Why Jerome Tang is using samurai swords to motivate K-State basketball this season
There is a new purple shirt that Jerome Tang likes to wear whenever he is coaching a Kansas State basketball practice.
It features the word “FORGING” spelled out in white capital letters above a Wildcats logo.
What does forging have to do with basketball? He’s glad you asked.
“I tell our team they all want to be K-State against Michigan State in Madison Square Garden,” Tang said in reference to a Sweet 16 victory over the Spartans last season. “Well, that is like a weapon, a samurai sword. But a samurai sword starts off as a piece of steel that looks nothing (like it). It has to be heated and it has to be pounded. And they dip it back in the water and you have to heat it and pound it some more. There is this whole process of getting it to become that sword.”
This is where Tang paused for a moment before continuing his analogy.
“We’re not that sword yet,” he said.
It has looked like K-State was on its way to playing basketball like a team of ninjas with samurai swords at times this season, but the Wildcats took a big step back in their last game.
K-State saw a five-game winning streak end with a humbling 62-46 home loss against Nebraska in which Tang’s team scored just 12 points in the second half.
At 8-3, the Wildcats have work to do if they hope to return to the NCAA Tournament this season. They can strengthen their resume when they play Wichita State at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. But Tang only thinks that can happen if K-State players work to become the best version of themselves.
To that end, he has introduced more than just shirts to the K-State locker room. Players are regularly reminded of their mission with miniature bars of steel and samurai swords.
We may find out just how committed they are to the idea of forging as they try to bounce back from their worst loss of the season.
“The guys have really bought into this,” Tang said. “We have pieces of steel and we’ve got little swords. This is where we are at and this where we are going. We are just going to forge through this thing. It’s not going to look pretty. It’s not going to be nice for some of you to write about. It was an ugly win or whatever it was. But we are just going to keep forging, keep heating it and pounding it and grinding it.
“At the end, we are going to be that weapon that we want to be that can get some stuff done.”