K-State Q&A: On Jerome Tang and a frustrating basketball season for the Wildcats
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tang blames shifting NCAA rules for roster gaps and inconsistent team building.
- K-State sits last in Big 12; close-game failures and roster losses hurt season.
- Few roster players were recruited from high school; most were transfers/Europeans.
I am still trying to make sense of what Jerome Tang said after Kansas State’s most recent men’s basketball loss at West Virginia.
The fourth-year head coach pointed to rapidly changing NCAA rules as one of the biggest reasons why he hasn’t been able to build a consistent winner in Manhattan. Case in point, the Wildcats had to enter this season without three players that he fully expected to be on the roster.
K-State has played 21 games this season, and that’s the first time I’ve heard that used as an excuse.
Which three players was he referencing? Good question. I didn’t make the trip to Morgantown for the game, so I wasn’t on hand to ask follow-ups. Tang seems to have no interest in holding midweek news conferences while the team is losing, so I haven’t had a chance to ask about his mini-rant since the Wildcats returned home, either.
But I am going to assume that he meant Tyreek Smith, Max Jones and Brice Dessert.
I’m not sure how rule changes kept any of them off this team.
Smith had already played a full four seasons of college basketball at other schools and sat out two more since first enrolling at Texas Tech in 2019. He was never a slam-dunk to play at K-State. He needed a waiver to receive an extra year of eligibility, and it was denied.
Jones had already played five full seasons of college basketball. Expecting him to receive extra eligibility because he spent two years at a Division II school was always a long shot. It didn’t happen.
Dessert is a European pro to whom K-State was linked on the recruiting trail. But he ultimately signed a new pro contract and decided to stay overseas. Did the NCAA deny him college eligibility? I’m not sure.
I suppose it’s also possible that Tang was referring to Ashton Magee, a high school recruit who was committed to K-State at one point last year but ended up at Southern. He is averaging 3.3 points per game as a freshman.
It was a weird comment for him to make, any way you slice it.
But it did draw attention away from the fact that K-State is 1-4 in conference games that have been decided by single digits this season. Winning close games was once a strength for Tang. But it’s been hard for the Wildcats to close out games this year.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Hypothetically, if Max Jones and Tyreek Smith are on the 2025-26 K-State men’s basketball roster, where is this team right now? -@0Mantz via X.
The Wildcats would be better with both of those players, no doubt. But I still don’t think they would be a NCAA Tournament team.
Smith averaged 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds during his original senior season at SMU. But he never topped 5.2 points and 4.4 rebounds during his three seasons in the Big 12 at Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
An extra body would have certainly helped make up for the recent losses of Elias Rapieque and Khamari McGriff, but I have my doubts he would be an all-conference forward.
Jones averaged 12.3 points last season. But let’s remember K-State wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire with him in the lineup.
Dessert is a total wildcard. Given how K-State’s other European players have looked this season, I find it hard to believe he would have done much better.
If Tang was actually referring to Markquis Nowell, Keyontae Johnson and Dean Wade, then maybe it’s a different story.
This whole discussion makes me think of the scene from the Christmas movie “Elf,” in which Walter Hobbs tries to explain to his publisher why a children’s book he recently created isn’t selling well.
His argument: two pages accidentally went missing from the story.
The publisher’s response: “Even if those pages were in there, the book still would have sucked.”
If Jerome Tang comes back for next year, does he have any players identified as incoming freshman for recruiting? I haven’t seen a single player identified yet -@mmendenh7302 via X.
Not that I am aware of.
Tang has more or less abandoned high school recruiting in recent years. There are only three players on the current K-State basketball roster who came to Manhattan out of high school — Exavier Wilson, David Castillo and Taj Manning.
In recent years, the Wildcats have focused more on bringing in transfers and Europeans.
Tang has said that he doesn’t think a team can rely on high school recruiting to win in the current era of college basketball.
