From The Couch – Jerome Tang Hire Official
The K-State athletic department officially announced today that Baylor associate head coach Jerome Tang will be the next men’s head basketball coach. The introductory press conference is set for Thursday at a time to be determined. Tang agreed to a six-year contract that will pay him 2.1 million dollars his first year and a $100,000 increase to his base salary each year of the contract. Both Tang and athletic director Gene Taylor released statements today.
“I am beyond excited to be the next head basketball coach at Kansas State. Having the opportunity to build on a program with a rich basketball history at a prestigious university is truly a blessing. We look forward to bringing an exciting style of basketball to K-State while helping our student-athletes succeed on the court and in life. My family and I can’t wait to get to Manhattan and form deep relationships with our students, former players, alumni, and Wildcat fans everywhere. We look forward to making the Octagon of Doom the best home-court advantage in the country!”…Jerome Tang, 3/21/2022
JM: Hey, sounds great to me. Especially the “exciting” style of basketball and mentioning bringing the “Octagon of Doom” back!
“I am extremely excited to welcome Jerome, Careylyen, Seven, and Aylyn to Manhattan and K-State. As we conducted a national search to find our next head coach, we wanted to identify an individual who can lead our program to consistently high levels while maintaining the integrity that our program is known for. When we first met with Jerome, he was very impressive, and that continued throughout the duration of our search.”…Gene Taylor, 3/21/2022
JM: “While maintaining the integrity that our program is known for” is an odd thing to include here. Maybe a veiled shot at some of the other candidates?
“From a detailed recruiting plan and familiarity with our league, his knack for building and maintaining tremendous relationships with everyone he comes in contact with, to offensive and defensive philosophies, he has what it takes to be a successful leader. His vision for our program is something that all K-Staters will be excited about and one that helped build a Baylor program from the ground up, culminating with a national championship. With him at the helm, I know that great days are ahead for K-State basketball.”…Gene Taylor, 3/21/2022
JM: I’m looking to see some more details about this “detailed recruiting plan.” Successful recruiting is the name of the game and it will determine whether Tang is successful or not at K-State.
“I have high confidence that his leadership will produce a very competitive men’s basketball program. He deeply values community, family, and a strong work ethic, values that are all directly in line with the K-State way.”…K-State President Richard Linton, 3/21/2022
JM: This also sounds good to me and I hope we hear more details about this on Thursday.
“If you don’t know anything about him, you’re gonna like him. He comes with a lot of energy, a lot of passion, he’s got a great plan for our program and a great plan for us to continue to get better…. There were a lot of programs that came after him this year to be a Power 5 head coach and we’re the only ones that he talked to.”…Gene Taylor, addressing the players on the team, 3/21/2022
JM: It sounds like Jerome Tang had K-State on his radar and nobody else. I find this kind of hard to believe because I have seen a lot written over the last couple of weeks that he was in the mix as a candidate at a lot of schools. If he truly only talked to K-State, that means he really wanted the job and that K-State was his first choice, which says a lot. Here’s a link to Gene’s full posted comments…
JM: And finally, a motivational message to K-State students from Coach Tang….
JM: Thursday’s press conference should be interesting. I’m looking forward to it.
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“Make the Octagon a place of DOOM! The toughest environment in college basketball! Best home-court advantage in America! We’re gonna do it together!”…Jerome Tang, 2/21/2022
