Kstate

Social Media Reactions to Kansas State Coach Jerome Tang

Coach Tang's season has not gone as planned; the Wildcats have a losing record and have played poorly for over a month.
Ryan Kay|
Kansas State Wildcats head coach Jerome Tang. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images
Kansas State Wildcats head coach Jerome Tang. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images | Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

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Kansas State Wildcats

Kansas State is 1-10 in Big 12 conference play going into their game against Houston, and things are not looking to improve this season.

Jerome Tang's job performance in his fourth season at Kansas State is reflected in the team's losing record, and there is growing frustration and even anger among the fanbase regarding his coaching this season. Since his first year as the Wildcats' coach, when his K-State team made it to the Elite Eight, the team's performance, season by season, has gradually worsened in terms of wins and losses. He and his team have not won a game in February, and their last win was on January 20th.

The team has had a lot of trouble on defense and on the boards this season, giving up 82 or more points in eight of their last ten games. They often allow teams to drive the lane and kick out for wide-open threes. They allow 80.8 points per game, which is the most in the Big 12 this season. On average, nearly every game, K-State turns the ball over 12.6 times, which is among the most in the Big 12 this season.

They have lost big at home, for example, by 34 points to Iowa State and 29 points to Cincinnati. There are students and fans who have recently been wearing "Paper Bags" on their heads, as some students put brown paper bags over their heads while they were in the stands watching the Cincinnati game. Some bags had notes in them that said Tang should be fired or that his buyout was worth $18.6 million.

The K-State athletic director, Gene Taylor, can't easily fire him because Tang's big buyout, which happened after he had a very successful first season as the Wildcats head coach and he was given a significant raise, makes it difficult to do so. The university is in a difficult position because financial constraints might prevent a change at this time, even though the program is clearly heading in the wrong direction under Tang's leadership.

To make matters even worse, Tang held a postgame news conference after his team lost to Cincinnati 91–62 at home. It got a lot of attention across the country. Tang emphasized the following things.

"They don't deserve to wear this uniform," he told them. "There will be very few of them in it next year."
Tang

Analysts, including those on ESPN's PTI, have called this "scorched earth" approach into question, saying that Tang, who is only in his fourth year as a coach, recruited the whole team by himself.

He, as the head coach, is 100% responsible for the K-State roster, so his criticizing his players is very hypocritical because Tang used the transfer portal to get many of his players for this season. Such an approach has led to a lot of turnover and a lack of that strong connection that student athletes have to their school, which they play for, before the NCAA changed the transfer rules. Even though they have talented players like PJ Haggerty, who is second in the Big 12 in scoring, the "pieces" haven't worked well together, as Tang added once again new players to his team's roster this season. The fact that certain players have received significantly less playing time on the basketball court in the past is also considered a sign of a bad program atmosphere.

Here is a look at social media posts about Tang's time as K-State's coach.

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Ryan Kay
RYAN KAY

Ryan Kay is a journalist who graduated from Michigan State in 2003 and is passionate about covering college sports and enjoys writing features and articles covering various collegiate teams. He has worked as an editor at Go Joe Bruin and has been a contributor for Longhorns Wire and Busting Brackets. He is a contributor for Kansas State On SI.

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