While there is certainly some wisdom in that statement, plenty of teams are winning with freshmen this season. Darryn Peterson is a star at Kansas. AJ Dybantsa is a stud at BYU. Kingston Flemings is killing it at Houston. And Koa Peat is a one-man wrecking crew at Arizona.
Worst of all, K-State didn’t bother to recruit Keaton Wagler out of Shawnee Mission Northwest. He is currently averaging 17.5 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game for Brad Underwood at Illinois.
You could certainly make an argument that K-State would have been better off recruiting high school players.
We are nearing the halfway point of the Big 12 basketball season. Grade K-State’s season thus far with Player of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, and Biggest Disappointment of the Year -@bfullingt1 via X.
The only possible letter grade right now is F.
K-State occupies last place in the Big 12 standings. The Wildcats started 5-0 to give fans hope. Since then, their only notable wins have come against Creighton and Utah. And they just suffered their worst loss to Kansas since 2014. Things are bad inside Bramlage Coliseum right now.
Player of the Year: PJ Haggerty wins by default. At least he’s a consistent scorer.
Most Improved: Taj Manning. This award could easily go to David Castillo, instead. Castillo has made a bigger impact for the Wildcats this season. But he was expected to make a jump as a sophomore. Manning has gone from the end of the bench to the starting lineup. He’s become a solid role player. In a season filled with disappointment, let’s celebrate his perseverance.
Biggest Disappointment: Andrej Kostic and Elias Rapieque. Much more was expected from a pair of former European pros.
Dorin Buca seems to be improving by leaps and bounds. Should he be playing more? -@LarryVW57 via X.
I agree. Dorin Buca has been a serviceable big man all season. He has been by far the most productive EuroCat on the roster.
When he is on the floor, his 7-foot-2 frame makes it hard for the other team to score in the paint. He is a good rim protector and a solid rebounder.
But I’m not sure he should be playing much more than he currently is. Buca is big and slow and he doesn’t have much of a scoring touch. He has started in each of the past three games and only scored a total of six points in 62 minutes of action.
I’m good with him playing around 25 minutes per night.
If you could have any K-State player throwback jersey for your man cave or to rock out in the world what would you choose? For me, it is either a Beasley Black Cat Scratch, Josh Freeman Tampa Creamsicle, Mitch Richmond 1996 Olympic, or a white Chiefs Gary Spani -@scottwildcat via X.
Those are all excellent choices.
I hope you get to unwrap at least one of them on your birthday this year!
My pick for a vintage K-State jersey: Jeremiah Massey. I liked his game and his hair. The old purple jerseys with “Kansas” on top of the number and “State” below the number are what I first associated with K-State hoops.
My pick for a vintage pro jersey: Wesley Iwundu. I love the alternate green jerseys he wore for a few games when he was with the Dallas Mavericks.
We are all depressed man. You know why. It’s winter. Basketball is not basketballing very good. It’s dark all the time. How does this general suckage affect your work/life balance? Any tips on beating the doldrums? -@the_funky_andy via X.
It’s always preferable for a beat writer to cover a winning team, because fans don’t tend to read about teams when they are losing.
But it can still be fun and interesting to cover a team at the bottom of the standings. There has still been plenty to write about this season.
I realize it’s different for fans. If you’re looking for an escape, there’s plenty of other stuff going on in this world.
Read a book. Start a new show on Netflix. Plan a vacation. Build a ship in a bottle.
Or maybe just treat yourself to a nice dinner every time the Cats disappoint you.
Should we expect any more football signings from transfer portal this year? -@BusMedicMike via X.
Yes, the Wildcats will almost certainly sign another player or two out of the transfer portal.
There is no deadline for adding players.
But the bulk of Collin Kelin’s inaugural transfer class is already in place.
What is the first sport we will win a national championship in? -@GoKats153
Women’s flag football.
K-State should add the sport tomorrow and try to win a natty before it becomes mainstream.
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 5:30 AM.