1 hot 103-win Big Ten coach Kansas State MBB cannot target after Jerome Tang’s firing originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Coach Jerome Tang’s relationship with the Kansas State Wildcats is no longer, as Sunday night saw the school announce the pair had gone their separate ways, despite only six regular-season games remaining before conference tournament play starts March 10 in Kansas City.
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Both the school and Tang have released statements regarding the situation. The Wildcats’ brass intends to fire Tang “for cause” and not honor his $18.7 million buyout despite this season’s on-court performance potentially being another justifiable reason. The Wildcats (10-15, 1-11 Big 12) have failed to reach the NCAA Tournament under Tang’s direction in all but one season of his tenure that began in 2022.
Under Tang, the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight in 2023, but it was never built upon in future seasons.
Now, the program looks for a clean slate.
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“This was a decision that was made in the best interest of our university and men’s basketball program,” AD 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. We wish Coach Tang and his family all the best moving forward.”
Tang sees the change differently, though, and personally.
“I am deeply disappointed with the university’s decision and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination,” Tang said. “I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach.”
Tang added he was grateful to those closest to him, but didn’t have many kind words for the Wildcats on the way out.
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“I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the opportunity to serve as head coach at Kansas State,” Tang added. “It has been one of the great honors of my life. 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.”
As for who could replace Tang, a few options have already been thrown around by national insiders. But one name in particular, Illinois coach Brad Underwood, has continued to get thrown around nearly once a year in hypothetical coaching cycles as his team’s success levels up.
Even though Underwood has Big 12 ties from his days as the coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys (2016-2017) and his playing and coaching career, which spanned between 1984-2012 with stops at Western Illinois, South Carolina (associate head coach) and Stephen F. Austin, to name a few, a reunion in Manhattan is not possible.
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Per the current terms of Underwood’s contract with Illinois, a position he has held since before the 2017 season, he can’t jump ship even if he were to try to.
In a quote-tweet responding to Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68, Illini Inquirer’s Jeremy Werner set the record straight.
“1) He has a non-compete clause with all of college basketball. He can’t leave. 2) #illini are a top-tier Big Ten program. Why would he leave?” Werner tweeted.
Werner’s second bullet is an opinion rather than a verifiable fact, but he has a point. Illinois went to the Elite Eight in 2024, securing its second Big Ten Tournament title in Underwood’s tenure after having done so three years earlier. But unlike the 2021 season, 2024 marked the farthest Illinois has advanced in the tournament since 2004-2005, when it lost the national title game to North Carolina.
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So, in a nutshell, Underwood isn’t leaving Champaign anytime soon and has secured 103 Big Ten wins in nearly a decade.
And there’s still more work to do.
