It’s safe to say this season hasn’t unfolded as Kansas State hoped. After the Wildcats suffered their worst home loss to No. 19 Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown since 2018, questions about Jerome Tang’s future are looming.
K-State’s Loss Raises Questions About Jerome Tang’s Future
How Did Things Get to This Point?
At the start of the season, things were trending upwards. The Wildcats opened the season 5-0 with wins over UNC Greensboro, Bellarmine, Cal, Tulsa, and a Mississippi State squad fresh off an NCAA tournament appearance.
Then, reality set in.
Tang and the Cats dropped four consecutive games. That included an unexpected, 15-point home loss to Bowling Green after being favored by more than 12. Just days later, Seton Hall handed them another home setback, this time an eleven-point loss despite a predicted 3.5-point edge.
There were glimpses of resilience, including a narrow 83-82 loss to one of the nation’s last undefeated teams, Nebraska. A three-game winning streak over South Dakota, Creighton, and Louisiana-Monroe also offered hope.
But the Big 12 has proven less forgiving. The Wildcats opened conference play 0-5 for the first time in nearly three decades, leaving more questions than answers about whether Tang’s squad can find its footing.
After a hard-fought win over a then 1-4 Utah team and a 24-point loss to Kansas, the focus quickly shifted to whether or not Tang is on the hot seat, despite having coached a handful of players currently in the NBA.
Injuries Haven’t Been Factors – Results Were
The Wildcats have dealt with a wave of injuries throughout conference play. It started with Mobi Ikegwuruka, followed by Elias Rapieque, both of whom missed significant time beginning in early to mid-January.
The situation grew worse when the team’s leading three-point shooter, Abdi Bashir Jr., underwent foot surgery, ruling him out for 4-6 weeks. Just a day later, the team listed Khamari McGriff as questionable, barely a week before the first of two Sunflower Showdown games against Kansas.
But here’s the inconvenient truth: the results don’t support the injury excuse. All of those players were healthy during the Wildcats’ four-game skid. And even when reduced to just seven available players against Utah, K-State still found a way to win.
So when the Wildcats failed to show up against a Kansas team missing its leading scorer, the issue wasn’t centered around personnel. It was directly in preparation.
And with a roster full of players like PJ Haggerty, one of the nation’s leading scorers, it’s hard to argue that this is a skill-based issue. Haggerty showed he’s built for this level of competition and is the kind of player Tang runs the offense through.
With that level of talent on the floor for 35+ minutes a game, the struggles are less about ability and more about execution. The pieces are clearly there; they just haven’t been put into the right places.
What’s Next for Kansas State?
The Wildcats face another road test against West Virginia on Tuesday. Then, they return for their highest-ranked home test of the year against Iowa State.
A victory in Morgantown would mark their first successful road trip of conference play and Tang’s first win away from Bramlage Coliseum since defeating Creighton on Dec. 13.
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