Kansas State fired fourth-year basketball coach Jerome Tang on Sunday, a source told CBS Sports.
Athletic director Gene Taylor subsequently revealed late Sunday night he made the decision to fire Tang following K-State’s loss at houston on Saturday. The move comes less than four days after Tang’s postgame rant went viral following an embarrassing 91-62 home loss to Cincinnati on Thursday. a
“This was a decision that was made in the best interest of our university and men’s basketball program,” Taylor said in a statement. “Recent public comments and conduct, in addition to the program’s overall direction, have not aligned with K-State’s standards for supporting student-athletes and representing the university. We wish coach Tang and his family all the best moving forward.”
The Wildcats are 10-15 and in the midst of their second-worst season in the past 20-plus years. Kansas State ranks 101st at KenPom.com and is 1-11 in the Big 12. The team is headed toward a second straight sub-.500 season despite being one of the bigger spenders in the transfer portal the past two offseasons.
Kansas State will attempt to fire Tang for cause. Tang has a buyout of more than $18 million, per the terms of his contract, but Taylor believes Tang’s public criticisms of the players and the response that press conference spurred in the national media violated the terms of his contract.
Tang released a statement disputing Kansas State’s assessment of the program.
“I am deeply disappointed with the university’s decision and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination. I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach,” Tang said. “I am grateful to the players, staff, and fans who make this program so special. I remain proud of what we built together and confident that I have always acted in the best interests of the university and our student-athletes.”
Associate head coach Matthew Driscoll has been named interim head coach for the rest of the season.
LISTEN: Matt Norlander breaks down Tang’s final days at K-State on this emergency edition of the Eye on College Basketball podcast.
Tang went 71-57 in less than four seasons on the job, including a 29-39 mark in the Big 12. He was hired in 2022 and an immediate success: He guided the Wildcats to the Elite Eight with a No. 3 seed and finished 26-10 thanks to the dynamic duo of point guard Markquis Nowell and forward Keyontae Johnson. Nowell’s 19 assists in a Sweet 16 victory vs. Michigan State at Madison Square Garden set both an NCAA Tournament record and an optimistic tone for the Tang era, but it’s been a litany of letdowns ever since.
K-State is coming off a 78-64 loss at No. 3 Houston on Saturday. Tang had the players’ names removed from the back of their jerseys for that game in a questionable move that followed his criticism of KSU players following the Wildcats’ loss to the Bearcats.
“This was embarrassing,” Tang said Wednesday night at his press conference. “These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform. There will be very few of them in it next year. I’m embarrassed for the university, I’m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. It is just ridiculous.”
That’s the quote that has Tang’s legal team and Kansas State’s lawyers set to battle in the weeks ahead. If K-State wins, it won’t pay Tang another dime. If it loses, Tang will have more than $18.5 million coming his way. There is also the realistic possibility that the parties wind up settling somewhere in the wide gulf between those two numbers.
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