Jerome Tang’s victory dances in crowd have quickly become a beloved K-State tradition

Jeremiah Belin is always one of the first Kansas State students to arrive at Bramlage Coliseum when the Wildcats play home basketball games. He shows up hours early, he sprints to his seat when the arena doors open and he typically watches games from the front row.

Snagging a primo spot is important to him, because he wants to be close to the action and help his favorite team win by cheering as loudly as his vocal cords will allow.

Lately, though, another reason has motivated the Hawaiian-shirt-wearing sophomore to keep sitting at the front of K-State’s student section — the chance to dance next to Jerome Tang after a victory.

“It’s a good feeling,” Belin said, “to have him standing right there and dancing beside you.”

Tang’s postgame victory celebration has taken on a life of its own. It started out as an impromptu dance in front of the K-State student section as fans swayed back and forth to the pep band’s rendition of “Wabash Cannonball” following a December victory over Nebraska. Quickly, it’s turned into a full-blown tradition.

The new ritual sends Tang hopping into the stands after every home win to dance and celebrate right along with his team’s biggest supporters.

We have seen Tang dance with students in the front row, we have seen him high-five fans at the top of the arena and we have even seen him scurry into the middle of the K-State pep band and pretend like he was playing the clarinet.

“It made me feel like he actually cares,” said Hannah Seck, a graduate student who plays clarinet for the K-State band. “It’s one thing for us to be here and to play for them every game and for them to say thank you to us, but for him to come up into the band and dance like he does with the students all the time was special. Sometimes we’re just kind of stuck in the corner here, so it really made us feel at home when he wanted to be with us.”

Tang’s celebrations have become such a hit in Manhattan that camera crews race to keep up with him after wins in hopes of recording his every move.

Following K-State’s most recent home victory, a convincing 75-65 win over No. 9 Baylor, Tang celebrated by jumping onto a courtside table and wildly pumping his fists in front of the K-State student section. Then he hopped into the crowd and began dancing right next to Belin.

Turns out, showing up early paid off.

“It was super exciting,” Belin said. “He has done it a few rows in front of me and a few rows behind me at other games. This time he was right there next to me. The fact that he wants to be a part of the student section every single game, it’s beautiful. It really is. You can tell he just wants to be part of this family.”

Dance, dance evolution

Ask Tang if he has ever celebrated like this at any other point in his coaching career and he reacts like Idris Elba devouring hot wings.

His response is an emphatic no.

But he wishes he could say yes. Before taking over at K-State last March as a first-time head coach at the college level he spent time working in the high school ranks and as an assistant with Baylor. During those years, he never coached in front of a rabid fan base that wanted to celebrate with him after wins.

Now that fans are showing up in big numbers to watch the Wildcats he wanted to show them love right back.

That started by asking K-State players to take a victory lap around Bramlage and mingle with fans after wins. Then it ballooned into him dancing with strangers. It might not be long before he starts crowd surfing.

“When I learned the tradition of the ‘Wabash Cannonball’ and why we do it and I saw the fire and all of that I thought it was just really cool,” Tang said. “Then, to see how much the students enjoyed it, I was like, ‘I’m going to do this, too.’”

It has become a stress release for him.

“I want to enjoy this,” Tang said. “Winning basketball games is hard. If we lose, I’m going to get fired and I’m never going to get a job again. So if I’m going to do this I’m going to do it my way. And my way is to have fun and enjoy winning and to do it with our students. They make such a huge difference.

“If we spend a little bit of time with them, that makes them want to come back and cheer our guys on. And that gives us this home-court advantage. I’m going to keep doing it.”

The first time Tang danced along to the “Wabash Cannonball” was when K-State defeated Nebraska in a semi-home game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. It was his first experience coaching in front of a juiced arena and he was pumped up when he delivered a win to the friendly crowd. So he went to midcourt, pointed at the student section and swayed back and forth all by himself.

K-State fans liked the celebration and video of his dance moves made the rounds on social media.

“He never did anything like that at Baylor,” Bears coach Scott Drew said. “But I always knew he had rhythm.”

Still, Tang thought he could do better. He also felt a bit awkward dancing solo. So as the wins kept coming he tried to do more with his new postgame tradition. Why not go into the student section? Why not jump on a scorer’s table? Why not mingle with the band?

His goal is to dance in every corner of the Octagon of Doom before his time comes to an end with the Wildcats.

“I want every section to know that I appreciate them,” Tang said. “So I have tried to rotate that. A few games back I saw the band and I said, ‘The next time we win at home, I’m going to go celebrate with the band because of all the hard work they put in and how much I appreciate them being there.’”

Where will he end up dancing next?

That’s a question many K-State fans will be asking themselves when they show up for next week’s final home game of the season against Oklahoma.

Having fun on the basketball job

One thing is for sure: Tang is going to keep dancing.

Dikembe Mutombo wagged his finger at opposing players whenever he blocked a shot. Stone Cold Steve Austin banged aluminum cans together and guzzled beer whenever he won a wrestling match. This is Tang’s signature celebration.

Few expected K-State to be ranked in the top 25 or in contention for a high seed in the NCAA Tournament this season. In fact, the Wildcats were picked to finish last in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll. So now that they are ranked 14th, have won 21 games and are a lock for March Madness, their head coach is going to keep on living his best life.

He might even kick up his celebrations a notch for senior day.

Seck, the clarinet player he danced near earlier this season, says the band will gladly provide an instrument for him to play after any future game.

“Anything he wants,” she said. “He is doing this for all the right reasons. You can tell he wants to stay here for a long time and build Kansas State up. I love it.”

Tang jokes that he might bring his entire coaching staff into the stands at some point for a group celebration.

In any case, he likes to think his postgame celebrations have helped K-State this season.

“When I was a high school coach I did not enjoy wins as much as I should have,” Tang said. “Even when we beat a team by 40 the goal was to hold them under a certain number of points, and if they scored over that I would make our guys run after games. It wasn’t fun. I was always looking for us to be a little bit better.

“Over the years, I have learned that you have got to enjoy this thing because it’s hard. Winning is hard. I have really resolved myself to make sure that we enjoy our wins and we enjoy this whole journey and not just push, push, push all the time.”

His fans like that approach.

They will remain ready to dance with him after every home win.

“I feel like any good coach has got to be involved with his fans, but he takes it to another level,” Belin said. “It makes him stand out.”