Matthew Driscoll's Baylor Days With Jerome Tang Motivated Move To Kansas State
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Matthew Driscoll had the chance to extend his 16-year head coaching tenure at North Florida a few days ago.
Instead, he went to Kansas State to become an associate head coach under a familiar face, Jerome Tang. Tang and Driscoll were at Baylor together under coach Scott Drew from 2003 to 2009. Driscoll says the foundation and culture that the two built in Waco, TX, made him optimistic to translate to Kansas State.
“It was never really clear to me that it was time to go until April 3," Driscoll said in his opening press conference on Friday. "To my face, coach Tang made it very clear, intentionally through prayer, and me intentionally. And because of that, even for all the people I had some ideas for, he said, ‘Coach, I want you.’ And specifically, it was because of our six years at Baylor. Which, in his words, turned into the whole time he was at Baylor. What we did, and the way that we did it, you could imagine what was going on there. It resonated.”
Driscoll and Tang initially struggled at Baylor, posting winless seasons in their first four years as Drew first entered the program. However, things eventually turned in 2007, when they clinched an NCAA Tournament spot after finishing with their first winning conference record. Since then, Baylor has never had a losing season and has become a regular Tournament contender every year.
Hopefully, the former Baylor assistants can have that type of turnaround in Manhattan, KS. The Wildcats missed the postseason last year after a rollercoaster season, signaling a need for adjustments.
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Jayden is a journalism school graduate of Howard University. He was the 2024 recipient of the Terez Paylor scholarship award. He previously worked at the Orlando Sentinel.
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