JM: And with that, Nijel Pack announced that he is entering the transfer portal. It’s interesting that he made a point to say that K-State will be one of the schools he will consider. I guess if he doesn’t get a good offer anywhere he could still come back, but I put the chances of that at about zero. Losing Pack is a real bummer. I really liked him, but it’s not the end of the world that he is exploring his options. Let’s see who this coaching staff gets to replace him.

Pack isn’t the only K-State player to transfer in the last couple of days…

Romans 8:28
To my former teammate’s, coaches, and fans, THANK YOU! I will always have love for the Kansas State Family! My time in Manhattan has come to an end. With that being said, I have decided it’s best for me to enter my name into the transfer portal. pic.twitter.com/gzJZ47WbIQ

— Luke Kasubke (@LukeKasubke) March 31, 2022

Two more Wildcats enter the transfer portal as Luke Kasubke and Carlton Linguard Jr join Selton Miguel in leaving the Wildcat program since Jerome Tang took over as head coach. pic.twitter.com/x9w7JRxvEh

— Wichita’sSportsStationKGSO (@KGSORadio) March 29, 2022

JM: Kasubke and Linguard aren’t huge losses, but first-team All-Big 12 selection Nijel Pack is. Reaction on social media to the news of Pack transferring ranged from panicked to calm, cool, and collected to downright crazy. Check this one out…

It’s official, the @KStateMBB hire of Tang is a complete disaster. The horrible resumes of his cronies he’s hiring is, alone, enough to send Nijel Pack elsewhere. I don’t blame him. #truthhurts

— kevin kietzman (@kkhasissues) March 31, 2022

JM: I know Kevin personally and we’ve disagreed on sports topics before, but we couldn’t be further apart on this one. Tang’s coaching hires actually have great resumes. Jareem Dowling from North Texas is known as a great recruiter and has deep ties to the AAU circuit. New associate head coach Ulric Maligi from Texas is known as one of the best recruiters in the country. To say they have horrible resumes and are “cronies,” is just plain wrong. I’m sure they’re all friends and/or acquaintances of Tang, but with their strong resumes it’s a far cry from being “cronies.”

These coaches have had conversations with and offered scholarships to numerous four and five-star recruits in just a week’s time. If they land even a couple of them, it’s better than Bruce Weber ever did when recruiting. I’m still in wait-and-see mode, but we need to let this play out. I’m still optimistic.

Kim Tang, Jerome’s sister, was active on Twitter today defending coach Tang, who was taking some heat for letting Nijel Pack get away.

JM: Well one thing’s for sure….Kim’s not afraid to give her take. Maybe she needs to start a blog!

Brad Underwood joined @J810Anderson today and talked about how close he came to taking the Kansas State coaching job, as well as how he feels about Jerome Tang.

Feel how you want about him not taking this job, but that man still bleeds purple. pic.twitter.com/hPUIPZcE5h

— Riley Gates (@Riley_Gates) April 1, 2022

JM: Nijel Pack took most of the headlines today, but in other news, Brad Underwood was interviewed on 810 Sports in Kansas City. I found his comments kind of interesting, so I thought I’d share them here. Underwood and K-State were definitely talking through his agent, but Gene Taylor and Brad Underwood never had a conversation. I find that really odd, but I guess that’s how things are done sometimes.

It’s been fun following basketball recruiting the last week or so and I expect that to continue. Hope we see some commitments soon.

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