Jerome Tang says K-State has best point guard, shooter and athlete in the country
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- Jerome Tang declares K-State has the nation’s best point guard, shooter and athlete.
- PJ Haggerty joins K-State and assumes scoring, playmaking and leadership duties.
- Coaches cite deep guard group, shooting depth and chemistry as reasons for optimism.
Kansas State men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang isn’t afraid to make bold statements about his players as the 2025-26 season approaches.
On PJ Haggerty: “He’s the best point guard in the country, and he’s learning to be a great leader.”
On Abdi Bashir: “The best shooter in the country.”
On Mobi Ikegwuruka: “The best athlete in the country, and in the world right now. Some of the stuff he does not even elite people can do.”
On the K-State roster as a whole: “I love our group.”
Tang made those comments while he was on the main stage at Big 12 Media Day on Wednesday inside T-Mobile Center. And they go to show how much confidence he has in the Wildcats, even though most coaches tend to speak positively at this time of year.
For months, Tang has avoided cameras. He didn’t participate in a single news conference with local media during the offseason and only began publicly speaking about K-State’s rebuilt roster earlier this month at the start of practice.
Instead of talking, Tang chose to spend his time recruiting, evaluating the transfer portal and coaching. That strategy made sense, considering that the Wildcats were coming off a losing season. They have also missed the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years.
But now that Tang has seen this team bond and mature during the academic year, he is ready to share his excitement about the future of K-State basketball.
“I see it every day,” Tang said. “It’s not just the guys I mentioned out there. We have got a collection of six guards that are as good as I’ve been around. They’ve got size. They can shoot the ball. They spin that thing, man. They do a lot of really good things on the floor together.”
Haggerty is expected to lead the show.
The Memphis transfer guard averaged 21.9 points last season on his way to consensus second team All-America honors for the Tigers. K-State coaches rave about his ability to pass, shoot and get to the free-throw line.
They are expecting him to do a little bit of everything now that he is in a purple uniform.
“He’s required to be more of a leader than he’s had to be before,” Tang said. “Every other place he’s been, they just wanted him to score buckets. That isn’t a bad thing, because he does that really well. But we need a little bit more from him, because we want to accomplish something greater. He’s embraced that role every single day and you can see his growth.
“I like guards who can score and put pressure on the defense. Man, he can do that. But he’s a terrific passer and a great ball-screen reader. He was never required to do that before, but he’s capable of making reads in the ball screen and getting other guys involved.”
Bashir will help Haggerty pile up assists.
The 6-foot-7 transfer guard averaged 20.1 points and drained 127 shots from 3-point range for Monmouth last season. He has made plenty of shots in the K-State practice facility.
“He can really, really shoot it,” Tang said. “I like the way he prepares every day before and after practice. He takes it seriously. Then you watch him shoot and you see that thing just keep going in. If there’s somebody better than him out there, I’d like to see it. Maybe someone is just as good, but not better.”
Akron transfer Nate Johnson and Serbian freshman Andrej Kostic also figure to play big roles in the backcourt, along with returners David Castillo and CJ Jones.
Time will tell how many games they can win together this season. For now, though, expectations are on the rise.
“The energy we have on the court and off the court just shows what we can do the whole year,” Haggerty said. “The chemistry we have is one of one.”
This story was originally published October 22, 2025 at 1:11 PM.