ESPN pundits criticize K-State basketball coach Jerome Tang for viral comments
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- ESPN pundits Kornheiser and Wilbon criticized Tang for his postgame tirade.
- K-State is 10-14 (1-10 Big 12), tied for last, on a five-game skid.
- Tang’s future is uncertain; $18.7M buyout applies if fired without cause before May 1.
The Kansas State men’s basketball team is starting to gain national attention in a disappointing season.
A day after the Wildcats lost 91-62 to Cincinnati — and head coach Jerome Tang angrily said his players “do not deserve to wear this uniform” in his postgame news conference --— Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon sounded off on the viral comments during the popular afternoon ESPN show “Pardon the Interruption.”
Spoiler alert: They were critical of Tang’s tirade, in which he also said K-State players “don’t love this place, so they don’t deserve to be here”
Kornheiser began the discussion, which lasted for more than 3 minutes.
“Can I ask the relevant question?” Kornheiser said, after reading Tang’s quotes on air. “Who recruited these people? Didn’t Tang recruit these people? He’s in his fourth season. So, he didn’t inherit any of these people. So, if mistakes are made, errors of judgment, they are his errors of judgment. I’m not saying he’s a bad coach. I was told he won 26 games in his first year and made the Elite Eight. He may have inherited some players on that team, but the team he’s got now, he clearly hates.”
He continued with even more thoughts.
“Look, this is college basketball right now,” Kornheiser said, “with NIL, and with the transfer portal, coaches make a lot of money, players make a lot of money, everybody’s a pro. Nobody’s sweating out a chem final anymore, Wilbon. Nobody’s caring about that. So, if you want to get rid of this guy Tang, you’ve got to pay him an $18 million buyout. It’s probably cheaper to get rid of the players.”
Wilbon suggested that Tang went too far in his criticism of K-State players.
“If I was the president of the university,” Wilbon said, “I would call Coach Tang, and I’d say, “So, you’ve got until the TV trucks get here at five o’clock for local news, to get down in something purple with a logo, and walk this back. That’s how long you’ve got. Because I will also terminate you for cause, and there may not be a buyout of ($18.7 million). And I think he’s probably a really good coach too, but you can’t go this far.”
K-State (10-14, 1-10 Big 12) is tied for last place in the Big 12 standings. The Wildcats have lost five straight games and appear to be on their way to a third straight season without a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Tang’s future with K-State is in doubt. The basketball program has declined every year since he guided the Wildcats to 26 victories and the Elite Eight in his first season in Manhattan.
K-State would owe Tang a buyout of $18.7 million if he is fired without cause before May 1.
A group of about two-dozen students called for a coaching change earlier this week when they wore brown paper bags over their heads as they watched the K-State/Cincinnati game inside Bramlage Coliseum.
Tang is still trying to turn this season around, though. He said he had K-State players running stairs at 6 a.m. on Thursday to get them ready for a daunting road trip to No. 3 Houston on Saturday.