Jerome Tang proud of K-State even though this season didn’t meet his winning standard

Jerome Tang’s favorite moment of this basketball season happened far away from the court.

Not long after Kansas State gave up a last-second shot and lost a pivotal road game at Cincinnati, which significantly weakened its NCAA Tournament resume, Tang was beaming with pride when his players were able to quickly put that defeat behind them and give back to the Manhattan community little more than 24 hours later.

“We got home, probably around 2 in the morning,” Tang said. “And at 8 in the morning (the following day) our guys were at an elementary school reading to kids. Those are the kinds of dudes that we have in our program. That’s what our program is about and what it’s built on.”

That gives the K-State coach confidence that the Wildcats are heading in the right direction, even though they only won 19 games and ended the season with a loss to Iowa in the NIT.

“The standard that we had this year for wins is what we didn’t meet,” Tang said. “But we met everything else. What we do in the locker room, what we do in the classroom, what we do in the community, how we conduct ourselves and how we treat people (is all there). So I couldn’t be prouder of these young men.”

There are certainly several different ways to judge the 2023-24 basketball season for K-State.

On one hand they only won 19 games, finished 10th in the Big 12 standings and fell short of the NCAA Tournament. Many will deem that a failure, regardless of circumstances.

But there were some good moments. The Wildcats logged impressive wins over Baylor, BYU, Iowa State, Kansas and Texas. They also won seven games in overtime, which is a sign of good coaching and clutch players. They performed well enough to keep fans dreaming about March Madness until they exited the conference tournament.

It’s also worth pointing out that K-State was expecting to rely heavily on Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Ques Glover this season, and neither of them ended up logging a single minute for the Wildcats.

Tomlin was suspended and then dismissed from the team following a bar fight in Aggieville. He transferred to Memphis mid-season following some much-publicized drama with the university. He averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds for the Tigers. Glover suffered a pair of injuries and was never healthy enough to play.

Adding them to the rotation easily could been the difference between K-State playing in the NCAA Tournament instead of the NIT.

Tang can’t think of many other teams that he has coached that have dealt with more roster adversity than this one.

“I hear some teams in the NCAA Tournament talking about guys who are injured or can’t play and they’re down two starters,” Tang said on his postgame radio show at Iowa. “Well, try doing that the whole year and have your team in limbo and in flux.”

Still, he thought they managed the situation as best they could.

“These guys went through some things but they responded every time,” Tang said. “We didn’t have our whole group this year, but our guys didn’t stop fighting ... That’s what I’m going to remember and that’s what I’m going to cherish. I felt like they gave everything they had.”

It will be interesting to see where K-State goes from here.

The Wildcats could look much different next season.

Tylor Perry and Will McNair are out of eligibility. Arthur Kaluma and David N’Guessan need to decide if they want to turn pro. The rest of the roster is free to transfer or remain in Manhattan for another season with the Wildcats.

Some of those players will undoubtedly seek fresh starts elsewhere. The coaches will also likely encourage others to enter the transfer portal. That is the new normal in college basketball.

The goal for Tang should be to keep the right mixture of players to build around, even if it’s a small group. Adding impact transfers around them could be key to allowing K-State to reach its high standards both on and off the court next season.