Ex-Kansas State Coach Jerome Tang Returning to Baylor As an Assistant

Bears coach Scott Drew is getting the band back together.

Jerome Tang (left) and Scott Drew (right) worked together to bring a championship to Baylor in 2021. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In 2021, Baylor made men’s college basketball magic, posting a 28-2 record and crushing Gonzaga to win the national championship.

Since then (and since 2022 more specifically), though, the Bears haven’t been quite the same. There’s a reason for that—the loss of associate head coach Jerome Tang, a defensive wizard, to Kansas State.

Now, Tang is reportedly heading back south to Waco, Texas. Baylor is bringing back Tang as associate head coach on a multi-year contract, according to a Tuesday afternoon report from Pete Thamel of ESPN.

The Wildcats fired Tang as their head coach on Feb. 15 amid a 10-15 start to the 2026 season.

For a moment, it looked like Kansas State struck gold when it hired Tang

Kansas State coach Jerome Tang speaks with guard P.J. Haggerty against Arizona State. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

That moment was the 2023 season, which will live forever in Wildcats lore. On no one’s radar to start the campaign, Kansas State opened 15-1, catapulting into the top 15 by beating No. 6 Texas 116–103 on Jan. 3.

The Wildcats eventually rose as high as No. 5, their highest AP ranking since 2011. In the NCAA tournament, they rode undersized guard Markquis Nowell to the Elite Eight, where they bowed out against Florida Atlantic. Tang won multiple Coach of the Year honors, including Naismith College Coach of the Year and Big 12 Coach fo the Year.

That, however, was the best it got for Kansas State. The Wildcats lost in the NIT in 2024, went 16-17 in 2025, and stumbled again in `26. After a particularly disheartening February loss to Cincinnati, Tang laid into his team, saying they did “not deserve to wear this uniform.” Kansas State used that statement as an excuse to fire Tang for cause.

Baylor, however, seems to truly need Tang

Tang was the brains behind the Bears’ defense in coach Scott Drew’s glory years, helping the Bears finish in the top 30 in the country in defensive rating in each of his last three seasons with the team. Since then, Baylor’s defense has fallen apart, as evidenced by these defensive rating rankings: 220th in `23, 187th in `24, 163rd in `25, and 242nd in `26. Tang’s defenses with the Wildcats weren’t so airtight, either, but with the exception of `26, every team’s defensive rating was higher than any of the last four Bears teams.

It’s clear that Drew and Tang need each other, as coaches joined at the hip often do. Drew hired Tang as an assistant coach way back in 2003, when the Bears were digging out of one of college basketball’s darkest scandals. Together, they molded Baylor into a winner—and then one of the sport’s most prolific winners, making 13 NCAA tournaments at a program with only four appearances prior.

The Bears are coming off a season where they made more news for signing center James Nnaji—a `23 NBA draftee—than anything they did on the court. Drew, however, remains one of the sport’s most respected coaches, and if a few roster moves break right for him and Tang in the next few years it’s not hard to see Baylor back contending in March.

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