Former Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang is returning to Baylor as the associate head coach, ESPN reported on Tuesday.
Tang reportedly was working with the university to finalize a multi-year contract to rejoin longtime coach Scott Drew’s staff.
Tang, 59, spent nearly two decades on the Bears’ coaching staff, including when Baylor won the national championship in 2021. He was an assistant coach from 2003-17 and associate head coach from 2017-22.
Tang replaced Bruce Weber as head coach at Kansas State in 2022, forging a 71-57 record in three-plus years at the helm. Tang directed the Wildcats to a No. 3 seed and an Elite Eight appearance in his first season, but he followed that with three straight sub-.500 records in Big 12 play.
He was fired with cause by Kansas State on Feb. 16, four days after going on a postgame rant after the Wildcats suffered a 91-62 loss to Cincinnati in front of a home crowd listed at 7,274 at the 13,500-seat Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan., that included several students wearing paper bags over their heads.
“This was embarrassing. These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform. There will be very few of them in it next year,” Tang said after the game in which the Wildcats never led. “Like, I am embarrassed for the university. I am embarrassed for our fans, our student section. You know, it is just ridiculous.”
In announcing the firing days later, Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor said, “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. … Basically, his comments about the student-athletes and the negative reaction to those comments from sources, both nationally and locally, is where it kind of felt like I needed to make the decision.”
Tang issued a statement at the time disagreeing with how the university characterized his firing.
“I am deeply disappointed with the university’s decision and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination,” Tang said in a statement. “I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach. … 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.”
Drew and Baylor experienced their own struggles last season, finishing 6-12 in the Big 12 and missing the NCAA Tournament despite having at least two players expected to be picked in June’s NBA Draft.
The longest-tenured coach in the conference, Drew expressed empathy for Tang after his firing when Baylor lost 90-74 to Kansas State on Feb. 17.
“Nineteen years together, he’s family,” Drew said. “We won championships together. It’s been emotional for me, our staff and our program, because everyone can relate. If you’ve got a brother or a friend and they go through hardship, you feel it.”
–Field Level Media
