwards to replace all the production that they are losing. But that doesn’t mean K-State coaches will spend all of their time shopping in the NCAA transfer portal.
At Baylor, the teams that Tang helped coach alongside Scott Drew had the most success when they recruited developmental players who stayed in Waco for four full years. Recruiting players who wanted to play and improve under Tang, and then keeping them happy, was Tang’s recipe for success. He doesn’t want to veer too far away from that strategy.
“With Coach Tang’s leadership and his experience over 19 years at Baylor,” Dowling said, “building rosters and keeping guys happy and redshirting them, I think some of those blueprints will be the same. We don’t expect to have 19 guys who are are playing. That is not realistic at any level. We are looking for some guys that we can bring in and develop over the course of time and build depth for our program. We’re not trying to be a one-year flash in the pan. We’re looking to build longevity.”
To that end, Dowling compared K-State’s recruiting strategy to preparing a meal at home in your kitchen.
“We’re not worried about building it quickly,” Dowling said. “We don’t want a microwave situation. We want to put it in the oven at 350 and have it bake correctly. You know, we will take it out and look at it, put it back in and make sure it’s ready to eat when it’s time to eat.”
Tang and his assistant coaches have been hard at work contacting new recruits. It’s only a matter of time before they start to replenish K-State’s basketball roster. Their plan is in motion.